Whole Grain Products - Health Benefits

Whole grain products are not the invention of modern culinary, but the most original and very useful human food.

A bit of theory

Wholegrain is the name of the product that contains all parts of the natural grain - in the form in which it grew and matured.

The main part of the grain and, in fact, the grain itself is called endosperm. It contains the essential nutrients that make the product valuable and edible. These are carbohydrates and protein, which are required for the development of the second important part of the grain - grain germwhich over time can turn into a new plant.

Surrounds and protects the storage of nutrients and the embryo the third part of the grain - cereal sheathit is also called bran.

If the grain has been processed - peeling, peeling, peeling and grinding - only the endosperm remains in it. It is from the endosperm that wheat consists of which the thinnest white flour is made.

Together with the loss of the shell and germ, the grain loses most of the vitamins and minerals. The output is almost the same carbohydrates.

A bit of history

Old ancestors lived hungry, and therefore saved on everything. It seemed a terrible blasphemy and wastefulness to clean the grain from the shell everything went well.

Turning rye and wheat into fine flour flour turned out to be corny nothing. Not to mention adding eggs, milk or sugar to the dough - the first and second were eaten well and so, and the third got on big holidays. Therefore from coarse gray flour  baked bread, and from unmilled grain  cooked porridge.

Archaeologists often find remnants of food at the site where our ancestors ate. Including ancient bakery products. As the scientists say, that bread neither looked nor tasted in any way like our sliced ​​loaf, but, with all its external unattractiveness, turned out to be much healthier and more beneficial than today's baking. What is the paradox?

Little about the benefits

Eating whole grain foods improves bowel function  and relieves constipation due to the high content of fiber in them. In addition, these products protect the body from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Whole grain enough low calorieand digested for a long time. This means that the person will experience a feeling of satiety longer, and the blood sugar level will remain stable.

Do not forget about the whole set beneficial substances: vitamins and, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, copper, zinc and phosphorus.

No doubt cereal

These include brown and wild rice, not crushed buckwheat, coarse and cooked oat wheat and barley flakes, which have not undergone additional processing.

But this is only what you can buy in almost any store. Consumers are more likely to find whole wheat, oatmeal or barley grain and flour from them on sale.

Eat whole grains

Use whole grains in mixed dishes, such as barley in vegetable soup or stew, wheat groats in a casserole of rice and vegetables.

Recently, we have increasingly heard calls from specialists for the inclusion of whole-grain products in the daily diet. These appeals refer to people suffering from many diseases, to those who struggle with excess weight, to those who lead, as well as to perfectly healthy people in order to maintain their health for many years. Whole grain foods are the basis adopted by most nutritionists around the world. How to understand what a whole-grain product is, how to find it in a store and what its benefits will be covered in this article.

What is whole grain products.
  Grain of various cultures when ripening consists of three parts:

• The endosperm is the main part of the grain, and, in fact, the grain itself. The endosperm contains carbohydrates, proteins, and minerals.
• The germ is part of the grain, which, under favorable conditions, germinates and turns into a new plant. The germ is a source of large amounts of vitamins, minerals (, copper, and others), proteins and fats.
• Shell - the shell surrounding and protects the grain, also called bran. Bran is rich in B vitamins, antioxidants and fiber.

It is the grain that has preserved all three parts and is whole grain. When grinding, peeling, peeling and peeling, the grain is deprived of the shell and the embryo, thereby losing most of the healthy substances.

What foods are wholegrain.
  Whole grain foods include whole grain foods. It can be cereals (brown, cereal, couscous, and others), as well as pasta and bakery products from wholemeal flour. Recently, more and more often appears on the shelves of our stores, it allows people to cook tasty and healthy pastries on their own.

Useful properties of whole grain products:

• Whole grains are very useful for the cardiovascular system, they help to reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure, improve blood composition. People with heart disease should regularly eat whole grain foods.

• Many experts argue that whole-grain products help protect against cancer. Numerous studies show that people who regularly consume such products are less likely to suffer from cancer.

• Regular consumption of whole grain foods reduces the likelihood of diabetes.

• Favorably affects the nervous system.

• Due to its high fiber content, whole-grain products improve the performance of the gastrointestinal tract, help normalize digestion and relieve constipation.

• Regular consumption of whole grain products improves skin condition and thus helps people to stay young and beautiful for many years.

• Breakfast of wholegrain products charges the body with energy for the whole day, and this in turn is a guarantee of good mood and well-being.

