If you check out the food pyramid, you’ll see that the grains group is the group makes up the base of the pyramid. Of all of the groups in the pyramid, this is the group that we need to eat the most of every day. Depending on how many calories you usually take in every day, you will need to eat between five and eleven servings of grains each day. Fear not! There are lots of ways to get all of your grain servings in without resorting to eating heaps of brown rice at every meal.
What are grains anyway?
When we first think of grains, most of us think of wheat. There are, of course, other grains out there to choose from: rice and oats are two other sources of grains to choose from. Even food made with whole cornmeal can count for a serving of grains. The key to getting your “grains” each day is to make sure that you are eating food made with “whole” grains—grains that have not been stripped of their nutrients. This means that you should opt for whole wheat flour instead of bleached white flour. Choose wheat pastas instead of processed pastas. Long grain whole rice is better than white rice.
This is all probably sounding pretty tasteless, right? But don’t worry, there are a lot of really tasty foods out there made with grains that can help you get all of the servings you need in a day. For example:
1. Did you know that there is enriched white bread now—that’s processed white bread that is made from whole grains that are treated to give the same taste as white bread. This is great for people who are not fans of whole wheat or oat based breads. Make yourself a sandwich with this stuff (or the whole wheat or oat bread varieties) and you’ll have eaten two of your daily servings of grains!
2. Choose a cereal that is made from whole oats or grains or switch out the cold cereal for oatmeal. A cup and a half of oatmeal will give you another serving of grains!
3. When you make a meatloaf or hamburgers put some whole oats in the mix instead of breadcrumbs or use breadcrumbs made from whole cornmeal. This will bring you another serving of grains closer to your daily recommended intake.
4. Toss some brown rice into the soup you’re making. It’ll add texture and enhance the flavor of the soup and add another serving of grains to your diet.
5. Add oats to your yogurt for a great, healthy, snack!
6. Make your own granola bars using whole oats. There are plenty of quick and easy granola bar recipes out there and they will be a healthier snack than chips or pretzels!
There are plenty of ways to sneak grains into your diet to make sure that you get the daily recommended intake. Remember that the number of servings you need to eat every day depends on how many calories you eat every day. Talk to nutritionist or your doctor to figure out just how many servings of grains you need to stay healthy.