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Thoughts for the week
By Ginger Hoffman, RD, LDN
Registered Dietitian for Fitness Unlimited Healthclub for Women
Milton, Massachusetts USA
www.fitnessunlimited.com
Have you seen the new commercial for Big G cereals? It shows the cereal aisle plopped down in the middle of a busy city street with consumers raving that their old favorites are now all made with whole grain. Are we supposed to believe that Lucky Charms is a healthy cereal?
Maybe. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines recommend that Americans make "half their grains whole." This means that most people should consume 3 or more servings per day of whole grains. Whole grains can be found in some cereals, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain breads, barley, oatmeal, popcorn, etc. One full serving of a whole grain contains 16 grams or more, and every General Mills cereal now has 8 or more grams of whole grains per serving. (We need a total of 48 grams per day).
Confusing? Just look for a gold stamp that looks like a postage stamp on grain products. The stamp will list the number of grams of whole grains in one serving of the food. The stamp was created by the Whole Grains Council , a nonprofit consumer advocacy group working to increase consumption of whole grains for better health. See http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/
Where does this leave Lucky Charms? Better than the original product, but with 11 grams of sugar per serving, it contains more sugar than whole grain. Try Cheerios or Total instead. |
