Drug Medical Information

GRAINS FOR YOUR HEALTH MENU: HOT CEREALS

As for hot cereals, always pick the ones with unrefined grains - they're the best sources of  vitamins, minerals, and fiber, as well as protein. Here's a rundown of grains for hot cereals:

Wheat
Whether this grain is rolled, flaked, cracked, or ground (either coarse or fine), all versions that preserve the bran and germ and add no other ingredients have roughly the same nutritional value. Look for the words "whole wheat" and "whole grain"; avoid farina, from which the bran and often the germ have been removed. While it's best to choose no more than 25 percent of your complex carbohydrates from refined grains, be aware that products labeled "enriched" add back some (but never all) of the original ingredients lost in the refining process. Since they are rarely returned to their natural ratio, limit such "enriched" refined grains to 25 percent or less. (Note that sourdough, French, and Italian breads, unless they've been made with whole grains, also fall into this category.)

Oats
Oats seem to be especially "trendy" right now - which is good news! Major brands offer nutritious oat cereals and other products, so keep on the lookout for them. When oats are milled, their bran and germ are left intact; only the inedible outer hull is removed. What remains is the groat, from which a number of delicious healthful variations are formed, including:
Old-fashioned or rolled oats: The groats are sliced, slightly steamed, then rolled into flakes and dried. The advantage is good nutrition in short order (they take only five minutes to cook).
Steel-cut oats: The groats are simply cracked. You cook them for as little as ten to fifteen minutes, and the result is a tasty porridge. These are available in health-food stores and often in the health-food sections of supermarkets.
Oat bran: This part of the oat grain is a good source of soluble fiber and has been getting a lot of publicity recently as a cholesterol reducer - which it is when it's part of an eating plan that's low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Rye
Whole-rye cereal has a crunchy, nutty texture and, along with "cream of rye" (a smoother, more delicate cereal), can be found in health-food stores. It's a nice change.

Corn
Cornmeal makes an excellent smooth, creamy cereal. Look for the words "unbolted," "stone-ground," or "whole grain" on the package. Both yellow and white cornmeal can contain the germ and high-fiber bran (but if the box says "degerminated," it means it's been refined and is less preferable).

Rice
Rice isn't only a terrific staple for lunches and dinners - brown-rice "cream" (a hot cereal available in health-food stores) brings the benefits of rice to breakfast, too; it's a quick-cooking, nutritious cereal. And regular brown rice with bananas, cinnamon, and some nonfat milk makes a hearty morning meal as well.

Barley and millet
Barley and millet as well as other, perhaps unfamiliar, grains we've already mentioned (triticale and quinoa, for example), also make excellent hot breakfast cereals, as does kasha (buckwheat groats). Remember that grains cooked earlier in the week are as good for breakfast as they are for dinner (they reheat beautifully in the microwave), served hot or cold with skim milk, raisins, berries, or other fruit, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
And, of course, in addition to all these grains, there are probably more good packaged hot cereals readily available at your neighborhood market than you ever thought possible. Those with combinations of four, five, or even seven grains are particularly interesting, and offer good variety.
*29/345/5*