Wholegrains are the new you

New year, new diet? If you are really serious about your health, then go for a whole new start by eating more wholegrain foods as part of a balanced diet. The HGCA is encouraging everyone to follow the ‘wholegrain week diet’ by incorporating wholegrains into each mealtime.

Experts recommend adults eat a daily minimum of 3 x 16g servings of wholegrains (or 48g). Wholegrains provide a range of vitamins and minerals, including the B vitamins thiamin and riboflavin, and are a valuable source of slow releasing energy and dietary fibre. Eating just three servings of wholegrain a day can help to reduce the risk of heart disease by up to 30%.

After starting the day with a wholegrain breakfast cereal (which counts as one serving), it’s easy to meet the recommended three servings a day by choosing wholegrain bread and swapping other refined foods such as pasta and rice with wholegrain versions.

The ‘Wholegrain Week’ Diet

For more information visit Wholegraingoodness.com.

Daily breakfast options

Wholegrain breakfast cereal or two slices wholemeal toast or French bread filled with sausage, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.

Daily lunch/light snack options

Wholemeal sandwich, pitta bread or wrap enjoyed with favourite sandwich filling. Ring the changes each day with – wholemeal filled with houmous, grated carrot and courgette (great for vegetarians), luxury cheese on toast with ham, thinly sliced mushrooms and Cheddar cheese, oatmeal bread spread with pesto sauce and topped with scrambled egg, wholemeal muffins filled with Cajun chicken and low fat crème fraiche. Or why not try oatcakes topped with cream cheese and cucumber?

Monday

Serve winter warming soups with a freshly baked seeded brown bread, made with wholemeal flour, mixed seeds (poppy, pumpkin and sunflower), sun blushed tomatoes and parsley.

Tuesday

Keep the kids happy at lunchtime or after school with some fun shaped fingers of wholesome oatmeal batch bread, spread with crunchy peanut butter and topped with banana slices, sprinkled with mixed seeds.

Wednesday

Wholewheat pasta dishes topped with a light gratin made with wholemeal breadcrumbs are a great way to boost wholegrain intake and are equally delicious served with creamy cheese or tomato based sauces.

Thursday

One wholemeal pitta contains 39g wholegrains and when filled with scrambled egg, makes a quick and easy snack.

Friday

For a satisfying supper with added spice, swap your usual tortillas with wholemeal tortillas and fill with salsa chicken and peppers, then serve with cheese, lettuce and soured cream.

Saturday

Wholesome vegetable and chicken pasties made with half wholemeal flour, half plain flour are filling and full of flavour. For a gourmet good-for-you pastie fill with tender chicken, baby sweetcorn, cherry tomatoes and tomato pesto.

Sunday

Stuffed mushrooms filled with low fat cream cheese, spring onions and ham are delicious baked with a coarse, crunchy oatmeal and oats topping. Serve as a healthy starter to Sunday lunch or as a light vegetarian snack.

HGCA’s nutritionist Jane Griffin said: “Wholegrains are a good source of dietary fibre and also provide protein, B vitamins, vitamin E and minerals, as well as various antioxidants. The New Year is a great time to start eating more wholegrain rich foods because they help provide the body with winter warming, comforting food that’s packed full of goodness. Plus, it’s really easy to introduce wholegrain rich foods into the diet by making some simple swaps.”

Wholegrain is one of the very few foods to have its health benefits recognised by the official industry body, the Joint Health Claims Initiative, which ensures health claims on foods are both scientifically truthful and legally acceptable. In 2002, the initiative approved the following claim for wholegrain foods: “People with a healthy heart tend to eat more wholegrain foods as part of a healthy lifestyle.”

So what is wholegrain food?

Wholegrains must retain all three parts of the grain; the bran, germ and endosperm. Wholegrain foods are classed as those that contain 51% or more wholegrain ingredients by weight per serving.

Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) shows that consumption of wholegrain foods in Britain is extremely low. The survey revealed that one third of adults failed to consume any wholegrain foods on a daily basis and less than 5% consumed the recommended 3 or more servings per day.

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