SPECIAL ISSUE ON 11 NutritionSpring Issue WHOLE GRAINS 4 A Personal Message From NUTRITIONARY Your Registered Dietitian Understanding Health Claims and Labels More and more is discovered each day about The health claims and labels regarding whole grains and fiber on food the health benefits of whole grains. All of this labels may confuse you. These definitions should help you sort out what’s new information raises questions for many what before your next grocery shopping trip. people. That’s why we’ve devoted this issue of Nutrition 411 to clarifying the topics of whole “Good source of fiber” grains and fiber. We’ve also included tips and The food must contain at least 10% of the daily value (DV) of fiber or at suggestions to least 2.5 grams (g) fiber/serving to carry this label. help you work these nutritionally “Excellent source of fiber” important foods into The food must contain at least 20% of the DV of fiber or at least 5 g your menus. fiber/serving to carry this label. In this issue, you’ll discover the Whole grain differences between Most of these whole grains and products high-fiber foods to contain little or better understand no refined white food labels. You’ll flour. Look also learn how to at the label’s choose the best ingredient list breakfast cereal, add variety to your morning to see how far bowl of oatmeal, and create a grocery list down on the packed with whole-grain foods, and find out list the enriched how to prepare some unusual grains. wheat flour, unbleached white flour, or In This Issue wheat flour PAGE NUTRITIONARY appears—the 1 Understanding Health Claims and Labels lower the better. GRAIN GLOSSARY 2 What to Do With Unusual Grains Whole-grain white WHOLE-GRAIN GOODNESS This label usually appears on bread, but it does not necessarily mean 2 The Smart Shopper’s Shopping List anything specific. In the best case scenario, the bread was made with an A WHOLE-GRAIN COMMITMENT albino variety of wheat. Most breads with this label contain a mix of whole 3 Start Your Day With Whole Grains and refined flour from red wheat. Look for the brands that contain more THE 2011 DIETARY GUIDELINES whole flour and less refined flour. 3 Changing the Way We Think About Food WHAT DO YOU KNOW? 12-grain or multigrain 4 Test Your Knowledge About Whole Grains It does not matter how many grains are in a product. What matters is how DECODING THE GROCERY STORE many of those grains are whole grains. 5 Choosing the Best Cereals MAILBOX “May prevent heart disease” 5 Why Are Whole Grains and Fiber So Important? This claim is approved for use on almost any food that is made from at least 51% whole grains and is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, COOK’S CORNER Nutrition 6 Oatmeal 411 is published Three Ways by RD411.com. and sodium. Nutrition 411 • Spring Issue 1 GRAIN GLOSSARY roasted and hulled, and then cracked into granules. Kasha is good as a filling for meat, poultry, or vegetables. Kasha is also excellent What to Do for cold salads. Simmer or bake kasha, whole With Unusual Grains buckwheat, and buckwheat grits. Cooking buckwheat kernels with a beaten egg prevents Amaranth: These tiny kernels, usually pale the kernels from sticking together. yellow, are porridge-like when simmered, making amaranth useful as a food thickener. Bulgur: Steamed, dried, and cracked-wheat You can bake or steam amaranth as well, and berries, bulgur cooks like brown rice. Substitute it is available as cereal and flour. Many people it for rice in all dishes. Use the finely ground add a strongly flavored liquid to this grain variety to prepare a hot breakfast cereal. when cooking it—broth and tomato juice are good choices. It is good when mixed with other Oats: Oat bran is created from the outer layer grains and when mixed with vegetables as a of oat groats and usually is sold as a hot cereal. stir-fry. You also can toast amaranth, similar to Oat groats are whole-oat kernels, which are popcorn, and use it as a breading. cooked like rice. Rolled oats are heated and pressed flat. Steel-cut oats are groats that are Barley: Most of the barley in the United vertically sliced and have a chewy texture when States is used in beer production. Barley is cooked. Oats are the main ingredient of granola chewier than rice. Barley flakes are served as and muesli. Oat groats and steel-cut oats take a hot cereal. Grits are toasted and broken into a longer time than most grains to prepare. small pieces. It generally is simmered or used as Old-fashioned oats take about 5 minutes to an ingredient in casseroles or soups. Cooking cook, while quick-cooking oats take only