Wholegrain will put a spring in your step
An easy way to increase your well-being and improve your health is to add wholegrain products to your diet. Wholegrain means the cereal grain that has had nothing removed. In this way, all the good features of the cereal grain are preserved. Wholegrain flour is milled from whole grains of cereal and wholegrain products are made from flour that has been milled from whole grains.
Fibre has compounds that are beneficial for health
Wholegrains contain lots of good carbohydrates and other compounds that are beneficial for health. It is the fibre contained in wholegrains that makes it healthy.
Wholegrains contain lots of good carbohydrates and other compounds that are beneficial for health. It is the fibre contained in wholegrain that makes it healthy. Wholegrain bread has no equal as a source of fibre. In addition to the fibre, it contains B and E vitamins, minerals (including zinc and selenium), antioxidants, plant estrogens and other small compounds that are beneficial for health, all of which are important features of the health benefits of wholegrains. In white, refined wheat flour, the good properties, with the exception of carbohydrates, are for the most part lost in the processing of the grain.
Proven health benefits
A diet containing wholegrain products and cereal fibre is good for energy and wholegrain products should be eaten with every meal. Wholegrain is also an excellent food for controlling weight.
A diet containing lots of wholegrain products and fibre has been shown in studies to reduce the danger of heart diseases, reduce the blood cholesterol level and reduce the danger of type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. A diet containing lots of fibre is beneficial for bowel function and balances the amount of sugar and insulin in the blood. Wholegrains are also an excellent food for controlling weight because the grain is low in fat and does not contain wasted energy. However, cereal fibre fills the stomach and keeps the feeling of hunger at bay for a long time.
The use of wholegrains and fibre is recommended throughout the world because the beneficial effect on health has been scientifically proven and wholegrains contain a wide variety of nutrients. According to nutritional recommendations, people should considerably increase their intake of wholegrain products. The recommendations also state that wholegrain products should be eaten at every meal.
Lots of choice
It is easy to include wholegrain products as part of each of the day's meals because there are a great number of alternatives available.
The range of wholegrain breakfast products includes porridge flakes and bran and wholegrain breakfast cereals and mueslis. Instead of eating ordinary rice and pasta at dinner, people should choose wholegrain pasta and rice. Alternative accompaniments to the meal could include, barley, rye or oat grits and couscous, and wholegrain noodles are also available.
In the bread department, shoppers should not make their choice solely on the basis of the colour of the bread because a dark colour does not necessarily guarantee the healthiness of the product and secondly white bread can also contain a lot of wholegrains. Therefore, shoppers should examine package labels. Wholegrain flour in the list of ingredients on packaging includes, for example, wholegrain rye flour (more generally rye flour) and wholegrain wheat flour, i.e. graham flour. Wholegrain bread includes nearly all rye breads such as rye portion breads, loaves and tin-baked breads as well as wholegrain crispbread. The range of options is supplemented by wheat bread baked from wholegrains and oat bread containing fibre.
In recent years, various snack products have also come onto the market, such as bars, flakes and products eaten with a spoon, which contain wholegrains.
Be wise, switch over to wholegrains
- Choose wholegrain bread.
- Eat wholegrain porridges and breakfast cereals.
- Eat wholegrain rice and pasta as an accompaniment to food. Try
grits or rice-cereal mixes instead of rice.
- Look for wholegrain snack, biscuit and bakery product alternatives.
- When baking, add bran, crushed grain and seeds to the dough, and choose graham, rye or dark wheat flour.
- Try muesli, bran and flakes in smoothie drinks and with yoghurt and quark.
This will ensure you get the right amount of fibre every day
People eat too little fibre every day. See how you can get the
right amount of fibre from your daily meals.
On average, people get less fibre than the recommendation, i.e. around 20 grams per day. The easiest way to meet the recommendation (25–35 g/day) is to eat wholegrain products with every meal. Five slices of wholegrain rye bread is sufficient to meet the daily fibre recommendation, whereas you would have to munch your way through over one kilo of carrots to meet the recommended amount of fibre!
The following foods will provide you with the minimum recommended amount of fibre (25–35 g/day):
- 140 g oat bran (approx. 2.3 dl)
- 250 g rye bread (approx. 5–7 slices)
- 1.1 kg carrots or strawberries
- 1.4 kg apples
- 1.8 kg boiled potatoes
- 2.8 kg Chinese cabbage, cucumber and tomato salad
(Source: Finnish Bread Information Society)
