Background
For most people in North America, grains represent a staple of everyday diet. Grain products include rice (white, brown, and wild varieties), bread, bagels, muffins and other baked goods, hot and cold cereals, pasta, crackers, popcorn, etc. Grains in their whole forms include quinoa, oats, bran, wheat, rye, buckwheat, etc. These foods are excellent sources of complex carbohydrates (as well as other vitamins and minerals). Carbohydrates are naturally occurring sugars that are needed to supply energy to your body’s cells. Some parts of your body including parts of your brain, nervous system, and blood use carbohydrates only for fuel.
While grains and carbohydrates often get a bad rap, they are in fact critical to maintaining a healthy diet. The recommended serving depends on your age and sex. Learn about how many daily servings you need according to your age and sex. Whole grains (grains are still have their husks) are also an excellent source of fibre, and help prevent heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, obesity, and constipation. Today, Novus is here with an action plan to help outline the benefits and best practices of incorporating grains into your healthy diet.
Action Plan
There are a great variety of grain options that will help keep things interesting. Mix it up! Experiment with different types grains and whole grain products. For bread, looks for products, including bagels, sandwich breads, English muffins, and pita breads with a whole grain listed as its first ingredient. For cereals, try whole grain hot and cold cereals such as oatmeal, muesli, bran flakes, and granola. For rice, choose brown rice, or a brown and white mixture, instead of plain white rice. For pasta, look for whole grain wheat, Kamut, or spelt. For tortillas, try whole wheat or whole corn. Finally, for crackers and snacks, try whole grain varieties such as flatbreads, woven wheat crackers, crisp breads, rye crackers, or rice cakes. Beware of added fat, sugar, and artificial flavours and colours.
When it comes to grain dishes it is always a best practice to try and incorporate whole grains as side dishes in your daily diet. Some examples of whole grain dishes include brown rice pilaf, salads made with whole wheat couscous, kasha, millet, wheat bulgur, millet, tabouli, soups made with hulled barley, or brown rice.
Read food packaging carefully. Many brands will incorporate claims such as “a diet rich in whole grains may help reduce the risk of heart disease,” even though the product is not whole grain based. Identify items that are high in fibre. Read food labels and compare between products to learn which ones have the highest fibre content. The recommended intake for grain products varies by age and sex, so learning what’s recommended for you can help you make better health decisions.
In generally, when making any sort of habitual transition, it can be a great idea to reward yourself for taking steps toward healthy changes (e.g. set aside a small amount of money for a new fitness class). Make it easy on yourself! Avoid people and situations that you know encourage unhealthy choices and spend time with people who model healthy behaviours. Surround yourself with supportive people that you trust and remember to engage in healthy activities and habits to cope instead of relying on unhealthy behaviours.
Health Canada has some excellent tips and resources to help you identify and choose high-quality grain products. Dieticians of Canada also provides an eat tracker that helps you determine the nutritional information of your foods and helping you plan to eat right. Dieticians of Canada also provide a guide on the health benefits and recommended intake of grain products. Of course, here at Novus we have all the information you need to gain a solid understanding of how to build grain products into your healthy diet. For more health insight, visit Novus Health!
