What Counts as a Serving of Whole Grains?

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Hey, welcome to Nourishable, I’m Dr. Lara. It is recommended that adults eat six servings of grains per day, with at least half of those as whole grains. But what counts as a serving? Let’s science it. One grain serving is counted as one ounce of grains - but how that measures up depends on the form that you eat them in. One cup of ready-to-eat cereal is equal to an ounce of grains. A half a cup of cooked grains like pasta, rice or oatmeal is equal to one ounce of grains. And one standard slice of bread is equal to one ounce of grains. These are called ounce equivalents. There are many different kinds of grains - wheat, farro, quinoa, barley, oats, pasta, cornmeal and millet, just to name a few. The way that they are processed determines whether or not they are whole grain. Let’s take a hot second for a little grain anatomy lesson. Naturally grain kernels contain three parts: the outer layer called the bran, the bulk of the interior called the endosperm and the teeny little seed in the middle called the germ. The outer bran is full of fiber, antioxidants and vitamins. The inner germ is the grain embryo, and it contains vitamins plus some minerals, healthy fats and protein. The largest compartment is the endosperm, made of starch and a little bit of protein. When whole grains are refined to make white flour, they strip away the fiber rich bran and nutrient rich germ, leaving the starchy endosperm. Basically refining grains is throwing most of the beneficial nutrients in the garbage! This is why the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends to make at least half your grains whole grains. The great news is that there are so many delicious varieties of whole grains that can be swapped in place of refined grains. Some of my favourite ways to incorporate whole grains are to start my day with steel cut oatmeal, to put ½ a cup of a whole grains like farro or quinoa on top of my salad at lunch or shift from white pasta to whole wheat pasta with a veggie sauce for dinner. That’s what science tastes like. Thanks for tuning into Nourishable, check out all my references in the video descriptions and subscribe to stay up to date on all things nutrition.