Take a walk down the bread and cereal aisle and chances are your head will be spinning. Grain products have come a long way and it’s not all good. Before it was clear-cut what was whole grain and what was not. But now you have to do your homework. Even as dietitian I can be fooled until I get the facts: the ingredients list.
Take the bread aisle. The outside of the packaging is the marketing ploy. A product that states multi-grain, hearty grains, made with whole grains, or high in fiber isn’t necessarily whole grains. You need to look at the ingredient list for the word “whole,” such as whole wheat. This should be the first ingredient. If you see refined white flour, enriched wheat flour, unbleached wheat flour, or just wheat flour it’s not the real deal.
Next take a stroll down the cereal aisle. With so many varieties and claims what’s real? Again, look for the word whole, or ingredients such as oat flakes, rolled oats and bran (it’s not a whole grain but contains good stuff like fiber). Rice, rice flour, corn flour, corn meal, wheat flakes and wheat flour are not whole grains.
Also keep an eye on fiber and sugar. Shoot for three grams or greater of fiber per 100 calories and make it intact fiber from bran. Companies have started adding ingredients that count as fiber such as inulin (chickory root), oat and soy fiber, maltodextrin, gums, and starches polydextrose and psyllium. As for sugar, a good goal is less than five grams of sugar per 100 calories (this can be tricky as it does not include fruit such as raisins).
There are a lot of gimmicks out there. Do your homework to get your best bang for your buck. And be aware that just because it has fewer calories doesn’t mean it is better for you. Your best plan of attack is to stick with the originals and steer clear of those crunches and clusters.
--Beth St.Louis, MS, RD, LDN
Program Dietitian
Martin Memorial Center for Health and Healing
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