Grains for a Healthy Diet
July 2007 -  Grains are so common that we tend to take them for granted. They have been part of our daily meals since our mother first started us on solid foods, most with rice cereal. It is rare to eat a meal that does not contain a grain, however they are usually accompaniments to what we may consider the more interesting foods—bread for a sandwich, crust of a pizza, tortilla wrap for a burrito, rice or pasta in a casserole, etc.
But grains are important! They are the foundation of a healthy diet and our body’s preferred source of energy. Grains are complex carbohydrates that also provide a unique array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, essential amino acids and other compounds, called phytonutrients.
Eating grains, especially whole grains, can provide health benefits including a reduced risk of developing heart disease, cancer and diabetes. In addition, grains can keep your digestive system healthy, help control your weight, promote a healthy immune system, lower your cholesterol, and control your blood sugar.
Think of grains divided into 2 subgroups—Whole Grains and Refined Grains. Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel—the bran, germ, and endosperm. Refined grains have been milled, a process that removes the bran and germ parts of the grain. This is done to give grains a smoother texture and improve their shelf life, as well as speed up the cooking process.
For example, look at the difference between brown and white rice. Both contain similar amounts of calories, carbohydrates, fat and protein. When the outermost layer of a grain of rice (the husk) is removed, the result is 100% whole grain brown rice. If the bran layer underneath is then removed, the result is white rice, a refined grain. Fiber, vitamins, and minerals are lost in this process, known as polishing the rice. White rice is then enriched by adding back a part of these missing nutrients, such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, iron and folic acid.
Here is a comparison of 1 cup cooked Whole Grain Brown Rice with unenriched and enriched White Rice (Source: USDA Database):
Nutrients
| Whole Grain
Brown Rice | Unenriched
White Rice | Enriched
White Rice | Calories
| 215
| 205
| 205
| Fat (g)
| 1.75
| 0.44
| 0.35
| Protein (g)
| 5.0
| 4.25
| 4.25
| Carbohydrate (g)
| 44.5
| 44.5
| 44.5
| Fiber (g)
| 3.5
| 0.6
| 0.6
| Thiamin (mg)
| 0.19
| 0.03
| 0.26
| Riboflavin (mg)
| 0.05
| 0.02
| 0.02
| Niacin (mg)
| 2.98
| 0.63
| 2.33
| Iron (mg)
| 0.82
| 0.32
| 1.9
| Folic Acid (mcg)
| 7.8
| 4.74
| 91.64
| Potassium (mg)
| 83.85
| 55.3
| 55.3
|
 To emphasize the importance of grains, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines and the resulting MyPyramid Program have placed grains as the first and largest stripe as a solid foundation to the pyramid. It recommends that we eat between 6 and 10 ounces of grains a day with half of our servings from whole grains, such as brown rice or wild rice. To find out how many servings of grains we need, go to www.mypyramid.gov.
To help us find Whole Grain products on the supermarket shelves, the Whole Grain Council has developed a Whole Grain Stamp that tells us if a food is made with whole grains and gives the amount of whole grain in the product. A full serving of whole grain is 16 grams. The “100%” Whole Grain Stamp tells you that all of the grain in this product is whole grain. One-half cup of 100% whole grain brown rice (cooked) contains about 20 grams of whole grain, which is equal to 1 serving of whole grain.
 Look for the ‘Whole Grain Stamp’ on the following rice products and for easy to prepare and tasty recipe ideas using our rice products, visit our web sites:
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