Q: I know I should be eating more whole grains in my diet. How do I know which foods are good sources of whole grains?
A: Luckily, identifying whole grain foods has become much easier! The Whole Grains Council recently created new stamp designs that indicate the number of grams of whole grain ingredients found in a serving of food. As of October 2006, 87 companies are using Whole Grain Stamps on almost 850 different products.
These new tools will make it easier for consumers to spot whole grain foods. A stamp already exists that indicates if foods are "excellent" or "good" sources of whole grains, but the new stamps identify products at two levels: having 8 or more grams of whole grain, and having 16 or more grams of whole grain. These stamps remind consumers to aim for 48g or more of whole grains daily.
The new tools should help consumers see that eating three whole grain food products labeled "100% Whole Grain" is beneficial. Why all this attention to whole grains? Studies suggest that whole grains help to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity.
Whole grain foods include wheat, corn, rice, oats, barley, quinoa, sorghum, spelt, and rye.
- Janel Ovrut
Source: http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/WholeGrainStamp.html
Janel Ovrut is a registered dietitian and graduate student in Nutrition Communication at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She has a BS in Dietetics from Syracuse University.
