The Whole Grains Poised for Glory

Fruits and vegetables have been getting a lot of press lately for their ability to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers. Scientists are studying the many compounds they contain, but how they actually prevent illness is just beginning to be understood. 

Whole grains contain many of the same compounds as fruits and vegetables, but, so far, their health-promoting properties have not yet received the same scientific scrutiny or media attention as fruits and vegetables. A recent review of the scientific literature, which assessed the relationship between whole grain consumption and illnesses such heart disease and various cancers, found that whole grains also help to prevent chronic illness.  

Compared to Europeans, Americans do not eat much grain. In 1995, for example, the average American ate about 54 pounds of bread, while the average European consumed more than 160 pounds. Not only that, the grains Americans do eat are almost always refined—partially stripped of their health-giving nutrients through processing. Compared to wholegrain bread, white bread has significantly less zinc, cobalt, iron, copper, molybdenum, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Of these minerals, only iron is added back to "enriched" bread, and this is in a poorly absorbed form. Vitamins are also lost when wheat is refined, and only three are added back. (Similar nutrient losses can be found with degerminated cornmeal and white rice.)

Americans ingest less than half the fiber they did 150 years ago, and the average daily intake is now only 12 grams per day. To protect against cancer, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) recommends 20–30 grams of fiber per day. Adding isolated fiber to foods, such as making baked goods with added bran, does not seem to be as effective in staving off disease as obtaining fiber from whole grains.

Besides important vitamins, minerals and fiber, whole grains contain lignins, phytoestrogens and other important, disease-preventing nutrients that usually aren't found in supplements.

Don't be fooled by supermarket products that pretend to be whole grain. Rye bread, pumpernickel, raisin, honey wheat, wheat, cracked wheat, multigrain, sunflower—all these breads usually contain white flour as their main ingredient. For example, white flour is the main grain in Pepperidge Farm Light Style 7 Grain, Arnold Bran'ola Nutty Grains, Orowheat Light 9 Grain, and Roman Meal 12 Grain. Pumpernickel is mostly white flour, darkened with caramel coloring. 

[Editor: Whenever I eat white bread, I feel like I'm cheating myself, so I avoid it as much as possible.] Based on information in: Consumers' Research, July 1997