Monday, April 30, 2007

Whole Grains - You need them!

With the low-carb diet as big as it is now, no one wants to hear "you need whole grains". Well, they have carbohydrates. However, you NEED them, and here's why.

Natural whole grains consist of three parts - the germ, the bran, and the endosperm. White flour, rice, and other refined grains are made by processing endosperm and discarding the germ and bran. Vitamins, minerals, proteins, and other healthy substances are found in the bran and germ, while the endosperm consists almost entirely of starch. By using only the endosperm to make flours and breads, the manufacturers are robbing you of essentials that your body needs. You're basically left eating empty calories with no nutritional value whatsoever.

Whole grains provide many of the nutrients that are low in America's diet, including fiber, vitamin E, B vitamins, and the minerals zinc, selenium, copper and magnesium. Which are all beneficial for the heart, blood and the immune system.

So as you can see, WHOLE GRAINS are very beneficial to your health. So why not eat more? Don't gorge on breads, pastas, and wheat. But DO try to eat whole grains and not refined grains (white breads, white rice, etc.) and control the amounts you eat, but don't deprive your body of grains - you need them!

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