Recommended Amount of Grains
The revised Australian Dietary Guidelines were launched in February 2013 and continue to encourage Australians to eat a variety of grain foods as part of a healthy diet. The Australian…
whole grains
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Grains and Weight Management
Of the developed nations, Australia is one of the most overweight, with more than 60% of adults and one in four children overweight or obese. The prevalence of overweight and…
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Grains and Diabetes
Diabetes is Australia’s fastest growing chronic health problem and accounts for 10.5% of all deaths in Australia. In 2017-18, total number of Australians with diagnosed diabetes was 1.2 million people,…
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Grains and Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease encompasses heart, stroke and blood vessel diseases. Coronary heart disease, including heart attack and the chronic condition angina, is the leading cause of death in Australia accounting for…
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Grains and Cancer
There have been a number of reviews of the relationship between the consumption of whole grains and cancer risk which all conclude that whole grain foods are associated with lower…
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Gluten in Grains
Gluten comes from the Latin word for ‘glue’ which gives dough the elastic property that holds gas when it rises. Bubbles of carbon dioxide are released from fermenting yeast, which…
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Glycemic Index (GI) of Grains
The glycemic index (GI) is used to rank carbohydrate-containing foods according to their effect on blood glucose levels after eating. Low GI foods are slowly digested and absorbed and so…
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Cereal Fibre
Grains, especially whole grains, contain a range of dietary fibres important for health and prevention of disease. These include: Soluble fibres such as: B-glucan (found in oats and barley) pentoses…
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Refined Grains
Refining grains removes varying proportions of the bran and germ. Because micronutrients are generally present in higher concentrations in these outer layers of the grain, refined grain products are lower…
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About Whole Grains
What are Whole Grains? Whole grains are the complete seeds of cereal plants. Each grain has three essential parts: When all three parts are present in their natural proportions, the…
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Quinoa
Similar to amaranth and buckwheat, quinoa (pronounced ‘keen-wah’) fits within the ‘pseudo-cereal’ group as it is not part of the Poaceae botanical family, in which ‘true’ grains belong. It’s loosely…
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Buckwheat
Not belonging to the Poaceae botanical family, buckwheat is not classified as a ‘true’ grain, but rather a ‘pseudo-cereal’. Its nutritional profile, nutty flavour, appearance and culinary applications have led…
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Amaranth
Amaranth is not a ‘true’ grain, but classified as a ‘pseudo-cereal’, as it’s not part of the Poaceae botanical family. However it is listed with other grains as its nutritional…
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Millet
Before rice was widely consumed in Asia, it is thought that different varieties of millet were the staple grain in this region. For centuries it remained the leading grain. It…
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Rye
Rye came into cultivation later than wheat, barley and oats and was not known to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. It was the main grain used for bread-making in Northern…
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Sorghum
Sorghum is related to sugar cane and to millet and is called ‘Great Millet’ in some areas of West Africa. It is an important staple food of the upland, drier…
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Barley
Barley is a cereal grain that was originally native to Asia. Barley was very important in ancient times and was one of the first grains to be widely cultivated. However,…
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Corn
Corn (also known as maize), is one of the sweetest tasting grains. In its immature form it is the familiar yellow corn on the cob. When it matures and dries out…