According to the American Heart Association, there are numerous health and nutritional\u00a0benefits associated with eating whole grains, including:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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- Whole grains are generally good sources of dietary fiber; most refined (processed) grains contain little fiber.<\/li>\n
- Dietary fiber from whole grains, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease.<\/li>\n
- Fiber-containing foods such as whole grains help provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories and so may help with weight management.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
For more information on whole grains, you can visit the American Heart Association’s web site at: http:\/\/www.americanheart.org\/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4574<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n
For some people\u00a0there is the need or desire to stay away from gluten – which is found in wheat, barley and rye. But eliminating gluten should not keep you from enjoying the benefits of other whole grains as there are many to choose from\u00a0that provide an\u00a0excellent source of fiber, minerals and protein.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/quinoa-300x225.jpg\" "\\"quinoa\\"")
<\/a>Quinoa with Garlic, Pine Nuts and Raisins (photo courtesy of Food Network)<\/p><\/div>\n
One of these options is quinoa (pronounced keen-wa). Quinoa originates from the Andean region of South American\u00a0and has been around for\u00a06,000 years.\u00a0Quinoa, while technically not a grain (it’s\u00a0a seed from a dark green leafy plant and is related to beets and spinach), is called a grain because of its\u00a0texture. Because quinoa contains all of the essential amino acids\u00a0it is considered a complete protein.\u00a0Quinoa\u00a0is very versatile and is prepared the same way as rice but cooks faster.\u00a0Nutritionally,\u00a0it is an excellent source of magnesium and fiber and a\u00a0good source of iron and several B vitamins. You can see a complete nutritional profile by checking out the Nutrition Data<\/a> web site.<\/p>\n
Quinoa can be used\u00a0in many dishes from salads\u00a0to side dishes to stuffing. For quinoa recipes, check out these web sites:\u00a0<\/p>\n
- \n
- allrecipes<\/a><\/li>\n
- foodnetwork<\/a><\/li>\n
- myrecipes<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In addition to quinoa, there are several other\u00a0nutritious whole grains you might want to try.\u00a0For instance:\u00a0<\/p>\n
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- Barley<\/li>\n
- Brown Rice<\/li>\n
- Buckwheat<\/li>\n
- Bulgar<\/li>\n
- Kamut<\/li>\n
- Millet<\/li>\n
- Oatmeal<\/li>\n
- Popcorn<\/li>\n
- Spelt<\/li>\n
- Wild Rice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
As each whole grain has a different nutritional profile it’s a good idea to vary the types of grains you eat. And remember,\u00a0when reading ingredient labels, be sure to look for these whole grains at the top of the ingredient list so you can get the most benefit from this\u00a0essential part of a healthy diet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Quinoa, a complete protein, is a “super grain” in the whole grain realm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=620"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":642,"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions\/642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keepwellfoods.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- foodnetwork<\/a><\/li>\n
- allrecipes<\/a><\/li>\n