Alll About Whole Grains

All about Whole Grains

　

Did you know what a whole grain is? Whole grains are an important part of your family’s health. With so many whole grain food options and great recipes, offering whole grains to your family is easy and delicious!

A whole grain means that the entire grain, not just a part of it. A whole grain has three parts. The fiber rich bran, the starchy endosperm and the healthy germ. Whole grains keep all three parts, even after they are turned into flour, cereals, breads and more. They give you lots of energy to!

Half of the grains you eat everyday should be whole. There are lots of ways to eat whole grains everyday!

Choose 100% whole wheat breads, tortillas and bagels.

Add barley or brown rice to soups and casseroles.

Use half whole wheat flour in your baking goods.

Pick whole wheat cereals or oatmeal.

Use whole corn meal for corn cakes, breads and muffins.

Mix 3/4 cup uncooked oats in your meatloaf, meatballs or burgers.

Select whole wheat pastas.

　

Do you know what to check for on a label so you know it really is a whole grain? Read the ingrediants list to make sure the frist word listed is “whole” or look for “100% WHOLE GRAIN” on the label so you know it really is a whole grain.

SOmetimes reading labels can be tricky.

Here are some quick facts for you:

1. All brown rice is 100% whole grain.......... FALSE - Many brown breads have color added to make them look like whole wheat.

2. If the label says 100% wheat it means that wheat is the only grain in the product...... TRUE - 100% wheat means the only grain is wheat, but it may not be whole wheat.

3. Multigrain means that a food is a whole grain......... FALSE - Multigrain means it contains more than one kind of grain but they may not be whole grain.

4. If the label says Made with whole grains, that means the food is 100% whole grain.... FALSE - Made with whole grains means the food has some of the grainsas a whole grain.

5. The easist way to find whole grain foods is to look for 100% whole grain on the front label.... TRUE - Look for 100% whole grain to select true whole grain foods.