‘Made with Whole Grains’ is arguably the most buzz about food buzz word, rivaled only by ‘Contains XXg of omega-3s.’ But despite all the hoopla about whole grains I have remained skeptical about them being the panacea of health. Deep down I’m a biochemist, and biochemically I have always felt that the whole grain story was missing a solid biochemical backstory.
Here is what whole grains have going for them (or are the most commonly cited benefits):
- Fiber
- B vitamins
- Vitamin E
- Minerals (iron, magnesium, etc)
- Nutrient Synergy (the idea that the beneficial compounds in whole grains act together to elicit a much greater health effect)
- Phytochemicals and Antioxidants
While some may consider the whole ‘nutrient synergy’ concept scientific hand waving (myself included most of the time) and the B vitamins, vitamin E, and minerals are nice but not the sole reason to be considered a power food; whole grains get really interesting when you look at antioxidants and fiber. I’m going to first focus on fiber and in the future will probably cover antioxidants more in the future (If you can’t wait and are scientifically inclined check out this article.
Before we get into the nitty gritty (and really interesting) whole grain/fiber story. Today I wanted to set the stage with some really interesting facts and a couple reasons why you should care about whole grains.
Whole Grains, SoFAS, and the Average American
If you are a regular reader or have perused the site a little before reading this article, you will know that I think reducing the amount of carbohydrates you eat (especially from starches and sugars) is one of the biggest things you can do to positively impact your weight and health. This is where SoFAS come and and why SoFAS are such big problem. I’m not talking about the broken down couches in your basement that you’ve been meaning to throw out for the past 18 months. I’m talking about Solid Fats and Add Sugars.
Here is a graph from the most recent dietary guidelines for Americans which illustrates the point very well.
As you can see, as a population, we are doing a very good job of over consuming calories from solid fats and added sugars. Let’s look at this problem one more way as the pie charts don’t really highlight way whole grains should be a focus.
I think the graph above does a very good job of depicting how Americans are just consistently making poor food choices. Look at this graph and ask yourself how you fit in here. Are you over consuming added sugar, and refined grains? SoFAS?
Now, for the past several decades, in an effort to reduce saturated fat intakes, people have been advised to replace saturated fat in their diet with carbohydrates. In an effort to not overwhelm you with charts and graphs I won’t provide visual and numerical evidence to show that this message has failed miserablely to get across.
Here’s what you need to know…people eat just as much saturated fat as they did 17 years ago, they just eat ~200 calories more carbohydrates each day as well. I think this is nicely displayed in the graph above with us eating 280%, 242%, and 200% of the recommended levels of SoFAS, added sugars, and refined grains.
I think part of the reason why the substitute saturated fat for carbohydrates advice got so screwed up is because they are very different kinds of foods.
Instead of using butter, have a pieces of bread
Recommendations now advise people to replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats. A message that has more practicality
Instead of using butter, use canola oil.
It is along these same lines that I think many people have come up short with the whole grain message. I don’t want you to add whole grains to your diet. I want you to replace the refined grains in your diet with whole grains. Switch out like for like. Making that switch is simple and something that is easy to do.
Side Note: For a long time I recommended clients cut out starches, for fruits and vegetables. While this advice is still good, it can be too abrupt of a change. First moving to whole grains and then reducing your whole grain intake, switching them out for fruits and vegetables is a much easier and logical transition for many people.
In the next installment of this article, we’ll get into the missing piece of the whole grain puzzle and I’ll make my case/plea to the food industry to help us out with it.
Mike,
This comment is aimed less at someone who is (over)consuming boatloads of refined carbs and more for the health-conscious athlete. In these cases, can it sometimes be preferable to go with refined forms of grains (example white rice over brown) if not willing to prepare the whole grains in a way that reduces their levels of anti-nutrients, protease inhibitors, etc.? Or do you think that those elements in whole grains only tend to wreak havoc if consuming large quantities of them/using them as staple foods in the context of a diet with very limited variety?
Greg,
You are correct in the second half of your post. The components of whole grains that inhibit nutrient action and absorption aren't really a cause of concern unless it is a major staple in your diet. If you are getting 3-5 servings of whole grains per day then it isn't something you need to worry about.
great question,
Mike
Hi Mikey, I think your point is right on that whole grains should be included as part of a healthy diet. This is exactly what happened with our study – people on a weight loss diet lost weight when they included whole grains with their daily meals, but after the study ended people went back to their earlier eating habits, and even though they were still eating whole grains, they gained all of their weight back.
Hi Mike, I think you better avoid all grains. We just wrote a post about the how your daily bread, pizza and pasta are killing you. You can read it here, http://bit.ly/cyKHre
VBR Karen