Groans about grains and meet Sally Avridge

At least half of all the grains you consume should be whole grain. Choose whole grain breads and breakfast cereals, whole wheat pasta, and wild or brown rice, rather than their refined counterparts.

Of course, young children may find whole grains difficult to cope with, so they need to be introduced gradually as teeth and tummies develop.

The grain group includes all foods made from wheat, rice, oats, maize, barley, rye, quinoa or millet. These grains originate as the fruit, or seeds, of grasses and grass-type plants. They are cultivated on a large scale as staple crops - crops which provide more food energy for world populations than any other food group. Potatoes are also included in this group.

When grains are refined, the outer husk, the bran and the germ are lost, leaving only the endosperm, which is pretty much all carbohydrate. Gone are the vitamins, minerals and fibre that used to be part of each little grain. Keep them whole, and they will keep you healthy!

It amazes / amuses (not sure which is the more appropriate) that manufacturers go to great lengths to refine grain - removing most of the nutrients in the process - and then go to even greater lengths to replace what they destroyed with (mostly synthetic) additives!  "Fortified breakfast cereal with added vitamins". What an ad!

Even though grains are an essential part of your daily food intake, too much of even a good thing can cause weight grain.

An average person, of average height, weight, age  and activity levels (???!!!) consuming an average of 2000 kcals/8400kjoules daily (meet Sally Avridge) requires 6 servings of grains per day. 1 serving of grains equates to 1slice of whole wheat bread, OR 1 cup of ready-to-eat-cereal, OR 1/2 cup of cooked pasta, rice or cooked cereal, OR a potato the size of a large egg.

Today, Sally Avridge will have 1/2 cup of cooked oats for breakfast, a sandwich made with 2 slices of whole wheat bread for lunch and a cup and a half of pasta for dinner (she really likes pasta). That is six portions of grains, and provided she has whole wheat pasta, it's ALL whole grain. Well done, Sally!

What will Sally eat tomorrow? Join me for the low down on vegetables.