All carbs are not created equal ...

Diets should include whole grain foods. But read product labels carefully as

foods marked multigrain or 100 per cent whole wheat.

By Michelle Woods
The Hamilton Spectator

Now seems the time to talk about the importance of carbohydrates, after recent and endless articles about losing weight on various diets that encourage people to increase their consumption of protein and avoid carbohydrates. Although many people have chosen to severely limit their consumption of carbohydrates, most of these diets do emphasize the importance of whole grains. Contrary to popular belief, they do not categorize all carbohydrates as bad nor do they tell people to avoid them. Instead emphasis is placed on whole grains or complex carbohydrates.

Many manufactured food products are made with white flour, which is not a good source of complex carbohydrates. Whole grain flours contain all of the goodness of the grain and these should be chosen more often. The white flour that we know today was "invented" more than a century ago as the milling process became more industrialized. Removing the bran and germ gave the flour a longer shelf life, but the lack of nutrients brought about a worldwide epidemic of pellagra (a disease that causes skin rashes, diarrhea and mouth sores, and can result in mental deterioration) and beriberi (caused by thiamine deficiency, one of the vitamins found in whole grains). As a result, governments in North America decided that wheat flour should be fortified to replace the vitamins lost when the bran and germ are removed. This practice continues today.

Whole grains have three components: the bran, the endosperm and the germ. The bran is the source of fibre and minerals (zinc, magnesium, chromium and iron among others), vitamins, protein and phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are nutrients that are only found in plant foods and have proven health benefits such as antioxidant properties. The endosperm contains protein, B vitamins and carbohydrate, making it the main source of energy in the grain. The germ is the smallest part of the grain but contains many nutrients -- including vitamin E. In fact it is the storehouse of nutrients needed for a new plant to sprout. The most important point to remember is that it is the entire grain that provides a balanced source of nutrients. Fortifying a refined product does not have the same synergistic effect as consuming the whole grain.

Another term that is bantered about these days is glycemic index (GI). This index measures the effect of carbohydrate on blood glucose and is based on the carbohydrate available in the food, measured on a per gram basis. Simply put, it is the effect that one gram of carbohydrate has on the blood glucose level of an individual. Foods with a lower GI value produce a lower blood glucose response than foods with a higher GI value. This measure is not without controversy since the values are based on glycemic carbohydrate, or the effect of carbohydrate rather than of the food itself. The values that arise from this method can lead to confusion for consumers. For instance, according to GI tables, angel food cake has a GI of 67 and white bread has a GI of 70, leading a person to believe that the cake will have less effect on their blood sugar than the bread. While both are made from white flour, the cake would very likely contain much more sugar than the bread -- a confusing situation indeed. Consequently, a more user-friendly tool was created -- the glycemic load. Glycemic load (GL) measures the effect that a normal serving size of a specific food has on blood glucose levels. Using this method, you would compare a normal portion of angel food cake and one slice of bread. The angel food cake would have a GL of 19 while the slice of white bread would have a GL of 10.Using this methodology, it is clear that the white bread would be a better choice than the angel food cake. By comparison, a slice of whole grain bread has a GL of 8 which would be a better alternative to the white bread.

Grains such as wheat, quinoa or millet can be consumed as whole grains (i.e. the entire grain) or in a ground form such as whole grain flour. Products labeled as multigrain or 100 per cent whole wheat may not necessarily contain whole grains. The 100 per cent whole wheat label indicates that all of the flour content is wheat, but the flour may not contain the three components of the kernel. As a result, the final product will lack some of the nutrients found in the kernel of the whole grain. There are many whole grain products on the market; you just need to seek them out. In fact you may already enjoy many whole grain products. When reading the ingredient label on the package look for words like "whole wheat flour," "whole oats," etc.

Another way to ensure that you are consuming complex carbohydrates is to look at the fibre content of a product. If whole wheat flour is listed, but the fibre content of the product is 1 gram per serving, then the amount of whole wheat flour is perhaps not as significant as other types of flour. Foods with three or more grams of fibre per serving are considered a source of fibre. Aim to purchase and enjoy more foods with at least three or more grams of fibre per serving. With this knowledge you can be a more informed consumer and choose more whole grain foods for you and your family.

Michelle Woods completed her masters in clinical nutrition at the University of Surrey in England. She worked as a pediatric dietitian in London before returning to Canada as a registered dietitian. for Nature's Path Foods, Richmond, B.C.