See Through the Whole Grain Hoax

True or False? 

"I had whole grains for breakfast:  two slices of whole grain toast."

Well, if it's made of flour, it's no longer a true whole grain. Here's what a real whole grain contains:

"Don't be fooled by "whole-grain" products such as whole wheat flour (or bread made from it), which have a glycemic index nearly as high as that of refined flour. Grains that have been pulverized into flour, whether "whole" or not, have a significantly expanded starchy surface area available to digestive enzymes, and cause blood sugar levels to spike dramatically." -- Andrew Weil, M.D.

Okay, so what is a true whole grain?

The good news is that it is really easy to tell the difference between fake “whole” grains and intact whole grains. If a food actually looks like a grain (i.e., it retains its original form and bran covering), then it is an intact grain. If it looks like a Cheerio, chip, loaf of bread or pasta with a “whole grain” label, then it is a fake whole grain.  -- Darya Pino, Summer Tomato

KNOW THIS: Whole grain flours, which contain all the bran, germ and endosperm components of the original whole grain, do not behave the same way inside the body as an intact grain. While an intact grain time-releases sugar as the body breaks it down, processed grains (flours) are digested more quickly, leading to spikes in blood sugar.

"This means when using or cooking with whole grains, the individual grains must be intact or cracked into a few large pieces, not ground in flour. Few nutrition guides make this distinction, but it is vital - with true whole grains, the outer bran and germ layers remain to encase the starchy endosperm within. This means it takes longer for digestion to occur, which slows the conversion of starch to sugar, keeping you fuller longer and preventing spikes in blood sugar that can lead to insulin resistance." - Dr. Andrew Weil

Are you a Sugar Addict?
Try avoiding products made from flour for 3 days and you should have your answer. If you find yourself ornery with cravings for those foods or other sugary food and drink, you likely have an addiction. See the "Sugar Blog" Abridged for the full story and how you can break free and restore your wellness!

Deciphering Food Marketers' Labels

"Whole Grain": The product's ingredients must list a whole grain flour as the first ingredient. In other words, a product can be "whole grain" if 51% of its ingredients consist of whole grain flour. What else might be in that ingredients list? Added sugars? Partially hydrogenated oils?

"100% Whole Grain":  All the grain in the ingredients list (amongst a possibly long list of other ingredients, including added sugars) is whole grain.

"A Good Source of Whole Grain":  Contains at least 8g of whole grains (again, remember this is usually a flour, not intact grain) per serving, meaning that a common serving weighing 30 to 55 grams could contain as much as 85% bleached, nutrient-deficient flour.

graphic from tastofhome.com

Solution: Prepare your own whole (intact) grains, including...

• Amaranth
• Barley
• Buckwheat
• Corn (popcorn!)
• Millet
• Oats
• Quinoa
• Rice (brown, wild)
• Rye
• Sorghum (aka Milo)
• Teff
• Triticale
• Wheat (Spelt, Farro, Kamut, Bulgur, Cracked Wheat, Wheatberries)

Learn about each grain's history, cooking times and find recipe suggestions (avoiding the use of whole grain flours) here:

Cooking with Whole Grains - Dr. Weil's Healthy Kitchen
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03184/Cooking-With-Whole-Grains.html

How to Cook Whole Grains - Taste of Home
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Healthy/Live-Well/Smart-Eating/How-to-Cook-Whole-Grains

High-Fiber Whole-Grain Recipes - Eating Well
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/high_fiber_whole_grain_recipes?slide=1#view_toggles

Partially Hydrogenated Oils are So Last Century

Or so I thought. Even as "0g Trans Fat" has been smacked on the front of many packages to help us feel less guilty about eating processed foods, some prominent brands still haven't switched to healthier ingredients. As a former longtime Girl Scout (and Samoas® lover), I am looking forward to the year when this great organization announces they have eliminated partially hydrogenated oils from their famous cookies (http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/).

After all, it's been years since the Harvard School of Public Health found that women who took 2% of their energy intake from trans fats had a 70% greater risk of infertility through lack of ovulation (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-430111/Food-fats-threaten-womens-fertility.html). If anyone should be crying out against the use of partially hydrogenated oils in our foods, why not the Girl Scouts in their dedication to the development of our future women?

Infertility/PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) is the newest addition to the long list of health problems trans fat diets cause, including: increased levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, "bad" cholesterol), decreased levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL - "good" cholesterol), hardened arteries, and inflammation/overactivity of the immune system that can result in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. What's more, Leo Galland's Superimmunity for Kids explains how the absorption of essential fatty acids (EFAs) -- which are aptly named because we cannot be healthy without them -- is actually impeded by consumption of partially hydrogenated oils.

Still wondering what partially hydrogenated oils are? Bantransfats.com says it best: "Partial hydrogenation is an industrial process used to make a perfectly good oil, such as soybean oil, into a perfectly bad oil." They are used in commercial products such as cookies, cakes, crackers, bread, candy, chocolate and chips, and as cooking oils (called "liquid shortening") for frying in restaurants.

If you're asking yourself, "why the heck does anyone STILL put this stuff in our food?", Harvard's School of Public Health's Nutrition Source has the answer: 1. Partially hydrogenated oils don't spoil as easily, 2. They can be repeatedly reheated without breaking down, 3. They can be transported more easily, oh yes, and 4. They are a lot cheaper than solid animal fats. Sing it:
"Moneymoneymoneymoney....mon-ey!"
(http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/nutrition-news/transfats/).

Sadly, the FDA actually allows a company to legally call a product "trans fat free" so long as it has less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, so the only way to be sure you are not eating trans fats, is to make sure the product's ingredients do not list "partially hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated" oils.

If you are a fast-food eater, you can find out which oils each chain uses at Bantransfat.com's Eateries page. Better yet, skip the junk food or find alternatives made from whole ingredients. And be well!