Re: What is so great about grains?

One of the most significant problems with grains, other than the fact
that it has to be pre-processed in order for us to be able to digest
any nutrients from it, is the simple fact that it is completely bereft
of any vitamin C and it is nearly bereft of many other vitamins and
minerals that are available in larger amounts from other whole food
carbs.

It is far from an ideal food for humans.

TC

wouldntyouliketoknow wrote:
I am not in the medical or nutritional field at all (I am a
psychologist by trade but I have a basic layman's knowledge of the
components of good nutrition). I am enquiring why it is important to
eat grains, by which I mean cereal-based foods. I am studying
informally the components of a complete diet reading texts on the
net, but I can't seem to find what is unique at all about grains - in
other words, what do they have that cannot be obtained elsewhere?
The reason I ask is because I personally find them rather too filling
and bloating - especially when cooked in cakes, breads, crackers - I
usually avoid those like the plague. A small portion of cooked brown
rice in my salad does not have that effect, I find. Also, I do drink
the many flavored rice milks (carob, vanilla, etc) so I am obviously
consuming them to a small degree, and I also eat Ryvita crackers a
few times a day (rye), which I find easy on digestion and producing a
light rather than full feeling afterward.

However, most descriptions on the nutritional websites discuss grains
from the perspective of fiber - well obviously one can get tons of
fiber in fruits and vegetables and nuts (thus, not counting grains) -
especially when like me one eats a lot of salads that contain
numerous vegetables, fruits and nuts in them. In fact, when I look
at a list of all the required minerals, vitamins and oils, I find
them in abundance in the veggies, fruits and nuts.

I do realize that grains are great for producing sources of energy,
and the World Health Organization recommends we eat 55% of our diet
in terms of grains, but when I look at the breakdown statistics of
carbohydrates in veggies and fruit, I see that they are packed in
them too (some more than others, granted).

So that would seem to rule out carbohydrates and fiber (as unique to
grains/cereals, that is). Can anyone from the nutritional/dietary or
medical fields, please explain to me what in our humanly required
diet is UNIQUE to grains/cereals that cannot be obtained from
veggies, seeds (from non-cereals), nuts, or fruit?

Thanks!

danny

p.s. If you know of any good readings as an added bonus....

.

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