Cycling Sisters

CycleWell News

Offering cyclists fun and healthful life-style choices

Welcome to the fourth, free, e-mail newsletter distributed occasionally in support of Bicycling Bliss: Riding to Improve Your Wellness. I hope it will encourage you to invest in your wellness equity account by taking time to nurture yourself and have more fun. If you would like to purchase a copy of Bicycling Bliss, please visit our website at www.bicyclingbliss.com. If you don’t own your personal copy, this summer is a good time to purchase one for reference and move your fitness activities up to the next level of performance and pleasure.

The Whole Story on Enjoying Whole Grains

“Choose more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and dried beans.” Hopefully you all are familiar with this important admonition. What steps have you taken to include more of these wholesome foods in your daily diet?

Two factors obscure the truth about nutrition and especially whole grains: the media over-simplifies and sensationalizes the results of nutrition research and the food industry places a higher priority on selling US farm products than it does on citizens’ health. I’ll try to sort out the kernels of truth from all the chaff of marketing.

Let’s consider the benefits of eating whole grains

and the value of understanding labeling.

Whole grains contain all three parts of the plant kernel: the outer layer of bran, the inner germ of the plant, and the largest part of the kernel called the endosperm. The bran and the germ are the most nutritious parts of the grain. The bran protects the grain from sunlight and pests and contains fiber, B vitamins, iron, and antioxidants. The germ is the part that when pollinated will sprout into the new plant and offers B vitamins, vitamin E, minerals, healthy fats, and some protein. The endosperm supplies the growing plant with energy and contains starchy carbohydrates, proteins, and small amounts of vitamins and minerals.

Refined grains are stripped of the nutritious bran and germ during milling, leaving behind the carbohydrate-rich endosperm. White flour, enriched pasta, and white rice are examples of common refined grain products.

Enriched grains means that some of the vitamins and iron have been added back but many nutrients and fiber have not been restored. (1)

Refining grains deprive you of naturally occurring vital nutrients while loading you with the type of carbohydrates that are quickly digested, leaving you prematurely hungry and often with a spike in insulin that stresses your heart. Refining wheat takes away about a quarter of the grain’s protein and at least 17 key nutrients. (2)

Strive to eat at least 3 ounces of whole grains each day. A one-ounce serving would be one slice of bread, one cup of most dry cereals, one-half cup of cooked grains (measured before cooking) such as cooked cereal, brown rice, or oatmeal. (Note here that instant oatmeal is too highly processed to be counted as whole grain.)

Refer to www.wholegrainscouncil.org and www.bobsredmill.com for recipes and free educational publications on whole grains. Although you can ask for whole wheat bread or brown rice when dining out, preparing your meals from scratch at home will ensure that you can enjoy whole grains with each meal.

For those days when you are going on a long ride and want a breakfast that will give you sustained energy, try some less familiar whole grains and mixtures of whole grains like steel-cut oats, hulled barley, quinoa, Kamut®, amaranth, teff, rye grouts, and triticale. These grains are available at health food stores and are generally more economical than dry cereal. Adding dried or fresh fruits sweetens these cooked cereals and a sprinkle of chopped nuts increases the protein content while contributing some heart-healthy fats for energy after the carbohydrates have been metabolized.

Cook these grains until fully tender but not gummy. That requires 30-60 minutes. I like to prepare three to four servings at a time and store the extra servings in the refrigerator in recycled, one-cup yogurt containers.

Understanding the labeling on grain products will help you make healthful choices while avoiding the pitfalls marketing experts have cleverly designed to deceive you. Labels are of three types:

• Eye-catching, often deceptive names on the front of the package

• Ingredients

• Nutritional facts

Here are a few buying tips to guide you to truly healthful products.

Beware of the terms used on the front of the package. Healthful-sounding words like “multi-grain,” “unbleached wheat flour,” or “seven grain,” do not mean the product is whole grain. I have seen products where the “multiple grains” are listed after salt on the ingredient list.

The ingredient list is your best indicator of the wholesomeness of a product. These ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight. Ingredients listed after salt are only present in trace amounts. To be considered a whole grain product the first ingredient must be whole wheat flour or another whole grain. Only wheat requires the designation “whole.” Other grains like oats or rye are whole grain without the word “whole.” The mistake I see many people make is to confuse “wheat flour” with “whole wheat.” Wheat flour is refined without the bran or germ! Don’t let the color of the product fool you. Brown colored baked products may only have caramel color or molasses added to make the look like whole grain.

The nutritional facts box is standardized and provides the best information for comparing products. Fiber content is a good indication of the quality of the whole grain since fiber is an important component in whole grains. Two and one half grams of fiber qualifies as a good source of fiber where as five grams in an excellent one. When buying dry cereal select products with less than 12 grams of sugar per ounce. Be sure you are comparing equal serving sizes.

Serving size manipulation is another means of fooling the consumer. Consider this example: a 16-ounce, canned bean product stated on the label that it was low in fat and sodium. Upon reading the nutritional facts, I discovered that they listed six servings per can. That meant that 2.7 ounces of beans contained relatively small amounts of fat and sodium. But an average serving would probably be half the can making the fat and sodium content three times the amount listed, which is high fat and sodium content.

I hope this information will help you have more fun making healthful choices. Reading labels critically takes time but by keeping a grocery list tacked up in the kitchen to record products you need to buy, you will make fewer trips to the store and have a pantry stocked with your favorite, wholesome foods.

Portia H. Masterson May 19, 2006

If you live in the Denver Metro area, I invite you to attend my presentation Food for Health and Fitness, May 31, 2006, at 7:00 pm, at the Vitamin Cottage at 12612 W. Alameda (west of Union). You’ll learn more details on changing your eating to improve your riding performance and quality of life.

Feel free to share this newsletter with friends.

(1) American Institute for Cancer Research NEWSLETTER, Fall 2005, Issue 89

(2) Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter: July 2005

Portia H. Masterson
Author, Publisher, Trainer
Self-Propulsion Publishing
PO Box 16334
Golden, CO 80402-6006
303-278-7340 or 720-233-8840
portia@bicyclingbliss.com
www.bicyclingbliss.com