Carbs (carbohydrates) are long chains of sugar, and are evaluated nutritionally based on how easily the body absorbs the sugar (the glycemic index), and what micronutrients are associated with them.  The more refined the carbohydrate, whether it be flour, rice, grains or sugar, the more loss there is in the nutritive value of the food, and the higher the glycemic index. 

            The glycemic index is the sugar rush you get when you eat carbs.  As sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream, insulin is secreted by the pancreas to reduce the levels and get the sugar into the cell.  If the sugars eaten are quickly absorbed and not sustained (as in eating most sweets, candies, desserts, and simple white breads), the excess sugar in the bloodstream is gone, but the insulin is still there and you are hungry again an hour later. 

            When you eat more complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, legumes, unrefined sugars, and brown rice, the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream is more gradual, avoiding the spike in blood sugar levels and the rebound hypoglycemia and hunger that follows.  You also get the benefit of the other phytonutrients that the refining process removes from the food source.

            As you incorporate more whole grains into the diet, you will feel healthier, be less hungry, and your stools will bulk up.  Cooking with whole grains takes a little more time, however.  Brown rice takes about an hour to cook, while white rice takes only five to ten minutes.  Whole grain pastas take ten to twenty minutes to cook to an al dente form.  Because the retention of the phytonutrients makes the extra time needed to cook whole grains worth it, a little extra planning is usually required.

Whole Grain Flour 

            Whole grains don’t have to be those boring, hard-to-chew pieces of bread that are reminiscent of the dust you could scrape off the floor of a saw-mill.  Indeed, as the USDA has pushed for a healthier diet, the food industry has responded by making whole grains much more palatable.  However, you have to really read not just the food label, but the list of ingredients to make certain you are getting the grains you want.

            The problem started when flour mills began to refine the grains to the point that all the husk of the grain was removed, making the flour softer and lighter, but also less nutritious.  The husk is actually the most nutritious part of the grain.  White flour now has a few vitamins added back into it as a public health measure to prevent some vitamin deficiency disorders, like beri-beri.  This supplemented flour is called ‘enriched’. 

            Beware, however, that just because the packaging on pastas or breads say ‘whole grain’, the main ingredient may just be white flour.  You have to read the list of ingredients and make certain that whole grain or whole wheat flour is listed first.

Sweetening the pot