NYTimes Article on Whole Grains

[Guest guest]

About this post:

 

I don't usually do this - post whole articles to the list cuz most of us ha=

ve had

enough of that on other lists. But this one came across my computer

(NYTimes Headlines Email Service) this morning and it struck a chord with

me - since we have been discussing refined and whole foods. (I think you

might want, some of you, to skip past the references to specific diets, but=

the

bulk, so to speak, of the article seems okay.)

 

Best, Pat ;=)

------

 

August 11, 2004

EATING WELL

 

It's Better to Be Whole Than Refined

By MARIAN BURROS

 

IN just a couple of years, low-carbohydrate diets have accomplished what th=

e

government has failed to do in decades of trying: convince the public that =

 

refined grains are bad actors and whole grains are good.

 

" Low-carb diets have steered people toward whole grains, " said Bonnie

Liebman, the director of nutrition for the Washington-based Center for

Science in the Public Interest, " and made millions of people cut back on

things made with white flour, like white bread, hamburger buns, megamuffins=

,

400-calorie bagels, pizza crusts, cakes, cookies, doughnuts and other sweet=

s,

even pasta and white rice.

 

" If you were asked to compare the impact of the South Beach diet with dieta=

ry

guidelines, there would be no contest. "

 

Now if only consumers could distinguish between grains that are refined and=

 

grains that are whole. Just because bread is brown and has specks of

something in it, does not mean it is whole grain.

 

Whole grains (and foods made from them) consist of the entire grain seed,

usually referred to as the kernel. The kernel is made of three components: =

the

bran, the germ and the endosperm.

 

Refined grains have neither the bran nor the germ, which means that most of=

 

the B vitamins, certain minerals and the fiber have been stripped from them=

.. In

enriched products, some of the B vitamins are added back.

 

All grains are chiefly carbohydrates, but generally whole-grain cereals hav=

e

three to seven times more fiber to a serving than refined cereals.

 

When the grain has been refined, destroying much of the fiber, the

carbohydrates turn to glucose quickly and enter the bloodstream. In whole

grains, with their fiber intact, carbohydrates are not absorbed quickly. Th=

is

helps to regulate blood sugar, increase satiety and delay the return of hun=

ger.

That is why low-carb food labels emphasize the terms " effective carbs " or " =

net

carbs, " meaning the number of remaining carbohydrates after fiber has been =

 

subtracted from the total.

 

Being satiated is the point. Because, no matter the source, calories count:=

the

only way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than you burn up.

 

Food manufacturers do not make it easy to figure out which grains are whole=

 

and which are not. Color is no clue: brown bread may contain molasses or

caramel food coloring, but no fiber. Some whole grains, like oats, are ligh=

t in

color.

 

Terms like multigrain, cracked wheat, seven grain, stone-ground, 100 percen=

t

wheat, enriched flour and degerminated cornmeal are not whole grain.

Pumpernickel is made with rye and wheat flours, but they are seldom whole

grain.

 

The list of whole grains, however, is long. Some of them are well known in =

this

country: whole wheat (wheat berries), bulgur wheat, whole oats and oatmeal,=

 

whole rye, barley, buckwheat (kasha or buckwheat groats), whole corn and

nondegermed cornmeal, brown, wild and other whole rices and popcorn.

(Yes, popcorn.) Others are little used here: grano (lightly pearled wheat),=

farro

(another form of wheat), kamut, quinoa, amaranth, millet, sorghum, spelt

(similar to farro) teff and triticale. A thorough discussion of each kind o=

f whole

grain may be found at www.foodsubs.com.

 

Botanically, a few of these grains are not real cereals — amaranth, buckwhe=

at

and quinoa — but only botanists are likely to notice.

 

The healthiest cereal has a label that says 100 percent whole grain. For a =

 

cereal to be high in whole grain, the first ingredient must be whole wheat,=

 

whole rye or the like. The second best products are those that contain at l=

east

51 percent whole grain ingredients. For all of those, the Food and Drug

Administration permits a health claim related to the reduction of risk of h=

eart

disease.

 

While the 2000 dietary guidelines, a joint effort of the Agriculture Depart=

ment

and the Health and Human Services Department, recommend " a variety of

grains daily, especially whole grains, " it is not until Page 20 of the guid=

elines

brochure that the reader learns why whole grains are better than refined

grains. Even less helpful than the dietary guidelines, with which few peopl=

e

come in contact, is the food pyramid, the triangle that is generally recogn=

ized

by Americans as a nutrition guide and is found on packages of food and in

marketing and advertising. Even though grains make up the base of the

pyramid, the phrase " whole grains " is nowhere to be found on it. So any

refined product, whether it is white bread or white rice, can use the pyram=

id to

proclaim its health benefits.

 

Now the committee at Health and Human Services responsible for the new

dietary guidelines, due out at the beginning of next year, appears to be re=

ady

to put more emphasis on whole grains.

 

There is pretty good science to back that decision. A number of studies sho=

w

that in addition to making you feel fuller on fewer calories, the fiber in =

whole

grains (along with fruits and vegetables) may reduce the risk of cancer, he=

art

disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.

 

" The committee has discussed recommending that most Americans increase

their intake of whole grains, " said Kathryn McMurry, the co-executive

secretary of the dietary guidelines advisory committee. " One of the bases f=

or

recommending whole grains is that they are naturally a good source of dieta=

ry

fiber, which has many health benefits. Generally, food sources of fiber als=

o

contain other nutrients that promote health, " like vitamins, minerals,

antioxidants and phytochemicals (protective plant substances).

 

The base of " the healthy eating pyramid, " produced by the Harvard School of=

 

Public Health, is whole grains. Refined grains are at the top of the pyrami=

d,

along with red meat butter and sweets.

 

According to the National Academy of Sciences, men 50 and younger should

consume 38 grams of fiber a day; women, 25 grams; men over 50, 30 grams;

and women, 21 grams. Current recommendations are for 20 to 35 grams of

fiber a day, but the average American eats only 5 to 13. It is true that wh=

ole

grains take longer to cook than refined grains, but it is often only 20 min=

utes.

For those that take longer, soaking will cut down considerably on the cooki=

ng

time.

 

If brown rice, for example, which ordinarily takes about 45 minutes to cook=

, is

soaked overnight, or at least two hours, it will cook in 17 minutes, the sa=

me

time as long-grain white rice. I soaked farro, that marvelous firm-textured=

 

Italian grain with the delicately nutty flavor, overnight, and it cooked in=

10

minutes.

 

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company