Welcome to the second video of the step-by-step transition to a healthy diet
If you happened to miss step one, you can check it out here today
We're gonna talk about whole grains another incredible food that most people are just not getting enough of we're gonna cover their amazing health benefits
And some tricks to get more of them into your diet
Okay, quick question just to keep things interesting which of the following is not true about oatmeal a) it lowers your cholesterol
B) it promotes weight loss
C) one cup of oatmeal has half the iron in a steak
Or D) one cup of oatmeal has as much protein as an egg pause the video if you need we're gonna cover all the answers
Let's go
Whole grains are anti-inflammatory
They lower your cholesterol and your blood glucose and they're linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes heart disease cancer and overall mortality
not a bad list whole grains are
Superstar foods brown rice oatmeal quinoa corn couscous kamut farro barley, etc
What if you're gluten intolerant does that mean whole grains are off the menu forever?
Not at all. We'll come back to this in a second
But first what makes whole-grains so special? most of us eat too many
Refined grains things like baked Goods made from white flour white rice, white pasta
Artificial cereals those foods are highly processed. So most of the fiber is stripped away. So the absorption is not natural
They spike your blood sugar too much and too fast
Whereas whole grains in their natural state have that fiber package with its double job of slowing down absorption and feeding your gut microbiome
Which thrives on fiber. ok, but this whole process this video series is about taking one step at a time
So the changes stick long term
So all I'm suggesting today is add one serving of whole grains to your day a small bowl or about a fist sized portion
Ballpark, you don't need to obsess over exact amounts. So that's today's actionable step. does one serving of whole grains make any difference
I mean
Why should I bother?
There's a strong
association between whole grains and risk of disease and even risk of death even eating just one daily serving has been linked to
25% lower risk of all-cause mortality that's 25% less chance of dying of
Anything. Okay. What if I just have some white bread or white rice or white pasta? It's grains, right?
Isn't it all the same thing? Unfortunately not
Refined grains don't give you that benefit. and may actually increase your risk of disease
So you really want to shoot for the unprocessed real deal. Okay, which whole grains are we shooting for?
The default is always go with your personal favorite because it makes it easier for the habit to stick
You don't want to fight an uphill battle, but here are a couple suggestions the most obvious one is oatmeal
You can have it in the morning overnight oats, most delicious breakfast ever and if you have it with fresh fruit
You knock out steps one and two of our transition at the same time just like that how healthy is oatmeal, really?
Let's take a quick look at it side by side with another popular breakfast eggs bowl of oatmeal
Versus one large egg if you eat two or more eggs, just multiply. Okay, what nutrients are we looking for?
We've covered this in previous videos, but based on USDA recommendations
you want to shoot for low saturated fat low cholesterol and high fiber so
saturated fat three times more in the egg
Cholesterol very high in eggs most concentrated source of cholesterol among common foods
Zero in oatmeal. In fact eating eggs can quickly spike our blood cholesterol levels
What about oatmeal since it doesn't contain any cholesterol in it We might expect eating oatmeal to leave our blood cholesterol levels unchanged, right?
No, it actually lowers both your total and bad cholesterol
It also reduces body fat and improves liver function
Oatmeal is one of those amazing foods where the health benefits almost seem too good to be true
Also the oldest men in the UK a hundred and eleven years old
Attributes his longevity to eating oatmeal. So that proves it oatmeal is healthy. Just kidding. That's completely anecdotal
what about fiber four grams in oatmeal zero in eggs and
protein which is something people always focus on even though it's totally not an issue like we covered in the protein videos they have
Exactly the same
six grams in each
Another thing people worry about a lot is iron. I made a whole video about it
The egg has three percent of your daily needs oatmeal seventy seven percent
as a reference a steak has 33 percent of
Course, you could eat two eggs for breakfast and get six percent of your iron
But then you also have to multiply the cholesterol and saturated fat by two
So you pay a pretty high price for very little iron does that mean you should never eat eggs again?
No, that's for you to decide. We're just looking at our different options
If eggs are a huge deal to you have the bowl of oatmeal and then if you still want the egg have the egg today's
Step is only about adding one serving of whole grains to your day. Nothing else
Okay, what if you don't like oatmeal or you're tired of it?
No problem have any whole grains you like a bowl of quinoa curry some risotto corn on the cob or in a salad
There are endless ways to enjoy your whole grains. I'll add a couple recipes and links in the description. So check those out
What about this story that grains promote inflammation in the gut and should be avoided there's a whole trend of people going against the grain
Well, like most fads. This one is not based on strong science in the vast majority of people whole grains
Do not induce inflammation and can even be anti inflammatory
however, if you're one of the one to two percent of people with celiac disease or another form of gluten intolerance
Then you want to avoid gluten and that means barley wheat and rye the vast majority of grains have no gluten
For example, I have no problem with gluten. I'm not trying to avoid it and yet my diet most days is gluten-free
That's because most of the foods that contain wheat barley rye are baked goods and they're usually highly processed with all kinds of additives
So I usually try to avoid them or at least minimize them
Now sometimes contamination can be an issue some grains that don't contain gluten like oats are processed in facilities that also process wheat
So if that's a concern you want to shoot for certified brands, like certified gluten-free oatmeal, which are processed separate from wheat
So you are 100% safe without having to give up on the benefits of grains
so even if you are gluten intolerant
You can still enjoy the benefits of most whole grains
And if you're not like 98% of people, then you can enjoy them all so pick your favorite and have at it
We'll cover step 3 next time until then. Enjoy your whole grains. I'll see you soon