You might have heard people say, “choose wholegrains instead of refined grains.” And I touched on this in my posts about carbohydrates and fibre. But what exactly are wholegrains? And why should you be choosing them over refined varieties? What are wholegrains? Grains are the seeds from cereal plants, including wheat, rice, corn, barley, oats, quinoa and rye. The entire grain from these plants is the “wholegrain”. It is made up of three parts: The bran – the outer layer: rich in fibre, B vitamins and antioxidants. The germ – the core: packed with nutrients including B vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and protein. The endosperm – the middle layer and…
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Are You Eating Enough Fibre?
I mentioned the importance of dietary fibre (also known as roughage) in my post on Carbohydrates last week. Today I wanted to go into a bit more detail because it’s an important part of a healthy, balanced diet. What is fibre? Dietary fibre is found in plant-based foods, such as starchy carbohydrates, fruit, vegetables, beans and lentils. Our body cannot fully break it down by digestion and it passes through the body, which helps the normal functioning of our large intestine and colon. There are two types of fibre, although foods often contain both types. They are: Soluble fibre – this forms a gel-like substance when it dissolves in water…
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Should We Really Avoid Carbs? An Overview of Carbohydrates
Ketogenic, Paleo and Atkins. The abundance of low-carb diets might make you think carbohydrates are the enemy, to be avoided at all costs. However, they are a macronutrient, which means that along with fat and protein, they are an essential part of our diet. They are the body’s preferred source of energy, so limiting carbohydrates may make you feel tired. Carbs do not make you put on weight! The initial weight loss you may experience when drastically cutting carbs is likely to be fluid loss, not fat loss. Not all carbs are created equal. We can get them from a wide variety of foods, not just bread and pasta. Some…
