(27-04-11) Urban Legend: The Whole Grain Scam

You can?t swing a rope without hearing some spokesperson for the American
Dietetic Association tell you how great whole grains are and how you should
make them a big part of your diet.

?Whole grains? are definitely better than processed grains. The question is
?how much better?, and the answer is? not so much.

Sure this sounds like nutritional heresy, but consider the facts. Processed
grains- like most cereals, pastas and breads?are because they?

Contain almost no nutrients (except the ones the manufacturers put back in
with ?fortification?).
Contain minimal fiber.
Are almost always high on the glycemic scale, meaning they raise your blood
sugar quickly. This inevitably leads to a sequence of events resulting in
energy fluctuations, cravings, and, for some, the fogginess and mood swings
associated with low blood sugar.
Whole grains are supposed to offer the solution to the problems of processed
grains, but the truth of the matter is? they don?t.

See, grains- unlike fruits and vegetables and most nuts- can never be eaten
without some processing. You can?t pluck a stalk of wheat and start chowing
down. Even a natural, whole grain has to be turned into a food, and it?s
?natural? state is much farther from ?edible? than, say, a berry or a carrot.
?If your whole grains have been ground into flour, then it?s not whole grain
anymore?, says Todd Narson, DC. ?The flour in these products was once a whole
grain but it isn?t anymore?. Big food companies love to proclaim that their
products are a ?good source of whole grains? but read the ingredients, not the
advertising copy on the package. ?Whole grain flour? is only marginally better
than regular flour.

It?s amazing how many people buy into the conventional wisdom about grains
being a great source of fiber. They?re not. Most commercial breads have one or
two grams of fiber at best, and there?s not much difference in fiber content
between breads made with whole grain flours and breads made with white flour.
For comparison, a half cup of beans contains between 11-17 grams of fiber, and
half a Florida avocado contains 8.5. Those are real high-fiber foods.

Then there?s the blood sugar issue. Because whole grains- in theory- are
higher in fiber, they are supposed to have a much more muted effect on blood
sugar. But that?s not always the case. A quick glance at the glycemic load
tables shows that there?s only a few points difference between white spaghetti
and whole wheat spaghetti, and brown rice and white rice are within spitting
distances of each other. That doesn?t mean that there aren?t good things in
brown rice that aren?t found in white rice, but it does mean that if you?re
trying to control your blood sugar, whole grains are very far from a ?free
lunch?.

Finally, there?s the gluten issue. Gluten- a protein found in wheat, barley
and rye- is a very reactive substance that causes a lot of problems for an
awful lot of people. Shari Lieberman, PhD, CNS has linked gluten to an enormous
range of symptoms and disorders including neurological disorders, autoimmune
disorders, and digestive disorders, and that?s just for openers. Dr. Leiberman
suspects gluten sensitivity may be an issue in chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia,
anemia, asthma and many other conditions. Many people who have tried going off
gluten report remarkable improvements in a host of symptoms that they hadn?t
suspected were linked to their food. If gluten might be a problem for you,
whole grains won?t solve it.

So does this mean you should discard the concept of eating whole grains? No.
But read labels carefully. Try to find ?flourless? breads, or those made from
sprouted grains. Check the fiber content on the nutritional facts label.

And remember, there?s no basic physiological need for grains in the human
diet, so don?t worry too much about it if grains just aren?t doing it for you.

Eat them if you like- but if you?re one of the many people who feel better
without them, don?t give it a second thought.

Source: jonnybowden.com

News

---

In evidenza

"L'informazione presente nel sito serve a migliorare, e non a sostituire, il rapporto medico-paziente."

Per coloro che hanno problemi di salute si consiglia di consultare sempre il proprio medico curante.