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WholeWheat-related stories

Old World Grains - Are They Better Than Whole Wheat?

Nutrition & Supplements

quinoa on salad
Just as I'm starting to understand all the buzz about whole grains, I'm faced with a new lesson, and it's all about "old-world" grains. Here's what I'm learning.

Once only found in health food stores, these grains -- amaranth, spelt, and quinoa are a few -- are popping up on the shelves of local grocery stores. The good news, besides greater availability, is that these tasty treats may be even higher in disease-fighting nutrients than your average whole wheat, rice, and oats.

Want to give these great grains a try? Here are some tips:

  • Pick bread with more than seven grains -- these are more likely to include some "old-world" alternatives, like millet and amaranth.
  • Visit the rice and pasta aisle and give these a try: Boxed quinoa and Kamut pasta. Quinoa has a nutty taste, the pasta has a wheat flavor, and both cook in 20 minutes or less and can be swapped for rice or noodles in pilafs and soups.
  • Try small substitutions by using these grains in foods like muffins, pancakes, even salads.

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Whole wheat goodness -- or not?

Nutrition & Supplements


I know some of you aren't fans of whole wheat. My mom isn't a fan. Wheat messes with her tummy and so she steers clear of anything remotely related to the stuff. But I seem to tolerate it well, which ends up a good thing since I'm such a sucker for bread. If I'm going to eat it, I might as well make it whole wheat. That's what the diet experts say. Whole grains are good, after all. Right?

Healthcastle offers a nice overview of whole grains and calls them good sources of B vitamins, Vitamin E, magnesium, iron, fiber, and other valuable antioxidants not found in some fruits and vegetables.
Whole grains might even reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. What I like most about them at the moment, though, is that they help me feel fuller longer -- I realize this now, after making breakfast out of a whole wheat English muffin and tad bit of peanut butter for the past few days.

If you're thinking of upping your intake of whole grains, like me, these are some common items you'll want to eat:

  • wild rice
  • brown rice
  • whole wheat
  • oatmeal
  • whole oats
  • barley
  • whole rye
  • bulgar
  • popcorn

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52 kid snacks: Healthy or not?

Healthy Kids, Nutrition & Supplements

Shopping around the internet for my kids' elementary school lunch menu, I came across a healthy snack list, which I quickly downloaded and printed. Here it sits in front of me, with its 52 snack ideas and accompanying nutritional information. Some items are undoubtedly nutritious: Apple slices, banana, orange, strawberries, grapes, and hardboiled egg all make the list. But the rest are a little iffy, in my opinion. Check these out -- then let me know what you think.

  • 100-calorie Chips Ahoy: One 100-calorie serving packs 3 g fat (3 g saturated), 140 g sodium, 7 g sugar. Do cookies count as a healthy snack?
  • Baked Goldfish Crackers: 28 g serving size contains 140 calories, 5 g fat (5 g saturated), 230 g sodium, 2 g sugar. Bev just told us to avoid this kid food. Why, then, does it make this list?
  • Scooby-Doo Baked Graham Cracker Sticks: 9 sticks have 130 calories, 4 g fat (4 g saturated), 125 g sodium, 7 g sugar. I've had these, and they're yummy. But a healthy option? I don't think so.
  • Triscuit, Baked Whole Wheat: 6 crackers come with 120 calories, 4.5 g fat (0.5 saturated), 180 g sodium, 0 g sugar. I like the whole wheat part and the no sugar thing. Next to fresh fruit, this may be one of the best choices on the list.

Take a trip over here
(click on Snack List, under Downloadable Menus) and check out the other 48 snacks. Tell us: Are they healthy or not?

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Use your soba noodle

Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health

Do you have a soft-spot for pasta (and because of it)? If so, you may or may not have given the whole wheat varieties a try. Unlike regular pasta, which is made from enriched flour, whole wheat pastas does not cause blood sugar levels to spike through the roof. This is important, since a sudden jump in blood sugar leads to the increased release of insulin, leaving you hungry and lethargic shortly thereafter.

But health benefits aside, some people just can't make the switch to whole wheat pasta for one reason, and one reason alone: the taste.

Enter a solution. Or at least a possible alternative: Soba noodles. Made from buckwheat (o'tay!), soba noodles take even longer to digest than whole wheat pasta, making them an equally an even healthier option. But now for the 64 thousand dollar question: How do they taste?

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You Are What You Eat: Goodness Grains!

Each week, we'll be naming a Super Food and offering unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Growing up, my mother always told me whole wheat bread was better than white bread. She could never explain exactly why--it was just one of those things that was. And now, the benefits of whole grains aren't just touted by mothers. Doctors, researchers, nutritionists -- everyone who has a say in the world of healthy living is speaking out about how important whole grains are to your diet.

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Is there soy in your bread?

