The Whole Story

I have always been (and sometimes still am) a sucker for commercials and advertisements. As a child, I was convinced that happiness came from Iron Kid’s bread. Those kids looked SO happy. I wanted to have fun like those kids. However, my mom wouldn’t let me get that bread. Did she not want me to be as happy as those children? She made me eat brown bread, with NO kids skate boarding on the package. Why, WHY, WHYYY could I not have that bread?!

I use to LOVE white rice. I would eat white rice and soy sauce at least twice a day. (It was the Asian in me). When I was about 10 years old, my family started getting brown rice. My world was turned upside down. WHY would my mother do this to me?! BROWN RICE WAS DISGUSTING. I thought I was eating rocks. I refused to eat it. One day, I decided to put my 10 year-old pride aside and give brown rice one last try. I’ve loved it ever since.

When I went home for Spring break, I cooked dinner for my grandpa, grandma, brother and sister-in-law. I put together a healthy vegan Indian meal accompanied by basmati brown rice. At the dinner table, my brother and grandpa both stated that they only cook white rice. WHITE RICE?! I sat there and short circuited for a few seconds… but I…teach people…I’m going to be a… dietitian…my own family doesn’t eat…whole grains… how has this happened?

So what’s the big deal? What’s the difference between whole grains and refined grains?

Whole grains are made up of three main parts, the endosperm, germ, and bran. The germ contains the majority of fat and the bran contains a large amount of fiber and other nutrients. The endosperm makes up about 80% of the grain and contains the bulk of carbohydrate and protein content (Slavin).

The refining process separates the bran and germ from the endosperm. When the bran gets removed, disease-preventing nutrients, phytochemicals, and antinutrients like tannins and phytic acid are also removed (Slavin). (I know ‘antinutrient’ may sound bad, but it’s not).

Whole grains obviously include the bran, germ, and endosperm, which makes food made from whole grains important sources of these nutrients and phytochemicals.

So whole grains contain dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals; fortified grains provide micronutrients such as thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid, and iron, but they are missing fiber and phytochemicals (Slavin).

What do antioxidants and phytochemicals do? So glad you asked. They reduce the damaging effects of chronic inflammation. One of these effects is DNA repair and stabilization. Now, you may not know this, but DNA is kind of important. So if your DNA is screwed, you are screwed. Antioxidants and phytochemicals also help with cell cycle control, protein repair, removal of reactive molecular species, and induce detoxification.

A study on postmenopausal women investigated the relationship of whole-grain intake with death attributed to oxidative stress and inflammation. This includes most chronic degenerative diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, asthma, ischemia-reperfusion, ulcerative colitis, Crohns disease, type 1 and 2 diabetes, and several types of neurodegenerative diseases.

The study found a reduced risk of death in >35% of those who reported the highest intake of whole grains (Jacobs).

“Several population studies have shown correlations between increased intake of whole grain and decreased risk of developing diet-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, certain cancers, and obesity (Frolich).”

To be fair, I should tell you that there was little relation between refined-grain intake and any cause of death. Refined grain consumption had a positive relationship with inflammatory death, but it was barely significant (Jacobs). So refined grains may not KILL you, but do you really want to live your life always being on the brink of death?

Another study I looked at showed that potatoes (cooked or French-fried), white rice, white bread, and carbonated beverages were most consistently associated with increased risk of type II diabetes (Barclay). (Just something to think about.) I also read that a diet high in whole grains significantly increased serum levels of retinol, a-carotene, and a-tocopherol after 16 weeks. These are vital antioxidants that everyone should want in their bodies (Jacobs)!

My suggestion for you:

If you HATE brown rice, you can try the 50/50 approach. Cook half white rice, half brown rice. Now I’ve never done this before, but brown rice takes a little longer to cook than white rice. If you are cooking the rice on the stove, you may want to add the white rice about 10 minutes after the brown rice.

If you’re feeling unusually daring and want to give up white rice completely, I suggest brown basmati rice. It has that fluffy texture that every white rice lover seems to not be able to live without.

Rice is just the beginning. There are so many different grains you can try.

Lucky you, I found a website that describes 6 different grains and how to cook them.

http://www.forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/food-thought/get-know-6-great-grains

These grains take a shorter amount of time to cook than rice! And who doesn’t love saving time? Varying your food is important; therefore, you should try to get an assortment of grains in your diet.

My personal favorite is Quinoa (KEEN-wa). It only takes about 10 minutes to cook and serves the same purpose as rice. You can roast some veggies seasoned with salt, pepper, and cayenne and place them on a bed of quinoa. Words cannot describe how delicious this is.

You also have to be careful for marketing ploys. Multi-grain might mean ‘lots of different refined grains in one bread.’ ‘Wheat bread’ is not equal to ‘whole wheat’ bread. Always read your labels. If ‘enriched wheat’ (or any other grain) is anywhere is there, put it back on the shelf.

Now you can start living a healthier life. Luckily, I had a mom who loved me so much, she didn’t care how much I whined, because she knew what was best for me and now I’m better off for it. I hope everyone has told their mom happy Mother’s Day :)

References

Barclay, A, & Petozc, P. (2008). Glycemic index, glycemic load, and chronic disease risk—a metaanalysis of observational studies. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87, 627–37.

Frolich, W. (2010). Whole grain for whom and why?. Food and Nutrition Research , 54,

Jacobs, D, & Andersen, L. (2007). Whole-grain consumption is associated with a reduced risk of noncardiovascular, noncancer death attributed to inflammatory diseases in the iowa women’s health study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85, 1606-1614.

Slavin, J, & Jacobs, D. (2001). The role of whole grains in disease prevention. Journal of American Dietetic Association, 101(7),