{"id":790,"date":"2009-12-04T13:10:55","date_gmt":"2009-12-04T13:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html"},"modified":"2009-12-04T13:10:55","modified_gmt":"2009-12-04T13:10:55","slug":"foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html","title":{"rendered":"Foodie Friday: Feel Good with Grains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"grains.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>Today’s Foodie Friday feature is not a recipe but a lesson in feel-good foods.  Specifically, why whole grains, which we all have heard make our tummies happy, can do the same for our brains.  I had some hunches about why this was, but instead of loping through an explanation myself, I turned to an expert:  Dr. Shilpa Saxena, an integrative physician<\/a> and good friend of Fresh Living.  You might remember her from her springtime post on why asparagus makes our wee-wee smell funny<\/a>.  Today, she gives us the skinny on why whole grains are feel-good foods.  I’m looking forward to hearing from you whether you feel focused, happy, energetic, or just generally good when you eat whole grains.  I know I’m at my best after my morning oatmeal….<\/p>\n

Take it away, doctah!<\/p>\n

Why Whole Grains are Feel-Good Foods<\/u><\/p>\n

Whole
\ngrains are undoubtedly the latest and greatest marketing trend among food
\nmanufacturers.  <\/span>Gone are the ‘Fat
\nFree’ and ‘Low Carb’ labels plastered all over our food.  <\/span>What I find is that this ‘trend’ is
\nright in line with the groundswell of healthy eating that is sweeping our
\ncountry, and yes, they’re good for you and make you feel good!<\/p>\n

The craze of the Red Bull, Power Bar, Gatorade days crashed both literally and
\nfiguratively.  <\/span>These types of
\ncarbohydrates are known as simple sugars and convert to glucose (the body’s
\nenergy currency) very quickly.  
\n<\/span>This quick conversion leads to a rather steep spike in blood sugar.  <\/span>And just like Newton predicted,
\nwhatever goes up must come down. 
\n<\/span>Unfortunately, when it comes to blood sugar the steeper the spike, the
\nfaster the crash that follows.  <\/span>So
\nthese simple sugars give us a quick burst of energy, but leave us feeling
\ntired- not to mention the bloating that often accompanies sugary foods.<\/p>\n

Whole grains like bulgar, wild rice, quinoa and even whole wheat, take significantly
\nlonger to convert to glucose, so we call them complex carbohydrates.  <\/span>This complexity results in a slow,
\nsteady elevation in blood sugar (without the spike) which  <\/span>then equates to a slow, gradual
\ndecline.   <\/span>Simply put, this
\nmeans we get long lasting, steady energy from whole grains.  <\/span>Not only is this great for sustaining
\nour energy levels, but we feel fuller longer by choosing whole grains.  <\/span>Additionally, whole grains are
\nnutritionally dense foods.  <\/span>For
\nexample, a serving of quinoa contains roughly 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of
\nfiber.<\/p>\n

Now, back to those marketing departments…..when reading food labels, steer
\nclear of any type of flour that touts itself as ‘enriched flour’ or the even
\nsneakier, ‘wheat flour’.  <\/span>Most
\ncommercial flour IS wheat flour. 
\n<\/span>They got us a few years ago with ‘White Wheat’ bread, right?  <\/span>White wheat bread is just ‘white bread’
\nin disguise.  <\/span>A good rule of thumb
\nto follow… if it’s a white grain, it’s usually processed and no longer a whole
\ngrain.  <\/span>If it’s made of flour, be
\nsure the first ingredient reads “whole” something- whether you love
\nwheat, oats or something more adventuresome like amaranth.<\/p>\n

I’m certainly not Sir Issac Newton, but my advice… slow and steady  <\/span>wins the race (at least when it comes
\nto blood sugar) and stay away from the white stuff (unless it’s the freshly
\npowdered mountain top you’re meditating on).<\/p>\n

Shilpa P. Saxena, M.D. is a Family Practice Physician specializing
\nin Functional Medicine in the Tampa, Florida area.  Visit her at
\nwww.MyLivingWellness.com<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(image via: http:\/\/www.mynewsletterbuilder.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Like what you see? <\/strong>Click here to subscribe<\/strong><\/font><\/a> and get Fresh Living in your in-box every day<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s Foodie Friday feature is not a recipe but a lesson in feel-good foods.  Specifically, why whole grains, which we all have heard make our tummies happy, can do the same for our brains.  I had some hunches about why this was, but instead of loping through an explanation myself, I turned to an expert: …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,72,173,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-holly-lebowitz-rossi","category-food","category-guest-blogger","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\nFoodie Friday: Feel Good with Grains - Fresh Living<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Foodie Friday: Feel Good with Grains - Fresh Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today’s Foodie Friday feature is not a recipe but a lesson in feel-good foods.  Specifically, why whole grains, which we all have heard make our tummies happy, can do the same for our brains.  I had some hunches about why this was, but instead of loping through an explanation myself, I turned to an expert: …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fresh Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-04T13:10:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/freshliving\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/12\/grains-thumb-220x134-9862.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"hrossi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Foodie Friday: Feel Good with Grains - Fresh Living","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Foodie Friday: Feel Good with Grains - Fresh Living","og_description":"Today’s Foodie Friday feature is not a recipe but a lesson in feel-good foods.  Specifically, why whole grains, which we all have heard make our tummies happy, can do the same for our brains.  I had some hunches about why this was, but instead of loping through an explanation myself, I turned to an expert: …","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html","og_site_name":"Fresh Living","article_published_time":"2009-12-04T13:10:55+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/freshliving\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/12\/grains-thumb-220x134-9862.jpg"}],"author":"hrossi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html","name":"Foodie Friday: Feel Good with Grains - Fresh Living","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/freshliving\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/12\/grains-thumb-220x134-9862.jpg","datePublished":"2009-12-04T13:10:55+00:00","dateModified":"2009-12-04T13:10:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/#\/schema\/person\/168fb6fdfd4f4d1a2e41e628b308b687"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/freshliving\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/12\/grains-thumb-220x134-9862.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/freshliving\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/12\/grains-thumb-220x134-9862.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/2009\/12\/foodie-friday-feel-good-with-grains.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Foodie Friday: Feel Good with Grains"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/","name":"Fresh Living","description":"Holistic, Health and Wellness","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/#\/schema\/person\/168fb6fdfd4f4d1a2e41e628b308b687","name":"hrossi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/b92\/b928efbbb02076837659d614a160f471x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/b92\/b928efbbb02076837659d614a160f471x96.jpg","caption":"hrossi"},"description":"Holly Lebowitz Rossi is Beliefnet's Health and Relationships Editor. A graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Divinity School, she has more than a decade of experience writing about religion and spirituality for Newsweek, The Washington Post, Spa Finder, Sojourners, Search, and many other publications. Her commentaries have also been heard on NPR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All Things Considered.\" When not at her desk, you can find her baking, in her garden, or rockin' out in water aerobics class. She lives in Arlington, Mass. Visit http:\/\/www.hollyrossi.com for more.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/author\/hrossi"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/freshliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}