Food Challenge Week 7: 100% Whole Grains

I anticipated that this might be the most difficult week as it really eliminates most conventional breads, crackers, pastas, cereals, and baked goods from your diet.  I was pleased to find that the whole wheat bread I usually buy is actually 100% whole grain.  Anticipating it might not be I made a couple loaves of bread as well.  I usually make bread 1x a month.  I am going to try to bump this to once a week as it certainly tastes better than the store bought stuff.

I have been buying brown rice, whole grain bread, and whole wheat pasta (check the labels carefully!!) for a while.  I have kind of waffled back and forth on crackers and cereal though.  We don't eat much cereal so switching to 100% whole grain is fine (1 box a week approximately).  Wheat thins just came out with a 100% whole grain, whole fat version which meets the "rules" from the past 7 weeks so I was happy about that.  They will get eliminated eventually during the challenge, hopefully I will be able to find something else that applies to all the rules as giving up crackers completely will be tough for our family.

Here are some tips from this blog regarding shopping for 100% whole wheat foods....


Tips

• If the front of a food package says it contains “whole-grains” or “whole-wheat” don’t be fooled…always verify by reading the ingredient label to see what a product is really made of. Packages often advertise that a product contains whole-grains even if it is only 20% whole-grain.
• If the ingredient list on a product contains any portion of “wheat” or “rice” then it is not 100% whole-grain. White flour is still technically made from the wheat plant (a refined version) so it is often labeled as “wheat.” It must say something like “whole-wheat” or “brown rice” to be a whole grain ingredient.
• Whether you are shopping at a supermarket or eating at a restaurant, most food products that are labeled as whole-grain are rarely 100% whole-grain. They often contain some percentage of refined grains as well.
• Since it is so hard to find 100% whole-grain foods it is best to avoid grains all together when you are out to eat at a restaurant (unless you can see the ingredient list yourself). Servers and other restaurant employees are often misinformed and will tell you the bread is “100% whole grain” when it is not.
• If a product is labeled as “multi-grain” it by no means guarantees those grains are whole-grains. It could be a bunch of different refined grains mixed together. Again, you must read the ingredient list to know for sure what’s in a food product.
• Finding good 100% whole-wheat sandwich bread is one of the biggest whole-grain challenges of them all. Some stores (like Earth Fare) bring in freshly made bread products from a local bakery. Other stores have a few decent options in their freezer section. Your best bet is to find a local bakery that makes their dough fresh daily (unlike grocery store bakeries that typically bake pre-mixed dough) or make it yourself!

Good luck!!!  

I am going to post 2 excellent whole grain recipes that I love in my next post!!

I should mention that we did well with the transition to full fat foods and didn't gain 

weight as a result.  The full fat/natural version of whole food do taste better and feel you 

up more so you snack less!