HealthWatch, Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

There are plenty of folks who purposely seek out soy-based food products. But, there are some people who are trying to avoid it altogether, whatever their specific reasons may be. The tricky part is that it can sometimes be in foods you may not expect it to be.

Obviously, if a carton says that it contains soy milk, you have a clear understanding of what you are drinking. The same goes for a number of other soy-based foods; their packaging proudly displays their soy content. However, soy, in some form, can sometimes be found in many types of bread (something you may not realize until you read the nutritional label).

What's more, it's not just the standard, run of the mill type breads that may contain soy. Those fancy, minimally-processed, organic versions that can be purchased at health food stores? Yup, those breads too may contain some form of soy in them.

As always, the takeaway is to be sure to check the nutritional label on food. The flashy bubble letters are great for brand marketing purposes, but they can oftentimes be somewhat deceiving with regard to nutrition.

Stay slim by spotting shady food claims

Healthy Home, Womens Health, HealthWatch, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Alternative & Green Health, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health

When the masses finally came to their senses and began eating carbs again, they wanted healthier options. This is why you now see so many whole grain pastas, breads, muffins, and even snacks. These products were a direct response to the public demand for whole grain foods. But are these foods truly whole grain? Most times, no.

Unless a product as labeled as being either 100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain, it only has to contain some whole wheat in its ingredients. The rest can be made up of enriched flour, usually colored with a caramel additive to give it that nice, brown look. Always check the label; if if doesn't list whole wheat flour first, then it's probably not 100%.

This trickery also applies for trans fat. It's extremely common these days to see foods that supposedly contain Zero Trans Fat. Is this a lie? In some cases, yes. Food manufacturers are allowed to put the zero trans fat label on their products if they contain less than 1g of trans fat per serving. So, assuming that a food has .5g of trans fat per serving and you eat four servings (which is easy to do with spreads, for example), you've now consumed 2g of trans fat from a food that wasn't supposed to have any.

What about organic foods? They're not part of this shadiness, are they? Occasionally, they are. The USDA has three classifications of organic foods: 100% Organic -- meaning that it is made with 100% organic ingredients; Organic -- which means that a food is made with 95% organic ingredients; and Made with Organic Ingredients -- meaning that it is comprised of at least 70% organic ingredients.

Caveat emptor. That's the best advice I can think of when it comes to shopping for healthy foods.

Flour power

Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements

A few years back, Dr. Atkins invaded our small towns and villages like a diet-touting Godzilla, crushing bakeries with his bare hands and replacing them with strip malls full of steak houses and vats of butter. The carb craze was on, thanks in large part to the late Dr. Atkins, and it has taken until just recently for carbs to creep back out from their respective hiding places.

Certain carb sources result in different degrees of fluctuation in blood glucose levels. While a whole thing of Laffy Taffy may send your blood sugar soaring, a small serving of whole wheat pasta is much more manageable. This is the the gist of the Good Carb vs. Bad Carb point we have all reached. It's still a bit of a craze, but it's a much healthier and more sound approach to carb regulation than the carb-starve movement.

Anyway, now for what I really wanted to mention in this post (and hence the ridiculous title): Lupin-Kernel Flour. Australian researchers found that men who at breakfasts and lunches that included bread baked from this particular type of flour consumed about 360 fewer total calories than men who ate these meals with whole wheat bread.

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Whole wheat bread may not be

Womens Health, HealthWatch, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health

Just a quick tidbit of information to help you out during your next trip to the supermarket ...

You're just about done with your shopping; you've picked up your healthy fruits and vegetables, did your best to stay in the perimeter of the store (because you've learned that most of the healthy food is located there, whereas much of the junk food can be found shelved in the middle area of the store), and now you're looking for some healthy, whole wheat bread.

"Oh, look at that one," you say to yourself. "It's a nice, rich, brown color. That must be very healthy." Is it? Maybe, but maybe not. The trick that many food manufacturers are playing these days when it comes to bread is that they will label their product as being Whole Wheat, when in fact it only contains a small amount of whole wheat flour. Instead, it is made from enriched flour (the same kind found in white bread) and is colored with a caramelized dye -- hence the rich, brown color.

Try these 25 new power foods

Vegetarian, Reviews & Products, Alternative & Green Health, Nutrition & Supplements

smoothieWe know the best power foods are whole foods, like fruits and vegetables jam-packed with nutrition and legumes full of protein and fiber. But it is not always easy to eat whole foods all of the time. Sometimes we crave more convenience, even though the processed foods are usually not as good for us.

So, whether good or bad, WebMD has put together a list of 25 relatively new natural, yet packaged, products that could be good for us to have in our pantries.

The list is broken into categories, which I have listed, along with a couple of products that really caught my eye.

