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Humans have been enjoying grain foods for at least the past 10,000 years. Grain foods, which include cereals, are dietary staples for many cultures around the world and Australia is no exception. Cereals provide the average Australian with around one fifth of their daily nutrient requirements. Current research around the world is discovering the many and varied health benefits that wholegrain cereal foods can offer, particularly in reducing the risk of diseases such as coronary heart disease, cancer and diabetes Much of the attention for phytochemicals has focused on fruit (especially grapes and apples), vegetables (especially onions, broccoli, tomatoes) and legumes (especially soy).
Grains include wheat, barley, oat, rye, corn, rice, triticale.
Wholegrains include wholemeal or wholegrain breads or crispbreads, dark 'seedy' breads, wholegrain breakfast cereals, wheat germ, brown rice, puffed whole grains, bulgar, couscous, pop corn and oatmeal. Refined cereals include sweet rolls, cake, desserts, white bread, pasta, muffins, sweet or savoury biscuits, refined grain breakfast cereals, white rice, pancakes, waffles and pizza.
The US Food & Drug Administration permits food manufacturers to make a health claim on whole grain food products, as possibly reducing the risk of coronary heart disease and some cancers as long as the product contains 51% or more wholegrain ingredients by weight per reference amount, with dietary fibre 2.3g per 50g or 1.7g per 35g and the food must be low in fat.
When grains are refined (for example to produce white flour), the bran and germ layers are generally removed, leaving only the endosperm. This 'refining' process can cause 66% loss of fibre, 92% loss of selenium, 62% loss of folate and up to 99.8% of phytochemicals from the grains. Some fibre, vitamins and minerals may be added back into refined cereal products (such as white bread) which compensates for losses due to refining, but its impossible to add the mix of phytochemicals that's lost in the processing. Sometimes, the fibre that is added back to refined products is derived from vegetable fibre (lupin, pea hulls). Some breads contain 'Hi-maize' which is a resistant starch from corn. It is unknown whether these breads have similar beneficial properties to breads high in cereal fibres. For example, 'Hi-maize' does not have the same laxative effect as wheat fibre. Refined cereals, such as white flour, generally have a higher glycaemic index (GI) than their wholegrain counterparts. This means that consuming refined cereals causes a sharp rise in blood sugars, demanding a strong response from the pancreas. A diet full of high glycaemic index foods has been linked to the development of diabetes and heart disease. Studies have also found that people who eat large amounts of refined cereals do so at the expense of more nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables. This increases the risk of certain diseases, such as some types of cancer.