Whole grain products for weight loss.
  For weight loss, people most often begin to reduce the consumption of foods rich in carbohydrates, i.e. stop eating, bread, pasta, etc. Meanwhile, most nutritionists recommend the opposite include these products in your diet, but with the condition that they should be whole grains. Whole grain products contain a large amount of fiber, which helps normalize digestion, improve metabolism, cleanse the body of toxins and waste, and also maintain a feeling of satiety for a long time. In addition, whole-grain foods are rich in minerals that a person loses while sitting on exhausting diets.

Improving your health and improving your health is not so difficult - just add whole-grain products to your diet. The peculiarity of whole-grain cereals lies in the fact that the processing of grains does not remove anything extra. Thus, all useful substances are retained in the grains. Whole grain flour is made from whole grain cereals, and whole grain products are made from whole grain flour.

Whole grain fibers are very healthy.

Whole grains are rich in carbohydrates that benefit our body. It is the whole grain fibers that make this product so useful.

Whole grain bread contains fiber, vitamins B and E, minerals, including zinc and selenium, antioxidants, vegetable estrogens and other beneficial elements that our body needs.

In the purified white wheat flour during the processing of grain, most of the useful substances are lost, with the exception of carbohydrates.

Proven Health Benefits

Whole grains are combined with any dishes, they help the body to replenish strength and energy during diets. In addition, whole grains will help you keep your weight under control.

Studies show that people whose diets are rich in wholegrain products are less at risk for cardiovascular and oncologic diseases, less likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes, and it has also been proven that whole grains help lower blood cholesterol levels.

Whole grain is ideal for those who watch their figure. Firstly, it is low in calories, excess fats and calories are not digested, but there is no feeling of hunger. The benefits of whole-grain products are scientifically proven, they contain a wide variety of nutrients and are popular all over the world. In accordance with food recommendations, an increase in whole grain foods in the diet has a positive effect on your health. It is recommended to consume whole grain products during each meal.

Rich choice

Every day it is very simple to supplement each dish with whole-grain products - the choice of whole-grain is huge. Wholegrain breakfasts are porridge or cereal, bran or whole-grain muesli. Instead of cooking plain rice or pasta for dinner, you can try whole-grain rice or pasta. An alternative addition to the main dish is barley, rye, oatmeal, couscous or whole grain noodles.

When choosing wholegrain products in the bread department, customers should not focus only on the color of the bread. Firstly, the dark color of bakery products does not always mean that the product is useful, and secondly, white bread may also contain whole grains. Buyers should carefully read the label on the product. In the list of ingredients on the label, wholegrain flour is rye wholegrain flour or just rye flour, wholemeal flour and whole grain wheat flour. Almost all types of rye bread belong to whole grain breads, for example, small rye breads, rye bread and bread, and whole grain breads. The choice of products is increased several times, thanks to wheat bread made from whole-grain flour and oat bread, which consists of fibers. In recent years, many snacks have appeared, such as bars and flakes, which include whole grains.

Be wiser, go for whole grain products

• Choose whole grain bread.
• Add whole grain cereals and whole grain breakfasts to your diet.
• As a side dish, give preference to rice and whole-grain pasta.
• For a snack, choose whole grain cookies and candy bars.
• While cooking, add bran, ground grain, seeds to the dough and choose rye, dark wheat flour, or wholemeal flour
• Try yogurt or kefir with muesli, bran and oatmeal

Make sure your daily diet is sufficiently enriched with fiber ...

Every day people eat too little fiber. Find out how you can replenish your daily fiber rate ...

On average, people eat less fiber than necessary - about 20 grams per day. The easiest way to compensate for the lack of fiber is to eat whole-grain products with each meal. Five slices of whole-grain rye bread will help you to replenish the daily rate, for example, the same amount of fiber is contained in one kilogram of carrots!

This list of products will provide your body with the necessary minimum fiber (25–35 grams / day):

• 140 g oat bran (approximately 2.3 deciliters)
• 250 g of rye bread (about 5-7 slices)
• kg of carrots or strawberries
• 1.4 kg of apples
• 1.8 kg boiled potatoes
• 2.8 kg of Chinese cabbage, cucumbers and tomato salad

Modern foods use a wide variety of cereals, including wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, and rye. During processing, their grains may be cracked, coarsely ground, rolled or crushed into flour.

Whole grain  called such grains, in which the main components are stored in the same proportions as in the raw. The main components are core  (grain germ), endosperm  and bran  (outer shell).

Endosperm  occupies the largest part of the grain and consists mainly of proteins and starches, necessary to feed the germ during maturation.

