Although whole grains are good, you may mistake them for fine grains! Don’t learn these 6 ways of eating...

Nowadays, many people are pursuing a healthier diet and are eating whole grains. Indeed, eating whole grains has many benefits for the body, such as better control of weight and blood sugar, regulating appetite, lowering cholesterol levels, and reducing the risk of cancer.

However, many people actually eat the wrong kind of coarse grains, mistaking "coarse grains" for "fine grains".

So, how to eat whole grains correctly? Today we will talk about the tips of "eating whole grains".

01

Eating whole grains has many benefits

Since we want to eat more whole grains, we must first know what whole grains are.

In simple terms, coarse grains are grains that have not been refined, which is the opposite of refined grains such as refined rice and white flour. Coarse grains generally include whole grains, beans and potatoes .

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The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022) explains the concepts of these three types of coarse grains, including:

Whole grains : refers to grains that have not been refined, or have been milled, crushed, flaked, etc., but still retain the structure and natural nutrients of the whole grain. For example, unrefined rice, millet, black rice, wheat, oats, buckwheat, corn, sorghum, coix seed, etc.

Miscellaneous beans : red beans, mung beans, black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and other beans.

Potatoes : including potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, taro, yams, etc.

Compared with refined grains such as refined rice and white flour, coarse grains can provide more nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and their glycemic index (GI) is often lower than that of refined grains. They can also prevent obesity and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, tumors and other diseases.

02

These 6 ways of eating whole grains are not recommended!

Now, we all know the benefits of whole grains, but do you really know how to eat whole grains? Also, with so many whole grain foods in the supermarket, how should we choose? Now let me tell you.

Sticky and glutinous whole grains are not recommended

Eat a glutinous rice ball for breakfast, a glutinous corn for lunch, and a bowl of yellow rice at night... It seems that you are eating coarse grains when you eat like this, but in fact they are all sticky staple foods and are not truly healthy coarse grains .

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The sticky taste of these whole grains comes from the amylopectin in them. Amylopectin is easily absorbed by the human body and is also an "accomplice" in raising blood sugar. For example, the GI of glutinous rice is 87, the GI of glutinous corn is 77, and the GI of yellow rice is as high as 109.7 (part of the data comes from the food glycemic index table published by the Chinese Nutrition Society).

This kind of sticky and glutinous "fake whole grain" is not suitable for people with diabetes.

Whole grain paste is not recommended

Many people think that beans and grains taste too rough and too solid. If they are mashed into a paste, it will not only taste good but also provide whole grains, killing two birds with one stone.

But in fact, this is not the right way to eat whole grains, because after these whole grains are beaten into paste, the finer they are ground, the easier they are to digest and absorb, so they change from low GI foods to high GI foods .

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In this way, eating whole grains into paste is not friendly to blood sugar, so diabetics and people with high blood sugar should naturally eat less of it.

In addition, this kind of porridge can easily take up space in the stomach, making it impossible for us to eat other foods. Even if we do not have diabetes, if we eat porridge made from beans and grains for a long time, it may cause nutritional imbalance in our body.

Eight Treasure Rice and Eight Treasure Porridge are not recommended

In many places, there is a special snack called Eight Treasure Rice, which is made by putting some glutinous rice, red beans (or bean paste), peanuts and lotus seeds into white rice. To make it sweeter, you can also add some red dates, raisins, sugar, and even animal oil.

Eight Treasure Rice Pudding tastes sweet and fragrant, and it seems like you are eating several kinds of whole grains at once, so many people like to eat it. But this is actually not the correct way to eat whole grains .

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First, as mentioned above, glutinous rice raises blood sugar very quickly. However, what you may not expect is that the ability of steaming glutinous rice to raise blood sugar is even stronger than that of granulated sugar, not to mention the red dates, raisins and granulated sugar added directly in the eight-treasure rice, which also promote blood sugar.

The same goes for Eight Treasure Porridge. In addition to these ingredients and sugar, it is cooked into a mushy consistency, which makes it easier to raise blood sugar.

It is not suitable for people with diabetes to eat eight-treasure rice and eight-treasure porridge.

Whole grain steamed bread and oatmeal need to be carefully distinguished from the "authenticity"

There are so many things that we can’t eat, but we can at least eat whole grain steamed buns and oatmeal, right?

We can't take it lightly either.

In supermarkets, we often see some whole grain steamed bread or oatmeal. It should be noted that sometimes, these staple foods that are labeled as whole grain steamed bread or oatmeal are actually made of refined wheat flour , with just a little bit of whole grain added, and are called whole grain steamed bread or oatmeal.

The trick to distinguish whether it is a real whole grain food is hidden in the food ingredient list. Generally speaking, the higher the ranking in the ingredient list, the more added it is in the food .

For example, the whole grain steamed bun below has wheat flour ranked first in the ingredient list, not whole wheat flour, so it is most likely not a real whole grain steamed bun.

Image source: Chinese Nutrition Society website

The same goes for oatmeal. If the first ingredient in the list is not oats, barley, rye, etc., but wheat flour, then it is not a true whole grain.

Image source: Chinese Nutrition Society website

When we buy this kind of food, we must not be deceived by the packaging. If we look at the ingredient list carefully, we will not be fooled.

Whole grain biscuits, bread, etc. need to be carefully distinguished from the "authenticity"

Similar to fake whole grain steamed bread and oatmeal, there are also some whole grain biscuits and breads that are also dressed in the coat of whole grains, but are actually made of refined flour. When buying such products, you must also carefully check the ingredients that rank first in the ingredient list .

In addition, since whole grains contain more dietary fiber and have a bad taste, a lot of oil and sugar are added to these foods during processing to make them taste better so that more people are willing to buy them. However, the result of adding oil and sugar is that not only does the blood sugar level rise faster, but it also causes a lot of extra sugar and calories.

Image source: Chinese Nutrition Society website

In the ingredient list of the two whole grain foods above, we can see that the first ranked ones are refined bread flour and wheat flour, not whole grains, so they are not proper whole grain foods.

Puffed whole grains are not recommended

In supermarkets, we often see some puffed foods under the guise of whole grains. This kind of food often tastes very good, and the ingredients contain whole grains, which is very popular among consumers.

However, it should be noted that the puffing process will gelatinize the starch inside the food and form a loose structure. The digestion and absorption rate of puffed food can reach more than 99%.

In addition, in order to adjust the taste, merchants often add a lot of sugar, oil and other additives. Such food can be eaten occasionally as a snack, but it must not be eaten as a long-term staple food.

03 Remember these 6 ways to eat whole grains!

Although whole grains are good, you should also pay attention to the way and method when eating them. So how should whole grains be eaten?

In addition to keeping our eyes open to see which foods are real whole grains, there are some other things we need to pay attention to:

1. Mix a variety of whole grains and eat them with three meals a day.

2. Do not suddenly replace all fine grains with coarse grains. Eat them gradually to give the stomach and intestines more time to adapt.

3. Drink more water and avoid constipation caused by eating too much coarse grains.

4. Use steaming and boiling more often, frying less often, and use less sugar .

5. Pay attention to eating in moderation. The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)" points out that adults should consume 200-300 grams of grains per day, including 50-150 grams of whole grains and beans, and 50-100 grams of potatoes. Eating too much or too little is not good for your health.

6. People with anemia, weak gastrointestinal function, kidney disease, the elderly, and children should not eat too much coarse grains .

Finally, share in the comment section how your family eats whole grains~

Author: Lin Xiao Popular Science Creator

Reviewer: Chen Ran, Associate Research Librarian (Science Communication), Senior Engineer, COFCO Nutrition and Health Research Institute