Congratulations to Jenny S. for winning a FREE run or swim clinic at TriMania Boston!  We hope that you enjoy your clinic, and come visit us at the expo afterward!  

If you're new to our blog, read more about TriMania, an amazing event for triathletes taking place in March in Cambridge, MA.

And if you didn't win, try entering another giveaway on our page!  We are currently running a giveaway for a free copy of the book "Stop Dieting and Lose Weight" - a great easy read with practical tips you can start to implement today.  We'll draw a winner for that giveaway on 3/1, so enter today!

Thanks to everyone for your great blog comments on our Bob's Red Mill giveaway.  Congrats to Emily as our randomly selected winner in this giveaway!  We hope she will enjoy her gift card to stock up on some great products.

Also, for those of you who didn't get a chance to read the comments, I wanted to share some of these great ideas posted by readers for utilizing healthy grains and other Bob's Red Mill products in your diet...

• "I love their coconut for my yogurt..."
  
• "I utilize Bob's Red Mill Flax Seed in my morning smoothies."
  
• "I love Bob's Red Mill whole grain bulgur."
  
• "I use their flax seed meal to add to our muffin recipes."
  
• "I love using bob's coconut flour to make "coco-meal" (thats oatmeal, but with coconut flour instead of oats)."
  
• "I love their products, the quinoa is best I've found so far."

Thanks readers for sharing your awesome ideas!  And congrats again to Emily for winning our giveaway.


For full disclosure, Bob's Red Mill provided this gift card for me to use in this giveaway.  I received no other compensation for this post or the previous post.  And as always, I only do giveaways with companies/products I believe in. 

Grains get a bad reputation – people claim they’re filled with “unhealthy” carbohydrates, and they’re often the first thing people cut out when they start dieting.  But grains have an essential spot in our diet.  Yes, they provide carbs – a word that has a bad connotation in much of the dieting world – but carbohydrate is our body’s preferred source of energy, and it’s where the majority (40-65%) of our calories should come from.  We of course want to make sure these carbohydrates are coming from healthy choices like fruits, veggies, and grains. 

The key when choosing grains is to select whole grains- those made from the entire kernel of the grain.  And what better time to talk about these than Whole Grains Month, which happens every September! 

Here’s the deal on whole grains – they contain all three parts of the grain kernel.  This includes the:

• Bran – This outer layer surrounds the grain and protects it.  It provides fiber, B-vitamins, and minerals
  
• Germ – This is where a lot of nutrients are stored, including antioxidants, Vitamin E, B-vitamins, and healthy fats.
  
• Endosperm – This is the largest part of the grain kernel and contains carbohydrates as well as protein.

Because all the parts of the grain kernel are used, we’re given an extra boost of fiber.  Fiber is essential for a healthy digestive system – I always tell the kids I teach that “it helps us poop!” and hear the class break out in “ewwww!”.  But it’s the truth, and it’s important that we get enough fiber each day for that reason.  Fiber is important in other ways, too – for example, it helps regulate blood sugar better than when we eat foods lacking fiber.  One type of fiber, soluble fiber, can also help to lower cholesterol.

A refined grain product is typically only made from the endosperm portion – so it provides carbohydrates, but lacks a lot of other nutrients.  Some of these lost nutrients are added back in during processing (through enrichment and fortification) but not to the same nutritional profile of the original whole grain. 

So how do you spot the whole grains?  It (unfortunately) isn’t as simple as you might think!  There are tons of breads out there that look like they should be whole grain – they’re a brown color – and some even say “wheat bread” or “multigrain” in the name of the product.  But to truly identify if you’re eating a whole grain, you’ll need to flip the package over and take a look at the ingredient list.  The very first ingredient should say “whole wheat,” “whole grain oat flour,” “brown rice,” or a similar term (for other types of grains) indicating it is the unrefined form.  If it’s a multigrain product, look at the different types of grain in the label to see if they are all whole grains.  If you see “enriched wheat flour” as the first ingredient, that’s just another term for white flour, aka a refined grain product. 

Sometimes people look at the nutrition facts to check the amount of fiber, and purchase products based on this amount.  This can be deceiving, though, since manufacturers have jumped on the fiber bandwagon and have been adding isolated fibers to foods.  These boost the grams of fiber without adding whole grain, so they can be added to refined products to make them seem like a healthier choice.  Scientifically, though, we’re not sure if these isolated fibers have the same impact as regular fiber on your body.  Your best bet is to read the ingredients and select items that are truly a whole grain.

Want to experiment with some new whole grains, or stock up on your favorites?  Would a $25 Bob’s Red Mill gift card help you with that? 

Well perfect, because we are going to give one away!  Simply make a comment below on this blog post by 10/4/12 and be entered into a raffle to win a $25 gift card to use in their online store.  Bob’s Red Mill makes great products, including different flours, oat products, barley, and other grains.  My favorite product is there whole wheat pastry flour, which I use for all my baking needs.  

Terms:  You must be at least 18 years old to win this giveaway.  Upon winning, we will contact you via email and you must reply with your mailing address within 3 days or we will choose another winner.

Good luck!