The Whole Grains Council Blog
March 10, 2010
Guest Blogger Kim Wirth, RN, BSN, sings the praises of quinoa, our grain of the month, which she cites as a smart way to broaden children's nutritional experiences.
I understand how difficult a change in diet can be. For nearly 30 years, as a nurse, I have reinforced dietary restrictions for my patients. Young children are especially difficult to introduce new fare in their diets. They are generally comfortable with their established eating routines and find it challenging transitioning to different foods. As a mother of three, I experienced this first hand. Like many others, I recently found myself looking for a nutritional gluten free grain option when I stumbled upon Quinoa. Pronounced “Keen-wah” it is called a super-food, protein powerhouse, and the “Mother Grain.”
March 5, 2010
A little bit of powder… another spritz of hairspray… one more quick check in the mirror to make sure everything is just so… And
voila! Perfection! Not us, of course, nor are we predicting what an Oscar nominee’s final moments of primping must be like as they prepare to walk up that famous red carpet. We’re talking about the Whole Grain Stamp, which has been getting quite a bit of on-air attention lately – color us thrilled!
February 25, 2010
Our Whole Grain Hotline answers phone and email questions about whole grains every day, from across the country and around the world. Every once in a while a question comes along that we just have to share, because we suspect many of you out there may have the same thoughts running through your heads.
So here’s today’s question, from Melissa M., who emailed us saying,
Hello there! I have a question about the grams of whole grain. Is having a lot of whole grain bad for you? I had some Post Shredded Wheat Cereal and I didn’t realize that there are 49 grams of whole grain per serving! And I had two bowls that day LOL, one for breakfast and one for lunch, so about 98 grams of whole grain right there! I was just curious if this was waaaaay toooo much for any form of diet. Is there such a thing as too much whole grain?
Thank you, Melissa
Here’s what we answered Melissa:
February 17, 2010
February is National Pancake Month, and with yesterday being Fat Tuesday, here at the Whole Grains Council we decided it was the perfect time to suggest some delicious whole grain alternatives to the classic pancake recipe.
Pancakes have long been a staple of the American breakfast, but with all the butter, sugar, and refined flour, they’re not really the healthiest choice to start the day. This is precisely why pancakes are traditionally eaten on the day before the Christian season of Lent begins – rich ingredients like sugar and butter were usually restricted as part of ritual Lenten fasting. (And yes, that’s why we call it Fat Tuesday!)
February 9, 2010
We’ve had several people ask us about a new study on adolescents’ consumption of whole grains, that appeared in the
Journal of the American Dietetic Association in January. It’s been getting quite a bit of play in the trade press, with articles summarizing like this: “A new study has uncovered barriers for adolescents in reaching the recommended whole grain intake of three [servings] a day – including lack of availability and taste preference.”
There’s one big problem with this study: It uses data from 1999-2004 – data that are 6 to 10 years old. A lot has changed in the world of whole grains during the last 6 to10 years, and availability is hugely different today than it was in 2004.
February 5, 2010
Otherwise known as, We Interrupt The Last Hour Of Your Friday Workday… for the following random fun collected from around the interweb! As you know by now, I’m a bit off-the-wall, so I hope you’ll also enjoy these little tidbits ‘cause they certainly brightened my day.
February 4, 2010
No, not that kind of wing man! What I mean is, my man is a wing man. The Man loves chicken wings. Whether it’s making them at home or ordering them from various places when we go out, I think chicken wings might actually be one of his favorite foods. I can understand this, being a habitual French Toast eater myself – just about every time we head out for breakfast or brunch, that’s what ends up on my plate. But while I enjoy the fact that ordering French Toast somewhere means I don’t have to do the cooking and cleaning, I think The Man enjoys perfecting his wings almost as much as he enjoys eating the results.
January 25, 2010
Want to have some fun while helping to wipe out child hunger? Quaker’s Candace Mueller Medina, today’s Guest Blogger, is here to tell us how you can support Share Our Strength while celebrating Oatmeal Month on the Quaker website. Send an “Oatmail” to a friend today!
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Despite the fact that this maxim is by now conventional wisdom edging toward cliché, it’s possible that we still think less about breakfast than any other mealtime. Maybe our minds are too foggy in the morning to carefully consider all of our breakfast options, or we’d rather spend an extra 10 minutes in bed than in the kitchen. Whatever the reason, we often neglect breakfast as a legitimate meal in its own right.
January 20, 2010
Here we are, two-thirds of the way through Oats and Oatmeal Month, and my
favorite food holiday calendar over on TheNibble tells me it’s National Granola Bar Day.
I mentioned to a friend that I was making granola bars to honor the occasion and she said, “You can
make granola bars?”” It wasn’t that she was questioning my capabilities – it was more of a universal doubt, as in
“Real people can make granola bars? They don’t only come in a box?”It always amuses (and at the same time saddens) me to see how amazed many people are when they realize that it’s easy to make your own version of many store-bought foods. Sure they all know people can make cookies at home, and maybe cakes (if you buy a mix), but granola bars? Hamburger buns? English muffins? All of these are possible, but today, on January 20th, granola bars are the star of the show.
January 13, 2010
Every once in a while, I find myself in an interesting position – trying to explain something that I know is undeniably true, so much so that I don't often think about what makes it, well,
true. Tell me if this sounds familiar. You know something, let’s say it’s gravity. It exists, it’s real, you can’t deny it. But how do you explain what gravity is? Why do we have gravity? You can start with “Gravity is a force of attraction that exists between any two masses,” and maybe throw in the fact that gravity here on Earth is the force of attraction between the mass of the Earth and bodies near its surface. You could explain that gravity depends on both the mass of something and how close or far from that mass a secondary object is, which is why gravity on Earth can make us fall on our faces when we trip, but we don’t get yanked off the planet by the sun while we're briefly airborne.
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