A primer on whole grains and sugars
How to Identify Both in the Foods You Buy So That You Can Choose the Whole Grains and Avoid the Sugars

By Terri Silva

Identifying whole grains

First, a grain is technically the seed of a grass plant (including wheat, barley, etc).  So nuts, beans and other seeds (flax) are not technically GRAINS, but they are still extremely healthful.  More on them later.

Grains are seeds with a baby plant (where most of the vitamins/minerals are), a protective outer coat (where most of the fiber and many vitamins/minerals are), and food for the baby plant (where almost all of the starch is but hardly any other nutrients).

Refined grains separate the starch component and throw out the healthiest parts: the baby plant and the outer covering.  Whole grains keep the entire seed intact.  Eating whole grain products rather than refined grain products is associated with all sorts of health benefits, including reducing the risk of developing chronic diseases (cardiovascular diseases, cancers, type II diabetes).

However, it’s not always easy to identify whole grain products: First, grains that are in seed form and/or rolled, ground, or chopped are whole.  Oatmeal is an example; even instant!  Wheat berries, corn (including popcorn!), and quinoa are further examples.  But polished grains in seed form are NOT whole; the most common example is white rice.

Flours are made when grains are ground into very fine pieces.  Most of the flours used today are made from wheat seeds that have had the most nutritious parts removed (the baby plant and outer covering) so that only the starch… which is sugar as far as your body is concerned… remains.  When you are looking for products made with whole grain flours, for example pasta, bread and cereal, look for the word “whole” in front of the grain.  If you don’t see the word “whole,” it is likely not to be whole (exceptions: oats are always whole, kamut and emmer are usually whole, amaranth is usually whole, corn is usually whole).

When choosing products, such as breads and pastas, look for grains that come from the top part of the following table.  Many products “trick” you into thinking they are whole but are actually a mix (mostly refined flour plus a little whole flour).  Use this table to help identify what is whole and what is not whole.

List of Common Grains and How to Identify if Whole

Identifying other whole foods

Seeds and nuts- these are always whole, even ground into flours or butters.  Examples: flax, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame/tahini; almonds, walnuts, coconut, peanuts (which are actually legumes).

Legumes- these are generally whole, even ground into flours and spreads.  Examples: beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas.  Soybeans and peanuts are also legumes.  Soy is often heavily processed; I and others are suspicious of heavily processed soy products.  Tofu and tempeh are tried and true safe bets.

Fruits- fruits, dried fruits and fruit purees are whole.  Make sure to eat edible peels, this is where most of the antioxidants are concentrated (buy organic, this is also where the pesticides are). Fruit juices and concentrated fruit juices are NOT whole. 

Vegetables- whole; even dried or ground

Eggs, milk, cream, butter and meats- can be considered whole; generally, organic/pastured/free range are important for your health, the animals’ health, and the environment’s health

Oils- not really whole, but can be wholesome.  Preferred oils are olive, canola, avocado; then, VARIETY is important.  Other than three listed above, try to use different types of vegetable oils; sometimes peanut, sometimes walnut, sometimes safflower, etc. 

Identifying Sugars

Here is a list of ingredients that are essentially sugar. 

What to Avoid

• Hydrogenated oils
• Shortenings/margarines
• High fructose corn syrup (still being debated, but alternatives are often superior for other reasons, so why not go for the alternatives)
• Anything with lots of sugar (as a rule of thumb: if any of the “sugars” are listed in the first 2 ingredients, or more than once in the first 5 ingredients of a product)
• Soybean oil (because we get so much of it in so many products… it’s not BAD like hydrogenated oils, just too much of one thing)

What to Be Suspicious of

• Anything with long lists of hard-to-pronounce ingredients, including vitamins and minerals (this indicates the food may be highly refined/processed so needs added vitamins/minerals)
• Anything with artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame K, etc)
• Artificial food colors
• Anything with a description of mechanical manipulation to an ingredient (though there are some processing techniques that are perfectly fine… that’s a good subject for a different article)

More Information

Here’s a link to a nice article about whole grains from Kansas State University: www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_fnut/mf2560.pdf

A fabulous book by Marion Nestle, a pre-eminent nutrition researcher, with great chapters on kids’ foods: What to Eat.