Eating For Health

Are you eating whole grains?   Can you name 3 whole grain cereals, name 3 whole grain crackers?   In the class I teach, it is amazing how few students eat whole grains until they learn how very important whole grains are to their health.   How can you add more whole grains to your day and why are whole grains so important to good health?             1.   What are whole grains?       The Whole Grains Council provides excellent guidance on whole grains and even have a tutorial,  Whole Grains 101 .  We are all familiar with grains – wheat, corn, oats, barley, quinoa, spelt, rye, rice.  It is interesting that all grains start out as “Whole Grains”.  It is only in refining that parts of the grain are removed, the healthiest parts.  When a grain is refined, it is no longer a “whole grain”.  Whole Grains include ALL 3 Parts of the grain – the bran (rich in fiber, antioxidants and B vitamins), the germ (rich in B vitamins, some protein and many minerals, some healthy fat) and t

How healthy are nut butters?   So many nut butter options to choose from.   Who didn’t grow up with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?   A staple in most of our school lunches.   But today rather than peanut butter there are many nut butter options to choose from.   The Berkeley Wellness has a good article on “10 Questions About Nut Butters”.    Which nut butters offer the most nutrition?   Since all nut butters are good for your health, choose the flavor you like best.   Why are nut butters so healthy?   They provide protein, a healthy fat, and many vitamins and minerals.    Don’t nut butters have a lot of fat? Nut butters do provide a lot of fat, but the fat in nut butters is a heart healthy fat as it is made up of mono- and polyunsaturated fats.   These are the fats that help lower your cholesterol, not raise your cholesterol levels.   These heart healthy fats also lower your risk of heart disease when you replace the nut fats for saturated fats like bacon. Why