▼We guarantee wholegrain in all UNCLE TOBYS breakfast cereals
Wholegrains are an important part of a nutritious diet
Nutritionists recommend wholegrains as part of a nutritious diet. One easy way to enjoy wholegrain is with a serving of UNCLE TOBYS cereal. In fact, every UNCLE TOBYS cereal is made with wholegrain – guaranteed – because every UNCLE TOBYS cereal provides at least 8g of wholegrain per serve. Just look for the green wholegrain banner.
> What Is wholegrain?
> Why switch to wholegrain?
> How much wholegrain?
> How can I tell if my food/cereal contains the wholegrain?
> Is it whole?
> How to get to 48g
> Which UNCLE TOBYS foods contains guaranteed wholegrain?
What Is wholegrain?
Unlike refined grains, where only the endosperm is present, wholegrain contains every edible part of the grain. So wholegrains contain more nutrients and beneficial ingredients. Wholegrains can be unprocessed, cracked, flaked or ground, but they must still contain every part of the edible grain in the same ratio as found in nature.
Bran (outer layer of the grain) – for fibre, B vitamins (to help release energy from food), phytonutrients (to help with free radical balance) and protein (for cell growth and repair).
Endosperm (middle layer of the grain) – for protein and carbohydrates.
Germ (inner core of the grain) – for B vitamins, vitamin E (an antioxidant vitamin), phytonutrients, a small amount of polyunsaturated fat, iron, magnesium, copper and zinc.
Why switch to wholegrain?
Wholegrains provide many nutrients including dietary fibre, antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, lignans and phytonutrients. It is thought that the combination of these nutrients accounts for the health benefits seen in people who consume more wholegrains in their daily diet.1
Research has also shown that people who eat more wholegrain tend to:
- Have a lower body mass index (BMI)
- Have a smaller waist circumference
- Gain less weight over time
- Report glucose control
The benefits add up
With so many benefits, there’s very good reason to start including more wholegrains in your diet. It has also been shown that the benefits of eating wholegrains are greater than consuming their components individually. In other words, ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts’. 1
How much wholegrain?
Go Grains Health & Nutrition Ltd, the leading independent nutrition advisor in Australia for grain foods in human health, advises that we should aim to reach 48g of wholegrains every day. And with some simple changes, such as switching to a wholegrain breakfast cereal, it’s easy to work towards your daily dose of wholegrain.
For starters, every UNCLE TOBYS cereal provides at least 8g wholegrain per serving.
How can I tell if my food/cereal contains wholegrain?
All UNCLE TOBYS cereals contain wholegrain guaranteed, so it couldn’t be easier to up your daily wholegrain intake.
Is it whole?
One of the easiest ways to check whether your cereal or food contains wholegrain is to look at the ingredient list. Any grain which is described as whole e.g. wholemeal, wholegrain wheat, wholegrain rice will contain all parts of the grain kernel. The exception to this is for ‘whole rice’, which is sometimes used to describe white rice. White rice and products made from the endosperm e.g. puffed white rice, are not wholegrain as they are refined to remove the outer bran layer. However, brown rice and wild rice are wholegrains.
Is it a major ingredient within the food?
If the grain is a main ingredient within the product, it will be listed near the start of the ingredient list and so will be making a bigger contribution to your wholegrain intake.
Is it whole?
As a simple guide, any grain that is described as whole is a wholegrain, e.g. wholewheat. There are also a number of other grains in the wholegrain category.
Wholegrain checklist
For easy reference, print this checklist to help you identify which foods contain wholegrain.
Then simply check the list against a product’s ingredient list. If the wholegrain is one of the main ingredients in a product it will be mentioned towards the beginning of the ingredients list.
Know your wholegrains:
- Wholewheat
- Bulgur (cracked wheat)
- Sorghum
- Whole oats / oatmeal
- Popcorn
- Triticale
- Whole rye
- Wild rice
- Brown rice
- Wholegrain barley
- Amaranth
- Buckwheat
How to get to 48g
1. Look out for “whole” on the label – wholemeal, whole wheat and whole oats are all wholegrains.
2. Swap refined white breads, pasta and rice (white) for wholegrain varieties (brown).
3. Start your day with a breakfast cereal that clearly states it is made with wholegrains. All UNCLE TOBYS cereals contain guaranteed wholegrain.
4. Mix wild rice with white rice, or switch to brown rice.
5. Use wholemeal breadcrumbs when creating a crunchy topping in savoury dishes.
6. Choose rice cakes, rye crispbread, UNCLE TOBYS CHEERIOS, UNCLE TOBYS MUESLI BARS or plain popcorn as a wholegrain snack.
Meal ideas
Day 1
Breakfast: bowl of UNCLE TOBYS PLUS OMEGA 3
Lunch: smoked salmon & salad sandwich with 2 slices wholemeal bread (32g WG)
TOTAL = 48g wholegrain
Day 2
Breakfast: bowl of UNCLE TOBYS Oats (30g WG)
Snack: 2 wheat crispbreads (20g WG)
TOTAL = 50g wholegrain
Day 3
Lunch: cheese and tomato sandwich with 2 slices wholemeal bread (32g)
Dinner: stir-fry with 1/3 cup brown rice (30g WG)
TOTAL: 62g wholegrain
Which UNCLE TOBYS foods contains guaranteed wholegrain?
All UNCLE TOBYS Cereals and UNCLE TOBYS Muesli bars contain Wholegrain. These foods provide at least 8g of wholegrain per serve, however, many provide much more than this. Go Grains Health & Nutrition Ltd is a leading source of information on grains and recommends eating 48g of wholegrain a day.
REFERENCES
1. Slavin et al (2001) Grain processing and nutrition. Critical Revies in Biotechnology 21:49-66.
2. Murtaugh MA et al (2003) Epidemiological support for the protection of wholegrains against diabetes. Proceedings of the Nutrition society 62:143-9
3. Johnston et al (1998) Cholesterol lowering benefits of a wholegrain oat ready-to-eat cereal. Nutrition in clinical Care, 1:6-12
4. Karmally et al (2005) Cholesterol-Lowering Benefits of Oat-Containing Cereal in Hispanic Americans. Journal of American Dietetic Association, 105:967-970
5. Andon and Anderson (2008) The Oatmeal-Cholesterol Connection: 10 Years Later. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine; 2:51-57
6. Kelly SAM, Summerbell CD, Brynes A. Wholegrain cereals for coronary heart disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007
7. Liu S et al. (2003) Relation between changes in intakes of dietary fibre and grain products and changes in weight and development of obesity among middle-aged women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 78, 920-927.
8. Harland JI and Garton LE (2008) Whole-grain intake as a marker of healthy body weight and adiposity. Public Health Nutrition 11(6):554-63.
9. Williams P et al (2008) Cereal grains, legumes, and weight management: a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence. Nutrition Reviews 66(4):171-182
