Looking to add more whole grains to your diet but not sure where to start?
According to a dietitian Sarah Klemm on Eat Right, adding more whole grains to your family's meals is a smart move.
Not only do whole grain provide vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients needed to keep you healthy, but they also contain dietary fibre, which may help reduce your risk of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and other health problems, such as constipation.
She says that if you want to add more whole grains to your meals you must change your cooking style to include more whole grains and boost the dietary fiber content of meals.
She adds that you must partner whole grains with vegetables - brown rice and vegetable stir-fry or a whole-wheat pita stuffed with salad, or fortify mixed dishes with high-fiber ingredients - add bran or oatmeal to meatloaf or toss cooked quinoa or wheat berries into a salad.
Whole-grain breakfast cereal. Picture: Supplied
So, if you are looking at adding whole grains in your diet, below are tips Klemm suggests.
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Start with breakfast. Choose a fibre-rich, whole-grain breakfast cereal, oatmeal or whole-wheat toast. Check the grams of dietary fibre per serving; more fibre will keep you feeling full longer.
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Choose whole grains over refined items when selecting bread, buns, bagels, tortillas, pasta and other grains.
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Experiment with different grains such as buckwheat, bulgur, millet, quinoa, sorghum, whole rye or barley. To save time, cook extra bulgur or barley and freeze half to heat and serve later as a quick side dish.
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Enjoy whole grains as a snack. Popcorn is considered a whole-grain and three cups of air-popped popcorn contain 3.5 grams of dietary fiber and only 95 calories. Also, try 100-percent whole-wheat or rye crackers.