What foods are in the grain group?
Any food made from wheat, oats, corn, rice, barley or other cereal grains is a grain product. That includes products like bread, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals and grits. What is the difference between whole grains and refined grains? Whole grain products contain the whole grain kernel, which is made up of the bran, germ and endosperm. Whole grains include whole-wheat flour, oatmeal, and brown rice, to name just a few. Refined grains have been processed to remove the bran and germ. They have a finer texture, but milling removes fiber, vitamins, minerals and other healthful chemicals. Most refined grains are enriched to add back certain B vitamins and iron. How much whole grain should I be eating? It’s generally accepted that Americans eat too many refined grain products. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines and MyPyramid stress the importance of eating more whole grains – in fact the recommendation is that half of our intake from the grain group be whole grain products. We are a long way fro