  • High-Fiber Bread, Pasta & Cereal
    • Kashi Vive Probiotic Digestive Wellness Cereal -- Full of fiber, ginger and beneficial bacteria, it sounds promising. But I checked out the ingredients and it doesn't pass my test. Wheat is the first ingredient, there is too much sugar and it contains soy protein. Oh well. Next . . .
  • Fat Fighting Snacks
  • New Calcium Boosters
  • Fruits and Veggies Made Easy
  • Healthy Dinners in Minutes
  • Good for You Beverages
If you are time-crunched and can't eat a whole food, or if you are looking for a convenience food to fit your healthy lifestyle, this list is a good place to start.


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The F Factor: Fiber!

Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

Here at That's Fit, our F-Factor stands for fitness, but there's another F-Factor that's just as important -- Fiber! Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet -- are you getting enough? You might, but if you're relying on your high-fibre cereal to provide all your fibre, you might not be consuming as much as you should. Salads, for example, have little fibre, but linguine with clam sauce has 10 grams. Cereal is a good source

That's the premise behind The F-Factor Diet by Tanya Zuckerbrot. She suggests that we get between 30 and 35 g of fiber a day -- and your cereal might only pack 5 or 6 grams. yikes! And that whole-grain bread? It has about the same -- or less. But Zuckerbrot's book has a variety of yummy and fiber-rich recipes that can help you get your daily intake, and take off a few pounds in the process too!

How do you get your fiber?

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Tips on choosing the best bread

Nutrition & Supplements

Pop quiz time! Which of the following breads is the healthiest: Rye, multigrain, whole wheat, white, or 12 grain? The answer is plain old whole wheat. Surprised? You're not alone.

A visit to the bread department in your supermarket can be overwhelming and confusing. There are so many varieties that look and sound like they're the best for you, but really, they might not be. Web MD has put together this informative video on breads, explaining the ins and outs of the bread aisle. As for why whole wheat is your best bet? It's probably the only one that actually uses whole grain flour -- the rest are likely just white bread with some seeds mixed in.

I'm pretty simple so I've always stuck to whole wheat anyway. What about you?

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Another study confirms why whole grains are good

Nutrition & Supplements

Nothing feels quite as right for breakfast than a dollop of fresh fruit on whole, rolled oats (not processed). It's a great way to start the day right and make is tasty as well. Regarding whole grains -- are you a fan? If not, look long and hard at why.

Sure, whole grains don't taste like ice cream or cheeseburgers, but they can be every bit as tasty when accessorized with the right stuff. Thinks like fresh fruits make whole grains really palatable, and as the saying goes, "a diet rich in whole grains is heart healthy."

Researchers who recently reviewed seven major studies saw that an increase in whole grain intake was consistently linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke. That's enough to convince most folks, but adding some zing to those whole grains will really pump you up -- especially in the morning.

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Just ask for whole grains

Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

Enriched wheat flour... made with whole grain... seven-grain... they all sound healthy, right? Unfortunately nutrition claims can be tricky and since whole-grain products have become the new black, every food manufacturer is jumping on the band wagon. But often, things that sound like whole grains aren't. The Whole Grains Council aims to promote true whole-grain products, make their recognition easier for consumers, and expand their use in manufactured food and in restaurants.

Earlier this year, the council kicked off the Just Ask campaign. The concept is simple. When you go out to eat, just ask for a whole-grain alternative. If, as consumers, we band together and request foods that are best for our health the restaurant industry will likely respond. It's simple to do. Just ask if they have brown rice instead of white, if they have whole-wheat toast, or if your sandwich can come in a whole-wheat wrap. In addition, if you know of a restaurant that already offers whole-grain options you can give them a pat on the back and enter them in a monthly prize drawing.

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Buyer beware: 5 health foods that aren't so healthy

Diet & Weight Loss, Reviews & Products, Nutrition & Supplements

Did you know that the average American eats 40 teaspoons of sugar a day? That's a stunning statistic. Experts say that if you sweeten your own food -- even if you do so with good, old-fashioned sugar -- you'll never get near what manufacturers put into the processed version. Take yogurt, for example. Some varieties can have up to 8 teaspoons in those little 8 ounce cups. Now imagine sweetening some plain yogurt at home. Even if you put sugar in, it's unlikely you'd dump in 8 teaspoons. Or better yet, top it with some all-fruit spread or fresh fruit.

Here are five foods typically promoted as "healthy" that may not be so healthy after all:
  1. sweetened yogurt
  2. low-carb desserts
  3. enhanced waters
  4. whole grain bread
  5. salads (certain kinds): salad dressings can add 3 tablespoons
It's something we talk about often here at That's Fit, but it bears repeating: Reading food labels and knowing what goes into your food can go a long way toward helping you make better food and nutrition choices!

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Featured Writers
Bob GreeneReggie Casagrande
Bob Greene
Jonny BowdenJohn GanonJonny Bowden

Tanya ZuckerbrotFadil BerishaTanya Zuckerbrot
Liz Neporent Liz Neporent