about time varies from a negligible amount of time for 1 minute. All forms of oats are good eaten as the preparation of grits to about 1¾ hours for breakfast cereal. Prepare groats into a pilaf hulled barley. Barley and fruit make a pleasing and serve as a side dish. Add steel-cut oats to breakfast dish. Substitute barley for rice or soups and stews. Use rolled oats as a filling for pasta in almost any dish. poultry and vegetables. Add toasted oats to salads, use as a breading for poultry, or add to Buckwheat: Buckwheat is used as an baked goods. Use rolled oats in place of 20% of alternative to rice as a side dish or ingredient. It the wheat flour in yeast breads, and one part pairs well with beef, root vegetables, cabbage, to every two parts of wheat flour in most other winter squash, and eggplant. Buckwheat grits baked goods. are finely ground groats, served as a hot cereal. Buckwheat flour is available in most markets Quinoa: Quinoa grains are flat, pointed and is commonly used in pancake preparation. ovals. Quinoa comes in a variety of colors, Kasha consists of buckwheat kernels that are including pale yellow, red, and black. When cooked, the external germ spirals out, creating a “tail.” Rinse prior to cooking. Brown in a skillet WHOLE-GRAIN GOODNESS for 5 minutes prior to simmering or baking. It is good when served as a pilaf, in a baked casserole, in vegetable soup, or as a cold salad, The Smart Shopper’s Shopping List and is especially good when combined with Take this list with you the next time that you go to the grocery store buckwheat. Add quinoa to puddings. to make sure that you stock up on whole-grain foods: Rye: Rye is a bluish-gray grain, similar in appearance to wheat, except for the color. Whole-grain cold cereal Whole-grain crackers Rye flakes are similar to rolled oats. Whole rye berries, groats, and kernels resemble wheat Brown rice Popcorn berries. Cracked rye is the quickest-cooking Quinoa Barley variety. Simmer rye berries with milder-tasting grains, such as brown rice or wheat berries. Oatmeal Whole-grain cereal bars Combine cracked rye with cracked wheat. Bulgur Whole-wheat pasta Combine rye flakes with oatmeal. Rye berries are good when cooked in broth with chopped Rye Corn nuts and raisins. Use cooked rye berries as an Whole-wheat bread Whole-grain muffin ingredient in poultry stuffing. Cracked rye is good when cooked in fruit juice with dried fruit. mix Sorghum Add rye flakes to ground-beef mixtures. 2 Nutrition 411 • Spring Issue A WHOLE-GRAIN COMMITMENT SENSIBLE Start Your Day With Whole Grains SNACKING Try snacking A study done by General Mills showed that Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals are the number on popcorn, while 61% of Americans believe that they one source of whole grains in America. General whole-grain consume enough whole grains, only 5% Mills understands that whole grains are crackers, actually do. General Mills is committed to doing important for heart health, reducing cancer oatmeal cookies, something about this disparity. The US Dietary risk, managing diabetes, keeping you regular, whole-grain Guidelines recommend that people consume and promoting weight management. General chips or pretzels, 48 grams (g) of whole grains each day. The Mills is committed to spreading the word and or whole- average person only eats about one sixth of making sure that its products make it as easy grain this amount. as possible for Americans to garner all of the cereal benefits of whole grains. General Mills guarantees that every Big G bars. cereal that it produces contains at least 8 g of Big G cereals have the white check on the front whole grains/serving. These cereals include of the box, making it simple to make your the popular Cheerios®, Cinnamon Toast selection in the cereal aisle. Crunch®, Oatmeal Crisp, Chex®, Fiber One®, Wheaties®, and Total®. Furthermore, more than 20 of these Big G cereals DECREASE contain at least 16 g of YOUR RISK whole grain/serving, WITH WHOLE making it easy to GRAINS get one third of the recommended daily According to allowance for whole some studies, grain before you’re consumption even out the door in of an adequate the morning. This isn’t amount of whole a new initiative either; grains can General Mills has decrease the risk made this guarantee of heart disease since 2005. by 25%−36%, the risk of type 2 diabetes by 21%−27%, the THE 2011 DIETARY GUIDELINES risk of digestive cancers by Changing the Way We Think About Food 21%−43%, and the risk of stroke The new dietary guidelines, released on choosing nutrient-rich foods and deciding what by 37%.