The Whole Truth about the Whole Grain
September is Whole Grains Month and we thought we would talk about the whole grain concept in our everyday diets. Grains are an essential component of a balanced diet. They have many proven health benefits when consumed in their whole form, and freshly milled flour has the greatest nutrient  value. NutriMill Grain Mills provide the necessary tools to have fresh, whole grain flour at home.
The Whole grain is usually made up of 3 major components, the endosperm (which most of us consume as white flour) , the bran and the germ. Basically, whole grains are nutritionally worthless unless they have their three key components. Most of the major nutrients are found in the bran and germ, which are commonly removed during grain processing.
Bran
The bran is the outer casing of the kernel containing multiple layers. The bran is extremely high in fiber, minerals, and vitamins. In fact, a one cup serving of bran includes a little less than 25 g of fiber. This is close to 100 percent of your daily fiber intake. In fact, a one cup serving of bran includes a little less than 25 g of fiber. This is close to 100 percent of your daily fiber intake. Also, the bran provides large amounts of the vital minerals manganese, iron, potassium,phosphorus, zinc, copper, and selenium. The bran contains significant levels of quality proteins. In order to be a complete protein there has to be 9 essential amino acids. However, combining the bran with another food source, such as dairy, will make a complete protein.
Germ
The germ is the innermost portion of the grain. It istechnically an embryo because it has the ability to sprout into a new plant. The germ contains B vitamins, protein, minerals, and the germ oil which has extremely high vitamin E content. The grain germ is an excellent supply of multiple B vitamins. It is particularly high in thiamin (B1), which helps the cells convert carbohydrates into energy. It also aids in muscle contraction and nerve conduction. Germ is also a good source of quality protein but must be combined with other food sources to be complete. The germ contains significant quantities of the minerals manganese and selenium providing more than the daily recommended amount in a one cup serving. In the germ is the germ oil which contains the largest amount of vitamin E than any other unfortified food. In fact, one ounce of germ oil contains over 40g of vitamin E. (information on the bran and germ from our parent website research)
How Do We Get More Whole Grains into Our Diets?
 Well we don't start to graze on whole grains exactly but we start adding them into our diets in small increments. Sometimes introducing all the fibre the whole grain will give you is a shock to our systems (it may go straight through you) so it is better to add it a little at time. We started with milling our own flour in the Nutrimill Grain Mill and making Half and Half Bread or pancakes with it. (1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat). We gradually started using less white flour and more of the whole grain flour, be it rye, or triticale, or spelt or just plain wheat. For breakfast we could roll our own whole Oats in our Family Grain Mill flaker and add water and cook really quickly. With the addition of some fresh fruit, this made a wholesolme and very tasty breakfast. When we were making a dish that had a meat base like chili for example, we would cook up some wheat (1 part grain to 2 parts water) like you cook rice, and add that into the stew or chili or soup. We eventually were getting a whole grain at least once or twice daily into the diets of the family. By the way, we found the children to be more alert, with more energy, producing better grades and were not getting sick very often as a result of the change in our diets. Can we suggest a challenge for the month of September for you to try and add a whole grain at least once a day to yours or your family's diet and let us know any results. we would love to hear from you.
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Well we don't start to graze on whole grains exactly but we start adding them into our diets in small increments. Sometimes introducing all the fibre the whole grain will give you is a shock to our systems (it may go straight through you) so it is better to add it a little at time. We started with milling our own flour in the 
that had a meat base like chili for example, we would cook up some wheat (1 part grain to 2 parts water) like you cook rice, and add that into the stew or chili or soup. We eventually were getting a whole grain at least once or twice daily into the diets of the family. By the way, we found the children to be more alert, with more energy, producing better grades and were not getting sick very often as a result of the change in our diets. Can we suggest a challenge for the month of September for you to try and add a whole grain at least once a day to yours or your family's diet and let us know any results. we would love to hear from you.
