Tips for Reaping the Benefits of Whole Grains

Will the real whole grain please stand up? Scan the bread aisle and virtually every package touts some kind of nutritional whole-grain goodness. But few of them actually are whole grain.

We're surrounded by terms like multigrain, 100% wheat, cracked wheat, organic, pumpernickel, bran, and stone ground. These all sound like whole grains, but none of these descriptions actually indicate whole grain.

The amount of grains you need daily varies based on your age, sex, and physical activity level. You can determine how much you need by diving into My Pyramid Plan.My Pyramid Plan. "My Pyramid" sounds easy enough until you try to figure out what constitutes a whole grain.

WebMD got the skinny on whole grains along with suggestions on how to fit the recommended servings into your healthy eating plan.

Know Your Whole Grains

A whole grain contains all edible parts of the grain, including the bran, germ, and endosperm. The whole grain may be used intact or recombined as long as all components are present in natural proportions. To recognize whole grains, keep this list handy when you go to the grocery store and choose any of the following grains:

• Whole-grain corn
• Whole oats/oatmeal
• Popcorn
• Brown rice
• Whole rye
• Whole-grain barley
• Wild rice
• Buckwheat
• Triticale
• Bulgur (cracked wheat)
• Millet
• Quinoa
• Sorghum