Eat 3 or More Whole-Grain Foods Every Day (from American Heart Association)

Eat 3 or More Whole-Grain Foods Every Day

Wheat, oats and rice are examples of grains. Some foods made from these grains use only the inside of the grain. Whole-grain foods include the outside – the entire grain.

The American Heart Association recommends eating 6 to 8 servings of grain foods a day, especially whole grains.

Info source: https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/Eat-3-or-More-Whole-Grain-Foods-Every-Day_UCM_320264_Article.jsp


Wheat, oats and rice are examples of grains. Some foods made from these grains use only the inside of the grain. Whole-grain foods include the outside – the entire grain.

The American Heart Association recommends eating 6 to 8 servings of grain foods a day, especially whole grains.

What Makes Whole Grains So Great?

Whole-grain foods are healthy because they contain fiber. A diet high in fiber can help reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Fiber causes food to stay in your stomach longer, so you fell full and your blood sugar doesn’t go up as quickly after you eat. Whole grains, such as whole-wheat flour and brown rice, also have more fiber  than refined white flour and white rice.

Whole grains and other high-fiber foods help your health in many ways, including:

• helping to control blood sugar and blood cholesterol
• making you feel full, so you eat less 
• preventing constipation, or hard bowel movements

How To Eat More Fiber

It’s easy to get more fiber. Just replace foods you already eat with foods containing more fiber such as whole-grain foods. For example:

Instead of ...	Try ...
white bread or “wheat” bread	“whole-wheat” bread or rye bread
white rice	brown rice or wild rice
regular pasta	whole-wheat or whole-grain pasta
macaroni	bulgur wheat
corn flakes	bran flakes or other bran cereal
crispy rice cereals	whole-grain cereals
cream of wheat	old-fashioned or quick oatmeal
flour tortillas	Whole-grain or corn tortillas (made without lard)