The power of whole grains

Most Americans associate whole grains with whole-grain products like bread, breakfast cereal, crackers or pasta. Few people eat whole grains as part of a meal. Mostly we eat potatoes or pasta with supper, bread in a sandwich for lunch, cereal for breakfast.

But the whole, cooked grains are great as a side in place of potatoes. They can serve as a bed for sauces, veggies and proteins the same way pasta does. Grains combine well with other ingredients in salads, casseroles and skillets. They can even be part of desserts, like rice pudding.

We think of wheat as the staff of life. But after people developed agriculture, different grains were the main form of sustenance in different cultures. Rice was the primary source of carbohydrates in the Orient. In North America, it was corn. In the Middle East, it was wheat as well as barley. In Africa, sorghum and millet were used. Quinoa was used in parts of South America. Worldwide, grains became staples because they can be dried and stored for a long time, and can be easily moved from place to place.

The most common grains are corn, rice, wheat, barley and oats. Millet is one of man’s earliest foods, pre-dating both wheat and rice. Sorghum, an African grass, is popular in the mid-west and is also made into a sweet syrup. Wild rice is the seed of an aquatic grass native to the mid-west region of Minnesota and the Great Lakes. Although quinoa, buckwheat and amaranth are cooked in the same way as grains, they are not true grains because they are not in the grass family, but instead are leafy plants.

Grains are plants in the grass family with small, edible seeds. Whole grain means that the entire seed is consumed; it has not been tampered with. The grain consists of the starchy part, or endosperm — which is often made into flour — the center or germ where the seed is, and the outer shell which contains much of the bran and fiber. When grains are milled into flour, often the bran and the endosperm — wheat germ, in the case of wheat — are discarded.

Whole grains are nutrient-dense complex carbohydrates rich in vitamins — especially folic acid and vitamin E — minerals like magnesium, potassium and selenium, fiber, oils, proteins and numerous micronutrients, antioxidants and phytochemicals.

Whole grains can reduce diabetes risk because they take longer to digest than refined grains and prevent insulin spikes. The fiber in whole grains helps you feel full and keeps your digestive tract working smoothly. This is why whole grains can reduce the risk of constipation, obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stomach and colon cancer.

Flour is often refined — in this way, grains can become baked goods like breads, pastries, tortillas and rice cakes. But when flour is refined, nutrients are lost. Chlorine gas is used to make flour white, creating the byproduct alloxan, which has been implicated in diabetes because it interferes with insulin production in the pancreas. The refiners add some vitamins back in; the end product is called enriched flour.

When baking, substitute half the flour with whole wheat flour or oats. With a food processor, you can make rolled oats into oat flour. Experiment with adding other flours, like corn, rice or buckwheat.

It is best to eat the whole grains, rather than pasta or baked goods they’re made into when milled into flour. Grain-based dishes include pilafs, risottos, puddings and stuffing for poultry. They can be added to soups, stews, casseroles and salads. Grains are easy to cook in large quantities, so you can make a big batch, then add to various meals throughout the week.

Source: Adirondack Daily Enterprise