{"id":2996,"date":"2014-04-09T13:58:03","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T12:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/?p=2996"},"modified":"2016-08-21T13:27:03","modified_gmt":"2016-08-21T12:27:03","slug":"healthy-whole-grains-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/2014\/04\/healthy-whole-grains-really\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Healthy whole grains’ – really?!"},"content":{"rendered":"
This post is the logical follow-up to “The perfect five-a-day post<\/a>“. In addition to being told to eat five-a-day, we are told to eat ‘healthy whole grains’. So let’s look at just how healthy these are – compared again to five genuinely nutritious foods.<\/p>\n Again, all information is openly available on this site<\/a>. drawing from the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference<\/a>…<\/p>\n In the following two tables I have recorded:<\/p>\n – Essential fats (the term “essential” in nutrition means we must consume this substance – our body doesn’t make it);<\/p>\n – Complete protein (any food with a protein score over 100 provides complete protein – including the essential amino acids that we must consume. Any food with a protein score below 100 does not provide complete protein);<\/p>\n – 12 vitamins (the database doesn’t record biotin) and the main macro minerals and trace minerals. (Next to each vitamin and mineral is the US Recommended Dietary Allowance or “AI”, Adequate Intake, where an RDA is not given).<\/p>\n Table 1 has five foods that I would recommend as healthy – based on evidence of nutrient provision. Between them (and not always needing 100g for many nutrients to be acquired) they provide all the nutrients that humans need. Please note the nutrients that are most difficult to obtain. People should ideally consume 200g of oily fish each day to get close to the vitamin D and calcium requirements; the addition of steak <\/a>to these five foods would be helpful to increase zinc intake.<\/p>\n Table 2 has the same information extracted for five example whole grains.<\/p>\n The yellow highlighter gives you a quick visual check of which food provides the most of each nutrient per 100g of product (across both tables). This is why I describe liver as the most nutritious food on the planet. Please let me know if you find a food with essential fats and complete protein, which is richer in vitamins and minerals than liver.<\/p>\n \u00a0Table 1<\/strong><\/p>\n