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12 grains (carbs) that are actually good for you!
There was just so much to say about good quality carbs that my original post spilled into this second one because I really didn’t want to overwhelm you with a lot of information in one sitting.
I will pick up where I left and I’ll go over a few good quality carbs that you should seriously consider integrating in your diet to help you age well!
Remember that all of these grains can now be easily found at either your conventional grocery store or at natural health food stores. If you have a Whole Foods Market in your city, you are certain to find these.
Here are some options that should add a lot of variety to your diet when it comes to good carbs:
1. Cornmeal: Americans eat it as grits and Italians call it polenta. Cornmeal can easily replace rice or potatoes at a side order and I’ve even seen Italian recipes where they sweeten the cornmeal and that could be a morning breakfast porridge. I personally LOVE cornmeal muffins a lot and I also am quite partial to savoury cornmeal muffins and cornmeal bread.
2. Quinoa: I simply LOVE quinoa and it’s so easy to make. These small oval granules of flour are such a tasty treat with fish. Dr. Oz (Oprah’s resident medical expert) loves quinoa and he’s constantly singing the praises of this ancient grain.
3. Amaranth: This tiny grain is more commonly found in healthy cereal. You can also cook it at home to replace rice or white potatoes.
4. Buckwheat: You can easily replace rice with buckwheat and you can put it in your soups, casseroles or veggie burgers. Some people dare to even put them in pancakes!
5. Bulger: This grain is popular in Middle Eastern cuisine and you’ll find it in tabbouleh. You can surely replace your rice with bulger and you can even eat it as a morning hot breakfast by adding raw sugar, maple syrup or honey.
6. Wheat germ: Wheat germ is sooooooo versatile because you can add it to your cereals, yogurt, salads or meatloaf. You can also find it at pretty much any grocery store.
7. Couscous: There is nothing better in this world than a chicken tajine and couscous. This Moroccan classic combo is simply divine. It’s a dish I love so much that I will prepare a huge quantity and eat it over two weeks because it’s not the kind of dish you can make for one. Couscous is a staple in so many Arabic and African countries. It’s so easy to make and it’s really low in fat because you steam it and you can add a bit of olive oil once it’s cooked. You can eat couscous as a salad or as an accompaniment to your meats or chicken dishes. You can buy the grain in bulk or in a pack. The cooking instructions will be on the pack so if you’ve never made couscous before, I’d recommend you buy the pack and do a search online to find recipes.
8. Kamut: Kamut is another grain you’ll find in a lot of healthy cereals. You can also find kamut pasta, puffed cereals and crackers. You can bake with this grain or sprinkle in on your salads.
9. Millet: Millet is another grain you can cook to replace your morning cereal. It’s quite a tiny and nutty grain and I’ll be honest, it will take some getting used to. To this day, I’m not a big fan of millet and I’ve tried many times and I’ve tried it in many ways.
10. Cracked wheat: There is nothing quite like a warm bold of porridge made with cracked wheat during the winter months. This is one hardy grain that will do wonders at keeping you regular.
11. Bran: Here’s another grain that will keep you regular and it will keep your colon happy and healthy. Bran is so easy to integrate in your diet … even if you only kept it at bran muffins a couple times a week in the morning!
12. Barley: If you are Irish or British than you are quite familiar with beef and barley soup and beef and barley stew. Barley can be eaten in so many ways and if you want to give it an Italian twist, you can even substitute it in recipes that call for risotto.
How the heck are you supposed to cook these new grains?
I’m not one to take anything for granted and I know that a lot of readers have never cooked many of the grains I’ve mentioned in this post. I would recommend you do a bit of research online and I also would bet that many of the magazines and cookbooks you already have on your shelves much have a recipe or two.
If all else fails, I’d head to two of my favourite online resources for recipes:
1) Bon Appétit magazine online
It’s true that I’m not a doctor, nutritionist or dietician, but given that I’ve been training hardcore for about 10 years, I’ve read everything I could get my hands on nutrition and super foods. You don’t have to take my word for it, you can simply open up the lines of discussion with your own doctor, nutritionist or dietician and asked them what they think and you’ll see that carbs are good for you when you choose to eat good quality carbs!
If you didn’t have a chance to read part 1 of this post, you can catch it here:
>>>> part 1 of 2: Bad carbs will make you gain weight, while good carbs CAN help you lose weight!
Photo of toast and jam by arquera
Photo of plate of quinoa by rusvaplauke
Photo of couscous by tyger_lyllie
Photo by corn bread by thebittenword.com
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December 2nd, 2008 at 6:15
I agree with you that you really can’t take a whole food group out of your diet. Because then, there won’t be any balance. What’s important is that we know which are good and which are bad. Thanks for the helpful post.