Healthy Food Includes Grains and Fiber

The first important piece of information to know about grains is that there are two types of grains available to us at the supermarket; whole grains and refined grain. We want to eat as many products from whole grains when choosing a food made from grains as possible and avoid as many refined grain foods as possible. This is not to say that you should never eat refined grains, just limit them. In some respects they are almost wasted calories.

This is the process a grain goes through when refined. It's mashed to a very fine powder removing all the fiber and parts that contain useful vitamins. Then if you've chosen the better of two refined possibilities, you'll have chosen the enriched refined grain, where the vitamins have been added back in sans the fiber.

Foods that contain refined grain are cold cereals that are not marked whole grain, pasta, noodles, white rice, any type of white bread and crackers and cookies that are not marked whole grain. If you think about it, that could include a very large part of your diet.

These are the nutrients that are taken out of refined grain products: B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and folate), Folate (folic acid), Iron, Magnesium, and Selenium not to mention most of the fiber.

Why do we need fiber? Because it provides what we need for good bowel function and lowers cholesterol. These functions happen because the fiber soaks up water, fat and cholesterol. By soaking up water it creates softer and faster bowel movements that keep us functioning in that department regularly. By soaking up fats and cholesterol while in our bowels it stops our body from absorbing extra fat and cholesterol it doesn't need. As you can see, fiber is extremely important in our diet. Refined grain has very little fiber. Another reason to consume whole grains for your dietary requirement is because it keeps the body from burning protein that it needs for muscle and tissue maintenance.

Fiber rich foods include whole grain breads, green leafy vegetables and most fruits. Three apples, it is said, can supply your fiber intake for the whole day. Seeds and nuts are also a good source of fiber. Any food that is labeled as whole grain should supply plenty of fiber.

For women and girls a daily intake of about 25 grams of fiber is necessary. For men between 30 - 38 grams are required. Young boys need about 20 grams per day. So read your labels when serving up breakfast lunch and dinner and start totaling your daily fiber intake.

To give you some reference point; one cup of legumes has between 10-20 grams of fiber, one cup of peas 10-15 grams depending on how they're cooked, one medium pear has 6 grams, one medium orange has 4 grams of fiber, one slice of wheat bred has 5 grams, and one cup of summer squash has 7 grams and that's cooked. Search online for lists of high fiber foods to add to your diet.