Eight months ago, I decided to embark on a bit of an adventure here on the WGC blog, trying out something I’d never tried before.  I decided to be open with you.  I decided to be honest with you.  I decided I would open up about changes I’ve seen in my life since incorporating more whole grains into my diet, hoping that you, my nameless, faceless readers, would indulge me. 

I have to say, so far our “relationship” has been a happy one, but it hasn’t been all that perfect.  You see, I haven’t been completely, 100% honest with you.  There’s a secret I’ve been keeping from you, one I didn’t think you would understand at first.  I thought, maybe if we got to know each other a bit and you saw the real me, then maybe it would be okay to tell you because you already knew me and wouldn’t judge me too harshly.  I thought it was okay to keep hiding things, but then today, I saw this post by Cristin Dillon-Jones and I realized I can’t keep my secret from you any longer.  I should have told you from the very beginning…

I don’t always eat whole grains.

Hey, hold on, no crying!  No screaming!!  It’s okay, I promise!  The sky isn’t falling, the world isn’t ending!  C’mon, breathe with me here for a second.  It’s going to be okay…

Feel better?  Good, so do I.  

So there you have it, my “dirty” little secret.  I don’t always eat whole grains.  And guess what?  That’s okay.  Honest.  According to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, all adults should eat at least half their grains as whole grains, which amounts to 3 five 5 servings of whole grains every day.  So what about the other half?  Well, you can eat more whole grains, you can eat a mix of whole and refined grains, or you can eat only refined grains.  Now, before the wrath comes down on my head, let me be very clear – I am NOT saying you should eat refined grains.  Those are not the words that I’m typing, not at all.  What I’m saying is, it’s okay if you eat half your grains as refined grains or a mix of refined and whole grains, provided you are making the effort to eat the other half of your grains as whole grains.  And that, my friends, I more than certainly do.

A perfect example of when (and why) I balance choosing whole grains and non-whole grains happened this weekend.  The Man and I decided to throw a huge party and have a bunch of people over, and I did most of the food shopping for the party Friday afternoon.  I went to our local butcher to buy meatsies, then headed to the grocery store for a few other essentials including hamburger and hot dog buns.  Now, I know there are plenty whole grain options to choose from, and I saw many of them in the bread aisle so it’s not as if they weren’t at my local store.  I simply chose to purchase something else – potato bread, if you must know.  When I was little, having my hamburger on a potato roll was a special treat, and now that I’m the grownup, there’s just something about a hot-off-the-grill burger with cheese and fresh tomato slices that calls for potato bread in my book.  I’m not picky to the point of turning up my nose at any other options, and I certainly have had hamburgers on whole grain hamburger buns and I have enjoyed the combo immensely.  But if we’re hosting and I’m buying, sorry world, you’re getting potato bread and that’s that.

And then I made a whole grain pasta salad with whole wheat orzo (and fresh pesto made with basil from our garden), and a friend brought a quinoa summer salad with fresh corn and green onions.  So see?  It all balanced out in the end…

We at the WGC aren’t in the business of scolding or being pushy.  We don’t want to lecture you about all the things you might be doing wrong or shake a rolled up newspaper at you and tell you you’re a bad, bad consumer.  That’s not how we roll.  We educate you about the heath benefits of whole grains so you’ll be inspired to eat them on a personal level – “Gosh, I’m at risk for type 2 diabetes, maybe whole grains can help me like they helped all the people in that study.”  We encourage you to eat delicious whole grains whether you’re cooking at home, dining out, or shopping in your grocery store.  We created the Whole Grain Stamp to make it that much easier to make (at least) half your grains whole, and we work with over 220 companies to ensure you can find the Stamp on over 2,800 products in 14 countries.  We like options, we like positive thinking, and we like knowing that even moderate changes in whole grain consumption can make a difference for our health.  And although we like—no, we love our whole grains, we like our burgers on potato rolls in the summer.  And that’s okay.  (Kara)

Be sure to join me next month for more Me & My Whole Grains, a series of monthly blogs that share the changes I’ve seen in my life directly related to whole grains.