Going the Whole Grain

As a Dietitian, I am constantly advising clients of small changes that they can make to their current diet and lifestyle to reap massive health rewards. One of these changes is changing from white bread, pastas and rice to wholegrain varieties. Aside from adding more taste and interest to a meal, the health benefits found in wholegrain significantly outweighs the health benefits of each part.

Australians should be eating at least 48g of whole grains everyday and listed below are just a few reasons why:

• Eating whole grains can reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes by 20-40%
• If however, you already have pre-diabetes (insulin resistance), regular consumption of
  wholegrain can reduce the progression of your current state to full diabetes by as much
  as 58%
• Whole grains can reduce your risk of colon cancer by up to 40%
• Whole grains, as part of a healthy diet, can reduce your risk of obesity by as much as 30%

With these facts in mind, are you getting your 48g of wholegrain goodness every day? It’s not as hard as you may think. Simply by including some of the foods indicated below into your daily diet, you can substantially boost you daily wholegrain intake:

If you only make one small change to your diet this year, make the switch from white to wholegrain bread, rice & pasta.