What’s Inside Matters – 8 Tips for Switching to Whole Grains

It doesn’t matter if it is pasta, bread or rice – the recommendation is always to eat whole grain products. Whole grain means that all parts of the grain are used. The German Nutrition Society advises consuming at least 30 g of fiber per day. If you switch to whole grain pasta, you get 6.5 g of fiber instead of the normal 3 g.

What is so healthy about whole grain?
Bran is a good source of valuable fiber, which fills you up. Your blood sugar level rises more slowly, which helps prevent food cravings.

Whole grains contain valuable vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. The fiber in whole grains promotes digestion and keeps your intestines healthy. Whole grains also contain more protein. The fiber contained within lowers your cholesterol level, too.

Those are just some of the reasons to include whole grains in your diet. The important thing is not to switch from one day to the next, but to make a gradual transition to eating whole grains.

8 tips for switching to whole grains:

• 1. Increase the amount of whole grains in your diet slowly, because otherwise you might experience constipation, gas or bloating.
  2. Drink plenty of fluids. You should consume at least 1.5 to 2 liters of water per day.
  3. Start out with finely ground whole grains. Once your digestive tract gets used to the fiber, you can also buy a really “grainy” bread.
  4. Be careful when baking with whole grains. Whole grain flour needs more liquid; otherwise, the dough will be dry. If you want to bake with whole grain flour and still use your ordinary recipes, you need one of two things: either more liquid (like milk, yogurt or water) or you need to use about 10% less flour.
  5. Start baking by substituting half of the flour with whole grain flour.
  6. Substitute half of your ordinary pasta or rice with whole grain pasta and rice.
  7. Keep slowly adding whole grain cereal into your diet.
  8. Try as many different types of whole grain foods as you can.

To get your daily requirement of 30 g of fiber, you could, for instance, eat the following foods throughout the day:

• 40 g whole grain cornflakes or whole grain flakes (4 g fiber)
• 1 apple with skin (3.5 g fiber)
• 200 g cooked whole-grain pasta (6.5 g fiber)
• 200 g cooked vegetables (5 g fiber)
• 1 pear with skin (3 g fiber)
• 1 bowl of green salad (1.5 g fiber)
• 2 slices of whole grain bread (8 g fiber)

I hope you enjoy switching to more whole grains, and I wish you great success. I’d love to hear about your experiences with whole grain foods.

Bye for now,
Vera

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