GRAINS are GOOD, but PROCESSING MATTERS
Hello everyone,
Dr. Chuma here for another health segment.
The main topic today is about grains but before I begin, just a quick infection update.
The flu season is raging. In the US alone, there have been nearly 10,000 deaths so far. This includes 35 children, almost all of whom were not vaccinated. In addition, there have been over 250,000 flu-related hospitalizations. Covid is also on a rapid rise. My local hospital, part of the PENN system, has now mandated that anyone entering the facility wear a mask. And, as an aside, masks do work! Don’t listen to the online influencers.
Please don’t get confused by the latest government issued vaccine recommendations. They are ignoring the science. The fact is that overall, vaccines are safe and, although this year’s flu vaccine is not the best, it still helps and certainly will reduce your risks of getting really sick or dying if you do get the flu. Please also get your Covid booster.
The same goes for the measles vaccine. The measles epidemic has now reached Philadelphia county. Its the worst outbreak since 1990 and the US is on the verge of losing its “eradication” status. Please get boosted if you are older and please get your kids and grandkids vaccinated.
Now, onto the main topic.
There are certain nutrition camps which claim that grains are not natural to our ancestral diet and are bad for our health. They claim that consuming grains is a relatively modern phenomenon which began when we developed agriculture. But the paleo-anthropological evidence shows that humans consumed grains, specifically sorghum and oats, at least 105,000 years ago. That’s over 4000 generations of evolution.
Although, like with any food, there are certain individuals who may have intolerances to grains or allergies to some components of certain grains like gluten, like in Celiac Disease, for the vast majority of humans, grains are not only a dietary staple, they were integral to our survival and are crucial to good health.
All traditional diets, including those of all the Blue Zone populations which are the healthiest and longest lived societies in the world, consume a variety of grains daily, if not with almost every meal.
Grains are a great source of fiber, protein and various vitamins and minerals.
Common healthy grains & cereals include:
- Wheat (including spelt, farro, bulgur, freekeh, durum, einkorn, kamut)
- Rice (brown, white, wild, black, red)
- Oats (rolled, steel-cut, groats)
- Barley (pearled, hulled, malted)
- Corn (maize, popcorn, grits, polenta)
- Rye (rye berries, cracked rye)
- Millet (pearl, finger, foxtail, proso)
- Sorghum
- Teff
- Triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye)
Pseudocereals (seeds used as grains)
- Quinoa
- Buckwheat (kasha)
- Amaranth
Consuming these products is very healthy. What makes them unhealthy is how we process them and what we combine them with like loads of sugar, fat, salt and chemicals like emulsifiers, deodorisers and stabilisers.
Let’s look at the anatomy of a grain and what happens the more processed they are.
A grain of wheat, for example, is composed of the bran, the germ and the endosperm. You can think of these like an egg. The bran is the shell, the yolk is the germ and the white of the egg is the endosperm.
- Bran is on the outside. It’s the shell and contains most of the fiber, paramount for gut microbial health. The bran is stripped away with processing, removing the fiber. Another example of this is rice. White rice is simply brown rice with the bran stripped away. White rice is still pretty healthy, but brown rice is healthier.
- The Germ is the embryo of the plant and contains the healthy Omega 3 fats. This is also removed during processing since these oils can cause the product to go rancid and reduce shelf life.
- The Endosperm is where the sugar is. It’s the fuel for the growing plant and is what’s left after processing.
Processed grains are almost pure sugar, resulting in rapid blood sugar rises leading to increased insulin production. This results in greater fat storage.
A clear example of how processing impacts our bodies is what happens to our blood sugar with varying degrees of processing oats.
- Groats are the whole oat grain. It is hearty and takes the longest to cook, but is the most intact or “whole” since nothing, other than the stalk, has been taken away. Groats digest slowly and their sugars are absorbed slowly into the bloodstream resulting in a gradual blood sugar rise. The resulting insulin production spike from the pancreas is more gradual and the following drop in blood sugar is also gradual.
- Steel Cut Oats are exactly that, the groat passed through a steel saw blade, cutting them into little pieces. Because they are smaller and have more surface area, they cook more quickly. They also digest a little faster and their sugars are absorbed a little quicker leading to a faster and higher blood sugar rise. In response, more insulin is produced and the subsequent blood sugar drop is a little greater than with groats.
- The flat oats, which are often referred to as “rolled”, “quick cooking” or “instant” oats are even more processed. They are groats flattened in a huge press and then steamed, essentially pre-cooking them. Their cooking time is even shorter, they digest faster and their sugars get absorbed more rapidly than groats or steel cut oats. They are still a better option than some commercial cereals, but when they are combined with added flavorings, artificial dyes and sugars, they basically turn into Fruit Loops.
- And then there are the commercial cereals made from the flour of oats and other grains. When the oat groat is ground up into a fine powder and then used to make products like Cheerios, Fruit Loops, Wonder Bread or Little Debbies Zebra Cakes, their sugars are very rapidly absorbed, as fast as pure sugar. This leads to the fastest and highest blood sugar spikes, the most insulin production and then a biggest blood sugar crash which makes you feel tired and hungry. In addition, the liver gets inundated with sugar which it converts into fat.
So in summary, grains are extremely healthy. They lower cholesterol, reduce cardiovascular risks, help control and reduce the risks of diabetes and improve gut health by providing healthy fiber and pre-biotics, which the gut microbes love and the gut is responsible for 70% of our immune system. Grains also reduce the risks of various cancers.
But the more we process them, their health benefits disappear.
Stay Safe and Be Well.
See you next time.