Bran  create a kind of protective barrier for the grain, and, together with the core, are concentrated sources of useful substances of grain. The amount of whole grains in the final product is different, and this affects the content of fiber and other elements.

Many studies have confirmed that frequent consumption of whole grains reduces the risk of a variety of diseases, such as cancer, obesity, and various heart diseases.

Consumers of whole grain crops, scientists say, are more physically active, tend to smoke less and eat more fruits, vegetables and fiber. Some studies also show that the grinding structure affects insulin levels.

Whole grain foods are beneficial in the process of losing weight, according to observations, their widespread presence in the diet is associated with a lower BMI and has a positive effect on weight retention.

This is due to the fact that whole grains help in short-term regulation of appetite and utilization of macronutrients. Whole grain foods usually have a lower energy density  (assimilable energy per unit of weight) than the products of the grains processed. Research confirms that people usually eat the same amount of food, regardless of its caloric content. Consequently, adding whole grains to the diet reduces its total caloric content simply because of the reduction in energy consumed. The feeling of satiety remains the same.

Satiety is primarily a physiological mechanism, the purpose of which is to regulate further food intake and the processes of digestion and absorption.

Products, depending on their physical and chemical properties, differently affect the perception of satiety. Several studies on cereals have shown that whole grain and crushed wheat bread is better than bread made from whole grain flour. Glucose and insulin levels were lower after taking grain kernels than after flour; This shows that grain structure affects metabolic reactions.

Observations of scientists lead to the conclusion that it is necessary to give preference to cereals more coarse.

However, this statement is not true for all cultures. For example, a slice of whole-grain rye bread for breakfast will saturate you more than a similar ration of rye porridge in terms of calorie content, and both options clearly win over white wheat bread. At the same time, wheat and corn, two of the basic foodstuffs of humanity, are digested the faster, the finer the grinding, which was confirmed by a large study back in 1988.

A number of papers prove that ground wheat flour causes a stronger insulin jump than wholemeal flour.

Of course, there are studies in which the effect of whole-grain crops on glucose and insulin levels, as well as on the feeling of satiety, the number of calories consumed and weight is not confirmed. Nevertheless, in one of them a positive effect on blood pressure was observed, and in the other, a decrease in appetite when eating barley compared to wheat or rice.

The Internet is replete with such statements: "When digesting whole foods, especially rich in fiber, such as oatmeal and brown rice, the human body burns twice as many calories as it does when digesting processed foods, such as white rice". But, as mentioned above, whole-grain foods simply help to consume less calories and not burn more.

Among the followers of a healthy lifestyle popular use of bran in its pure form. It is important to remember that this product itself contains very few digestible carbohydrates, but it is rich in healthy dietary fiber.

Observe the rate of consumption of bran - 30-50 grams per day, and also make sure that you do not have contraindications (some diseases of the gastrointestinal tract).

Sizes of portions of whole grain products

• 120 g boiled brown rice or other cooked grain
• 120 g cooked wholegrain pasta
• 120 g cooked oatmeal
• 30 g uncooked whole-grain pasta, brown rice or other grains
• 1 slice of whole grain bread
• 1 very small (30 g) piece of wholegrain bun
• 120 g of prepared wholegrain muesli

Literature:

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   K. W. Heaton, S. N. Marcus, P. M. Emmett, C. in. Vitro., ”Am. J. Clin. Nutr., Vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 675–82, Apr. 1988
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The Russian proverb “Shchi and porridge is our food” does not in the least exaggerate the meaning of porridge for the wholesome and healthy eating  person Porridge is an original Russian dish containing all trace elements, vitamins and nutrients that are necessary for the full development of a person. Porridge is perfectly digested, contribute to rapid saturation, and is the optimal source of energy for each day. A variety of recipes for cereals allows you to get enough and enjoy even the inveterate gourmet and the most fastidious child. However, not every cereal and not every cereal used to make it has the properties that are discussed in this article. Today we will talk about what whole grains are, why porridge from them is much more useful than ordinary ones, how to choose ready-made whole-grain cereals and how best to cook them yourself.

Whole grain.

Untreated and unprocessed grain is a biologically active product that is preserved in its original form and has a color coat (bran), an endosperm (hard fruit) and a grain germ. This whole grain structure retains absolutely all trace elements, vitamins and nutrients. Refined groats are only hard fruit, which, after processing, loses a huge amount of these nutrient fibers, fats and antioxidant elements. Together with the removable shell, it loses fiber, a significant part of vitamins and minerals, and with the germ - phytonutrients (vegetable substances - lignin, phytic acid and antioxidants).

What are whole grain cereals useful for?

