Whole Grains for Your Health

BY CHARLYN FARGO

Want a healthier diet? Add some whole grains. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend making half your grains whole grains versus refined grains. A grain product is any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley, farro, quinoa or other cereal grains. Bread, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortillas and grits are among the many foods in the grain group made with whole grains, refined or a combination of the two.

A whole grain is made from the entire grain kernel with the bran, germ and endosperm intact. In a refined grain, the bran and germ have been removed to give the product a longer shelf life and finer texture. Most refined grain products are then enriched, meaning that nutrients like thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and iron that are lost in processing are added back, but the fiber isn’t.

Most of us eat enough total grains, but most are refined rather than whole grains.

Greater whole grain consumption is known to be associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease. A recent study by Tufts researchers looked at the impact of refined and whole grain intake on specific risk factors: fasting blood glucose levels, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure and blood triglyceride concentration.

The study analyzed information on dietary intake, health and lifestyle of over

3,000 participants in the Framingham Offspring cohort study. When the 18-year data collection period began, these individuals were 55 years old on average and had an average BMI of 27 (on the low end of overweight).

The highest whole grain intake was associated with smaller increases in fasting glucose, waist circumference and systolic blood pressure compared to the lowest intake. Conversely, greater intake of refined grains was associated with greater increases in waist circumference and less decline in triglyceride concentration.

Replacing refined grains (like white rice) and refined grain products (like white bread, white pasta and refined-grain crackers) with whole grains (like barley, quinoa, bulgur and brown rice) and whole-grain products (like whole-wheat breads and pastas and whole-grain crackers) may help middle-aged and older adults keep abdominal fat, triglyceride and blood glucose control more stable over time, thereby reducing the risk of cardiometabolic diseases like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

The bottom line? If you’re wanting to make a healthy change to your diet, add some whole grains. Switch to brown rice, whole wheat bread, tortillas and pasta, and add quinoa or farro to your salads or as a side dish.

Q and A

Q: I’ve heard omega-3s are good for me. What are they?

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A: Omega-3 fatty acids are components of fats. They are considered healthy fats because they support heart health, provide the body with energy and help cells function as they should. There are three main types of omega-3 fatty acids -- ALA (alpha linolenic acids), found in plantbased foods and vegetable oils, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acids) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acids). Both EPA and DHA have more potent health benefits, including reducing inflammation and aiding in fetal visual and neurological development. EPAs and DHAs are found primarily in fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring and anchovies. They are also in avocados, flaxseed, walnuts and edamame.

Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian with SIU Med School in Springfield, Illinois. For comments or questions, contact her at charfarg@aol.com or follow her on Twitter @NutritionRD..

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BY DENNIS MAMMANA

Week of March 12-18, 2023

Have you ever been disappointed to search for a constellation figure in the heavens only to discover that it was utterly impossible? Trust me, you’re not alone!

Take, for example, the flying steed known as Pegasus. I defy anyone to look skyward and outline its stars in such a way that they can see a flying horse. And, if you can, well, I’m afraid you’ll need more help than I can give you!

No, constellations just aren’t real but are simply groups of randomly distributed stars that ancient storytellers created to represent objects, animals and people. Their combined stars appear nothing like their namesakes, at least not without plenty of imagination (or chemicals), so don’t feel bad that you can’t recognize them.

One particularly unrecognizable star grouping lies in our evening sky right now. It’s known as Monoceros, the unicorn. Monoceros is composed of faint and obscure stars, and we often overlook it because it happens to lie among some of the most brilliant stars in all the heavens. With the moon out of the evening sky this week, you can search for it just to the east of dazzling Orion and between the bright stars Sirius and Procyon.