With so many fad diets these days suggesting to remove grains completely from the diet, we thought it was time to shed some light on why the powerful whole grain should be included as part of a healthy diet.

So firstly, what is a whole grain?
When you hear the term whole grain, it is generally describing something that has been made with or that contains the whole unprocessed grain. Whole grains are less refined and closer to the original grain itself – which is a good thing.

Why is it so important for you to consume whole grains?
The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend as part of a healthy diet to eat a wide variety of grain foods, with mostly whole grain and/or high cereal fibre varieties. Whole grains are especially important in vegan and vegetarian diets as a source of zinc and iron.

 

Nutritionally, whole grains are:

• High in dietary fibre
• Low GI
• Naturally low in salt and saturated fat
• Nutrient rich, providing vitamins, minerals, trace elements, protein, carbohydrateand phytochemicals

and they have been shown to:

• Assist with weight management
• Reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
• Reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes
• Reduce the risk of bowel cancer

So which foods contain the important whole grains?

• Wholemeal and mixed grain breads, rolls, wraps, flat breads and English muffins
• Whole grain breakfast cereals, including muesli and rolled oats (including porridge and good quality muesli bars)
• Whole grain crisp breads and rice cakes
• Wholemeal pasta, brown rice, popcorn, bulgar (cracked wheat), quinoa, barley, wholemeal cous cous

How can you tell if the product contains whole grains?
Look for words in the ingredient list such as: Whole grain, whole wheat, stoneground, wholemeal, brown rice, oats, oatmeal, multigrain, sprouted, sorghum, quinoa and buckwheat. Also look for products which state: Contains whole grain, high in whole grain.

Many Carman’s products are rich in whole grains
With rolled oats at the heart of a large portion of our delicious recipes, we pride ourselves on our products whole grain content. Some of our products including the Almond, Coconut & Chia Porridge and the Honey, Vanilla & Cinnamon Porridge contain over 80% whole grain, which is almost everything whole grain. We also add puffed rice to some recipes to increase the whole grain content – because we take the WHOLE grain story seriously.