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Whole Grains Council
I thought maybe some other people would find this as helpful as I did...
Has a list of good breads. http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/ |
YIKES! I'm *so* confused.
Okay. I just read down the board that if the first ingredient listed is "whole wheat flour" then the product ISN't good for you, and isn't whole grain. However, on the link you provided, I checked my bread and it is listed as 100% whole grain. http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/fi...breads?page=20 The product I'm speaking of is... exactly from the label.. Thomas' 100% Whole Wheat mini bagels. Nutrition info for 1 bagel is as follows: 110 cal 1 gr fat Carbs 22 gr Fiber 3 gr Protein 5 gr The ingredients begin: whole wheat flour, water, cracked wheat, sugar, wheat gluten, wheat bran, salt, etc. Are these good for me (I sure hope so... )? At the moment, I'm counting calories and not carbs. I know to keep fat below 30%, but haven't figured out the right proportion of carbs and proteins yet. Please... can someone help me understand? I'm really trying. Thanks so much! |
hmmmm... They have the stamp on them right?
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Yep, they do, the 100% stamp.
That's why I'm sooooo confused! *grin* |
Originally Posted by beth4365: This product is: Cholesterol Free Good Source of Fiber 0g Trans Fat Low Fat 100% Whole Wheat Made with Whole Grains the site also says: Foods labeled “Whole Grains” are made with at least 51% whole grains. In a bread or roll, this means that all of the grain in the product is from whole grains. The other 49% of the ingredients are predominately water, salt, sugar and shortening. Foods labeled '100% Whole Wheat' are made with only whole wheat flour, which is milled from the whole grain. to learn more about grains..go here. http://thomas.gwbakeries.com/healthL...factType/grain |
I admit I'm confused too, and I thought I had understood this before now. So we are looking for the words 'whole grain' yes? I understand why white is unhealthy, I know about what was done with 'whole wheat'. I usually go for the thick, heavy breads. I figure the heavier it is, the better cause uhm.....it has good healthy stuff in it. *cough* Doesn't sound quite so smart when I put it out there like that.
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ndnguy85 thanks a lot for such a complete explanation, both here and in the post of yours I read earlier. It really helped.
cdiem4994... after reading ndnguy85's explanations and going to the whole grains council website, I went to the grocery. Bottom line that helped me, whole grains foods now have a 'stamp' certifying them IF they're genuine. When I was shopping, I spent time looking for that stamp. It WAS hard to decipher the labels. I believe they are deliberately misleading. However, I was only able to find the stamp on a couple of items, and those items are the ones I went with since I know the stamp is genuine. Hope this is of some help. :-) |
Originally Posted by beth4365: |
ndnguy85 has done a great job explaining it. I think when in doubt I will look for the 100% stamp from the whole grain council NOT the manufacture's description of the product. They have more than one type of stamp that helps when trying to understand how many whole grain servings one is getting- 100% means you are getting a whole "whole grain" serving - 50% meaning it only counts toward half a whole grain serving....
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Yep, that's the way I understand it! Cheers!
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alright i went bread shopping today. my gosh it's so confusing.
now let me clarify some things. The basics: Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or another cereal grain is a grain product. Grains are divided into 2 subgroups: whole grains and refined grains. Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel -- the bran, germ, and endosperm Refined grains have been milled, a process that removes the bran and germ. This is done to give grains a finer texture and improve their shelf life, but it also removes dietary fiber, iron, and many B vitamins. everyone knows the pros and cons of whole grain bread..the problem is how the heck do you get the right one when the entire bread world is out there to get you? Contrary to popular belief, fiber is not indicative of whole-grains. The amount of fiber varies from grain to grain, and some products may have things like bran, peas, or other foods added to boost the fiber content Check the list of ingredients If the first ingredient listed contains the word "whole" (such as "whole wheat flour" or "whole oats"), it is likely – but not guaranteed – that the product is predominantly whole grain. If there are two grain ingredients and only the second ingredient listed is a whole grain, the product may contain as little as 1% or as much as 49% whole grain (in other words, it could contain a little bit of whole grain, or nearly half). On the other hand, terms such as "enriched" and "bromated," among others, could indicate that the food lacks whole grain. "Wheat flour" (as opposed to "whole grain wheat flour" or "whole wheat flour") as the first ingredient is not a clear indicator of the product's whole grain content Other misleading descriptions include: “whole grain” - how much of it? “contains whole grain” - how much? “100% wheat” - what part of the wheat? “made with whole wheat” - how much of it? “multigrain” - how much? The following names indicate whole-grain products, in accordance with the federal government: “whole wheat bread” “Entire wheat flour” “Whole wheat flour” now let's look at an example. Oroweat is one company that i saw which had lots of stamps from the wholegraincouncil.org http://www.oroweat.com/nutrition/whole_wheat.gif notice how the first ingredient is "whole wheat flour." now look at the one below which is a "12-Grain" Bread. don't be fooled by the grain in the title. it's not referring to "whole grain." see the first ingredient? http://www.oroweat.com/nutrition/12grain.gif other examples nature's own honey wheat Ingredients: UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID) comments: not good nature's own Honey 7 Grain ingredients: WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID) comments: whole wheat flour is listed first so at least 51% is whole grain but the other half i dont know. wow..that's a long post. :-) |
Fascinating reading the labels. The first label, with the "whole wheat flour" as the first ingredient had "high fructose corn syrup" as the third ingredient. That removes it from my shopping list straight away. Focusing on just the "whole grain" to the exclusion of everything else can be self defeating.
I know we want whole grains for both the fiber and the nutrients refined grains lack. But the rest of the ingredients also have to be healthy. And you have to like the taste. I've had some very healthy breads I could barely choke down... if that's what I have to eat to be healthy no wonder I've been living on Wonder Bread for so long. There are a lot of breads in between those two extremes of course. But in the final selection I'm going to weigh "taste" just as heavily as "whole grain". For me, first a product shouldn't have any "bad" things - HFCS, hydrogenated oils, MSG -, then I have to like the taste, and then I'll go for the healthier of the tasty ones. |
Vladadog,the reason why I find whole grains are important is they do not cause a blood sugar spike like other refine carbohydrates. Might not be effecting you much. I get horribly dizzy a few hours after I eat if I don't pay attention to this kinda stuff. You have a good point with the corn syrup, ect. stuff... I was shopping last night and had tunnel vision on for the little stamp which was only on like 2% of stuff that said it contained whole grains - argh!
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Reading through all of this again, grateful for the insights.
ndnguy85, thank you for taking time to explain this so well. And, thanks to everyone else, too. I've learned a lot here. |
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