Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Going With The Grain

For thousands of years now, hearty whole grains have been the basis of the human diet. As a matter of fact, one of the definitions of the word “meal” is: “coarsely ground foodstuff; especially seeds of various cereal grasses or pulse” Put another way, ground grain.

Whole grains are an important source of many nutrients including dietary fibre, several B-complex vitamins such as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and folate, the minerals iron, magnesium, and selenium, unsaturated fatty acids, and phytochemicals. Whole grains also contain complex carbohydrates that are broken down during digestion and converted to glucose, which is the substance the body prefers to burn for energy.