Introduction: Sudden increases or decreases in the intake of whole grains can cause intestinal reactions. For those who typically have a meat-based diet, to help the digestive system adapt, the increase in whole grain consumption should be gradual, not rushed.
How to eat whole grains?
Three "Don'ts" for Cooking Whole Grains
Chen Chaogang said that cooking whole grains requires attention to the "three don'ts," otherwise, it will cause whole grains to lose their significance as a healthy food.
1. Don't deep-fry or pan-fry. Deep-frying or pan-frying will destroy the nutritional value of whole grains. For example, when making corn cakes, the traditional method often uses oil for frying. When preparing tubers, many people like to mash them into a paste, make them into cakes, and then deep-fry them. This process will cause the loss of the nutritional value of the whole grains.
2. Don't add large amounts of oil, sugar, etc. Avoid adding large amounts of oil, sugar, refined flour, rice flour, or pure starch. For instance, using refined white flour and starch to enhance the smoothness of corn cakes, or adding sugar and cream when processing tubers. Although this improves the texture, it turns whole grains into high-calorie foods, losing their own nutritional characteristics.
3. Don't process them repeatedly. Some people cook red beans several times when making red bean paste, discard the cooking water, remove all the bean skins, and make the red bean paste exceptionally fine and very sweet. As a result, a large amount of dietary fiber, various antioxidant components, and vitamins from the bean skins are lost. The correct method is to cook the whole red beans until tender in one go, then mash them to make the filling.
Three "Notes" for Consuming Whole Grains
1. Drink water promptly. The fiber in whole grains needs sufficient water to dissolve, much like a sponge which has strong water absorption.
2. Be gradual. Sudden increases or decreases in the intake of whole grains can cause intestinal reactions. For those who usually have a meat-based diet, to help the digestive system adapt, the increase in whole grain consumption should be gradual, not rushed.
3. Pay attention to the cooking heat when processing whole grains into refined forms. Whole grains are not suitable for chemical refining; only grinding them into flour is acceptable. For example, black rice flour, corn flour, and wheat flour sold on the market are all good choices for whole grains.