They have a number of healing properties:

1. Improve the work of the gastrointestinal tract and negate the possibility of constipation.

2. Normalize digestion and stomach function. Eliminate colitis, dyskinesia, help get rid of dysbacteriosis, quickly remove the bile and cope with heartburn.

3. Due to the presence of fiber, whole grain cereals have a beneficial effect on people suffering from diabetes, hypertension and various diseases of the cardiovascular system. They reduce the amount of lipoproteins and cholesterol, as well as reduce blood sugar.

4. Thanks to lignin, they prevent breast and prostate cancer.

5. Regular consumption of whole-grain cereals reduces the likelihood of developing cancer of the digestive tract and even stomach, as well as cancer of the lung, kidney and bladder.

6. Improve complexion and skin condition, make it beautiful, smooth, silky and pleasant to the touch.

7. Due to the presence of antioxidants, interfere with all the aging processes, purifying the liver from various harmful substances.

8. Perfectly affect the human sexual functions, cleansing the body and improving vital energy.

9. Favorable effect on people with excess weight.

Whole grain cereals have a proportional ratio of nutrients and fiber. Thanks to this, carbohydrates and fats are practically not absorbed, but quickly and permanently saturate the body. Weight loss, cleansing, the supply of nutrients, improving mood and increasing energy - these are the wonderful qualities for which whole grain cereals are loved and appreciated.

How to choose ready-made whole grain cereals.

If the packaging of cereals or ready-made cereals says: “made from cereals,” “from whole grains,” or “multi-cereals,” this does not mean that you have a whole-grain product. Do you want to make whole grain cereals? Then buy only those where it is written: "wholegrain." However, this label is not always indicated. Whole grain cereals are those cereals, the first word in the list of ingredients of which is the word "whole", then the name of the cereals used, and only then everything else.

How to cook whole grain cereals.

1. Buy ready-made wholegrain cereals and brew them with boiling water.

2. Cook porridge alone in water or milk.

3. And the best way to eat whole-grain cereal is raw. You do not need to cook the cereal, but rather pour boiling water on it or brew it in a thermos. You can pour yogurt, milk or kefir and let it brew for several hours. This is best done at night. In the morning you can add berries, fruits, honey or jam. Butter, vegetable or olive oil, vegetables, cookies, dried fruits, nuts and seeds can be added to whole grain cereals. Every day you can cook different cereals and add different ingredients to them, and your meal every time will be not only useful, but also tasty and varied.

What cereals to choose for cooking wholegrain porridge.

Buckwheat- the queen of all porridges. It is recommended for use for children, adults, athletes, the sick, healthy and allergic. It can and should be used by diabetics, hypertensive patients and those who have problems with the kidneys and liver, as well as those who have greatly reduced hemoglobin. Whole buckwheat is rich in easily digestible proteins. In its composition, it has magnesium, potassium, calcium, vitamin “B” and a whole range of vitamins and minerals.

Corn  - contains silicon, charitable influence on the condition of the skin, bones and teeth. Excellent effect on the intestines and heart, removes excess fat and promotes collagen biosynthesis. It is recommended for people with dystrophy, rheumatism, epilepsy, atherosclerosis and those who often have constipation.

Oatmeal  - also rich in fiber, potassium and vitamin "B". It stands out from a number of other croup with a large amount of selenium, which perfectly slows the aging process and prevents the development of cancer. Oatmeal removes toxins, prevents cramps, increases potency and improves brain activity. It also helps the heart, liver, pancreas and thyroid gland. Oatmeal is indicated for allergies, as well as those who have arthritis, obesity, diseases of the stomach and intestines.

Millet  - Zinc, copper, manganese, and necessary for the heart and blood vessels, calcium and magnesium - substances for which it is worth loving this cereal. Millet porridge helps to remove excess fats, minerals and salts. It retains moisture and perfectly promotes skin regeneration.

Perlovka  - These are vitamins "B", calcium, magnesium and lysine, which has a remarkable antiviral effect. Allergy recommended. Used to normalize digestion. It is recommended for anemia and to improve metabolism. It cleanses the intestines and improves the condition of nails, hair and skin.

Pic - it is the smallest calorie. Wholemeal rice porridge has starch and a huge amount of easily digestible plant-based proteins. It is recommended for stomach disorders and to strengthen the stool.

Whole grain cereals are an excellent food product, which is necessary not only for children, the elderly and athletes, but also for all those who want to quickly and effectively cleanse their body of toxins, saturate it with nutrients, trace elements and vitamins, as well as take care of well-being and get energy all day.