Some adepts of the Paleo diet tell us all grains are evil. The mainstream media and grains growers talk about how essential this “whole grain goodness” is. The Nutrition Nerd ignores pointless arguments – and tells you the truth.
Want To Gain Fat? Eat Refined Grains!
Refined grains have been cut, crushed, powdered, heated, bleached and left for dead. Ouch. I think it’s pretty safe to assume any food that’s processed to the point where it looks like any other dead material should be avoided. The cold, hard facts should convince you:
- 1 cup of refined flour contains 5X less fiber than 1 cup of whole grain flour
- The lack of fiber and nutrients makes your blood sugar rise a lot faster, promoting fat storage
- Some foods that contain refined grains also contain dangerous chemicals like potassium bromate – called a cancer threat by the CSPI since 1999, banned from dozens of countries, and still yet used in your tasty white bread these days
- The lack of nutrition in refined grain products is often compensated by the addition of synthetic vitamins, which in fact REDUCE your vitamin levels and increase your risks of cancer
- These grains are NOT prepared like they should (soaking, cooking or sprouting) to maximize their nutrient content and improve digestibility
Want To Choose Whole Grains? Good Luck!
Most of what you think are whole grains… are really not. If you want to choose the right grains, look out for these ingredients:
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Warning: Grain HYPE Ahead
The Government and the food industry recommend eating A LOT of grains. That might have something to do with the billions of dollars this industry represent. But is what they claim about grains legit? Let’s see
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Warning: Grain SCARE Ahead
If grains are not as magical as the Government and marketers made us think... are they as EVIL as some health gurus and Paleo “experts” claim with passion?
Trying To Avoid Gluten?
If gluten is a problem for you, choose your grains carefully.
Gluten-Free Grains
- Amaranth
- Buckwheat
- Corn
- Millet
- Quinoa
- Rice
- Sorghum
- Teff
- Wild rice
Grains That Contain Gluten
- Wheat (including varieties like
- spelt, kamut, farro and durum)
- Barley
- Bulgur (also called bulgar)
- Couscous
- Malt
- Oats and oat bran (unless tested
- and guaranteed gluten-free)
- Rye
- Triticale
Preparation Is Key
Ancient cultures have been preparing grains the right way forever. This simply seemed like the right thing to do at these times…
- Mexican pozol (corn cakes) were always fermented
- Most oriental countries ferment rice before use
- Indians soaked their rice and lentils
- Europeans soaked grains overnight to prepare sourdough (fermented bread)
These are just a couple examples to show you that preparing grains isn’t some latest fad invented by foodies, hippies or health bloggers. It’s a necessary process that increases nutrition while removing most hard-to-digest compounds.
How To Soak Grains
Sprouting Magic
Want to get even more out of your grains?
You might be interested to know that sprouted whole wheat contains 28% more thiamine (B1), 315% more riboflavin (B2), 66% more niacin (B3), 65% more pantothenic acid (B5), 111% more biotin, 278% more folic acid, and 300% more vitamin C than non-sprouted whole wheat. The best thing is… all grains will contain a ton more fat-burning nutrients and enzymes, and less problematic antinutrients and gluten when sprouted.
Summary
- While grains are NOT essential, they can be a cheap source of important fatburning nutrients.
- Refined grains should be avoided at all times.
- Grains contain antinutrients that act as a natural defense system for plants.
- Preparing them the right way is necessary to remove these problematic antinutrients and increase nutrition.
- Sprouting your grains will literally duplicate the amount of nutrients.
- People that have any degree of intolerance to gluten should avoid grains that contain that compound.
