Does the new food pyramid really change people’s eating habits? Can it really help you lose weight? Not if consumers can’t figure it out! Take, for example, the confusing recommendation to consume 3-6 16-gram servings of whole grains per day.

Most of us have no clue how to eat this much grain every day. Nutrition expert and author Dr. James Krystosik offers 6 easy ways to meet your daily whole grain requirements.

Like most of us, Dr. Krystosik’s patients are confused about what whole grains are and how to follow the new USDA food pyramid. Some equate grains with horse feed. Others can’t get the “bread is bad” mantra out of their head.

Dr. Krystosik wants to help Americans understand this important food group. Consider:

·         Whole grains help you fight disease. Several new research studies demonstrate that whole grains significantly reduce the risk for gallstones, diabetes, heart disease, and breast and prostate cancer.

·        Whole grains help you lose weight. In a 7-year study of almost 4,000 men and women, research scientists at Brigham Women's Hospital in Boston found that those who ate unrefined whole grains at least 9 times per week weighed 8 pounds less than those who ate 2 servings or less of whole grains per week.

Here are Dr. Kystosik’s 6 tips for getting your daily 3-6 servings of whole grains:

1. Eat bread. Bread is a good food, as long the label says whole grain. Read the label carefully, and don’t be fooled by such tricky terms as wheat, whole wheat, multi-grain, enriched, or seven grain. 1 slice whole-grain bread = 1 grain serving.

2. Dress up plain grains. If brown rice and cooked oats bore you, jazz them up. Use brown rice in a baked blueberry breakfast crisp, or make an interesting hot or cold side dish by stirring in diced carrots, scallions, and soy beans. Use whole oats to make breakfast oat pancakes or homemade granola and yogurt-fruit parfaits. ½ cup brown rice, barley, oats, quinoa, or other whole grain = 1 grain serving.

3. Enjoy pasta again. Like bread, eating pasta is a wonderful way to help meet your whole-grain quota, as long as the label reads whole grain. The new generation of whole-grain pastas coming from such gourmet-minded companies as Italy’s Gia Russa are delicious—finally. 1 cup whole grain pasta = 1 grain serving.

4. Bake whole-grain goodness into cookies and muffins. When you bake with whole grain flours and rolled oats, and use healthful sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup, you can satisfy your sweet tooth and get a daily serving of grains to boot! 1 whole grain muffin = 1 grain serving. 

5. Buy whole-grain versions of your favorite convenience foods. Read labels carefully to find whole-grain versions of ready-made foods, from taco shells and breakfast cereal to crackers and snack bars. Stock your cupboards with healthful whole-grain convenience foods. 1 cup whole-grain cereal = 1 grain serving.

6. Look for the Whole Grain Council stamp. Introduced in January 2005, this eye-catching stamp helps you quickly identify supermarket foods that meet the new food pyramid recommendations for whole grains—at least 3 16-gram servings of whole grains per day. A “Good Source” stamp = at least 8 grams whole grains per serving, with the remaining 8 grams refined grains. An “Excellent Source” stamp = 16 grams whole grains per serving, with some refined grains included in the product. A “100 Excellent Source” stamp = 16 grams per serving (a full serving) without any refined grains in the product.

A practicing chiropractic physician for over 25 years, Dr. Krystosik is author of Carbs from Heaven, Carbs from Hell (Square One Publishers), in which he offers a new perspective on the health benefits of “good carbs” for a variety of diseases, and includes recipes and healthy eating plans to help people eat more carbs without gaining weight. He is weekly host of the popular radio show, “The Other Side of Medicine.”

Please let me know if I can arrange for you to speak with the expert directly.

Sincerely,

Cathy Lewis

C.S. Lewis & Company Publicists

845-679-2188

C.S. Lewis & Company Publicists
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