Why You Should Start Using Whole Instead of Refined Grains

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What are the existing whole grains?

Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

Brown rice, barley, buckwheat, oats, quinoa, brown pasta, wild rice, teff and rye.

What are the difference between whole and refined grain?

The refined cereal (for example, white rice) until reaching our supermarkets went through a grinding process using whole grain as raw material. This grinding process removes the outer part of the grain, which is the part that is the most difficult to chew and digest.

So, is it better to eat white rice? No, but let’s first understand better what we remove from the grain in the grinding process.

Photo by Harvard T.H. Chan

We take out:

Bran containing:

• Fiber: 1. Helps lower cholesterol; 2. To move toxins into the intestinal tract assists in preventing blood clots; 3. Slows down glucose absorption by avoiding spikes in blood sugar.
• Vitamin B, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, antioxidants and phytochemicals (they are associated with the prevention of various diseases)

Seed that is rich in healthy fat, vitamin E and B, phytochemicals and antioxidants.

We keep:

Endosperm that is rich in carbohydrates, more protein and in small amounts of vitamin B and mineral.

Should it be applied to everyone? No, it depends on the diet you currently have, for example, if you eat fast food several times a week it is preferable to focus on reducing this and then yes, to switch from refined cereal to whole grain.

Is the advantage so great that it compensates for the not so good taste? Our taste buds get used to what we give them. Studies indicate that, for example, people with a higher BMI are less sensitive to flavors, you give more sweets to those who normally eat more, and they will not find it so sweet. It is all a matter of habit. And even if the advantage is reduced, isn’t it better to be 1% better every day than 0.001% worse?

Brown rice is much more expensive. It is true that it is more expensive than white rice, but nowadays several supermarkets already offer white branded rice that have a price closer to white rice.

How can I know which is the best bread, rice, pasta, etc.? According to Dr. Michael Gregor in the book “How not to die” we should look for foods that have a 1–5 radius between fiber and hydrates (for example, look on the label for foods that have 2g of fiber containing a maximum of 10g of hydrates).

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