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nutritional
Whole Grains
It’s Not Grain Surgery
By Benjamin Goodin
September is whole grain month because, for a few decades now,
nutritionists have been pleading with the common consumer to
eat healthier. There has been a lot of conflicting advice about
carbs-laden grains: we should eat them; we shouldn’t eat them; we
should only eat certain types. This tug of war becomes a bit confusing
for consumers who are less educated than a dietician. Then glutenfree
eating enters the argument and this us-or-them standoff begins to
look more like the floor of the stock exchange with nutritionists of every
opinion vying for our attention.
Two of my personal favorite indulgences, bread and starches,
have gotten a particularly bad rap in health community for their simple
carbohydrate content. Even if my doctor told me to stop eating these
foods, I might consider stopping. I think she might be somewhat
pacified if we compromised, and I ate my carbs smarter.
Like so many other dietary troubles, the problem with eating grains
comes down to decisions. A great deal of the grains we eat are in a
processed form, a form that lays on the starches and simple carbs
in high quantities. Conscious of the recent eyebrow raising that has
occurred in reaction to carb and starch consumption, many grain
products, especially those that are made from wheat, have been
advertising openly and loudly when their product contains whole grains.
As a grown adult, I will admit that I’d be hard pressed to tell you exactly
what that meant other than my tortillas and loaves of bread taking on
a distinctly rustic appearance: being more brownish than usual and
peppered with little flecks of something throughout.
Most of the grains and prepackaged foods that we eat are of the
“processed” or “refined” variety: meaning that they’ve been somehow
prepared before hitting the shelves. In the case of grains, this means that
they’ve been, crushed, milled, cut, rolled, or even cracked. The process
of refining grains separates the bran and the germ from the rest of the
kernel, and thus it loses a bit of nutritional value. Basically, you’re left
Stuffed Peppers with Squash,
Black Beans, and Rice
Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side
If you have leftover rice and cooked black beans on hand, this recipe can be made in just a few minutes. Alternatively, you can slice up
the red peppers, add some shredded lettuce, and make a salad out of it.
Ingredients:
½ cup cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked black beans
2 Mexican gray squash or zucchini, diced
6 green onions, sliced
2 tsp. pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
juice of 1 lime
¼ tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 red bell peppers, cut in half, cored, and seeded.
Optional: Salsa
Directions:
Combine the rice, beans, squash, green onions, pepitas, garlic,
oregano, vinegar, lime, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Fill the
pepper halves with the squash, rice, and bean mixture. Top with
salsa, if using, and serve.
Per serving:
187 calories, 16 g protein,
54 g carbohydrate,
13 g sugar, 3 g total fat,
14% calories from fat,
16 g fiber, 317 mg sodium.
Recipe reproduced from PCRM.org, with
credit to Dr. Neal Barnard for the original recipe.
Photo credit: shibachuu/AdobeStock
Page 10 — Healthy Cells Magazine — Mid-Illinois Springfield / Decatur — September 2016