我買了 Kellogg 的 Nutri
Grain (with 8 gram whole grain per bar and blueberry flavored)
Katy 說不好吃。這世界真是不公平, 為什麼好吃的東西大都不是健康食品。幾乎所有我讀過的報告都大力推銷 whole
grain (singing high praise to whole grain).
Whole
grain
kernel 包括一個種子（seed) 的三層（layers)能夠吃的部分；外層是 bran, 很多fibers;中間是最大部分的 endosperm,
very starchy; 最內層是 germ, 充滿 vitamins,
minerals, antioxidants.
White
rice or white flour
(白麵粉）就是把最外層（bran) 及最內層（germ)除掉，所以只剩下 好吃的 starchy
endosperm. 所以我們製造 white
rice or white flour 只是為了好吃；這過程把健康的 fibers,
vitamins, minerals, good fats and anti-oxidants 拿掉了。
2016 年 8 月的 Harvard
Heart Letter 提到了一篇 June
13, 2016 Circulation (a respectable peer-reviewed medical
journal) 報告。這是一個 meta
analysis, 即分析 12 個 studies, 共有 786,000 人的問卷。其結論是：
那些每天吃 70
grams (即 4
servings, one bar of Kellogg Nutri Grain 含有 8
grams whole grain) 的人死於 心臟病或中風的風險減少 23%
(had a lower risk of dying of cardiovascular disease during the study
period compared with people who ate scant amount of whole grains).
Harvard
Health Letter 也有報導兩個 “long-running
studies” (off hand, I do not have the names of
studies) 説每天吃 two-and-a-half
servings of whole grains （one
serving is 28 grams) 的人因任何疾病死亡的機會降低5% （5%
less likely to die of any cause). 其報告也說每天若吃 one
serving of whole grain 死於心臓病的機會就減少 9%。還說吃 whole
grains (而不吃 refined
grains 或red
meats) 就可延長生命 8%
to 20%. Almost too good to be true.
我們當然知道什麼是 brown
rice, 什麼是 white
rice. 但是要知道什麼是 whole
grain 讀 label 時要特別小心：”organic”,
“multigrain” “enriched” or “stone ground” 並不表示 whole
grain. 但是”cracked
wheat” 或 “crushed
wheat” 確是 whole
grain. Brown rice, oatmeal and barley are all whole grains.
Yes, air popped (no butter, sugar or salt added) popcorns are whole
grains.
So 要命或要好吃，是你的選擇.
