The Miracle of the Whole Grain: I prayed for WHOLE GRAINS to show up and they did! By Janice Taylor, Life & Wellness Coach, Certified Hypnotist, Author, Columnist, 50-pound big-time-loser!
I was talking to Our Lady of Weight Loss the other day, and asked her if there was an Our Lady of the Whole Grain – someone I might talk to who could effectively explain the importance of whole grains in a juicy, fun way !
And, no kidding, within three minutes of asking (ask and ye shall receive), I received an email from Jessica Porter, the author of Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics, telling me about one of her cooking events.
Coincidence? I think not! Divine inspiration. I immediately took fingers to keyboard and sent a hot burning email to Jessica …
Dear Jessica, what’s the deal with whole grains? Why is it so uber-important that we embrace them, ingest them, and sing their praises? ~ Janice Taylor on behalf of Our Lady of Weight Loss
And here’s what Jessica had to say!
At the risk of sounding blunt, WHOLE GRAINS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Period. End of sentence. No exaggeration. Whole grains contain good-quality carbohydrate, that your body converts to yummy blood sugar, giving you the spark and spunk to show up for your life in the way it deserves.
The fiber of whole grains sweep out your intestines, making everything clean and regular, while attaching to excess hormones at the same time–excess hormones which have been implicated in nasty diseases like breast cancer. But wait, I’m not done. Whole grains contain B vitamins that make your nervous system nice and c…a…l…m.
Now, when I say “whole grains”, I mean the actual grains themselves, intact.
Like brown rice, millet, hulled barley, quinoa, spelt, rye, whole oats, buckwheat (kasha) and anything else you can get your hands on in its whole form. Because not only do these magical little suckers do all the stuff I mentioned above, they have one more, incredible characteristic: THEY ARE WHOLE.
Yeah, I know… duh! But this wholeness is actually something quite magical; it is a natural, powerful essence that remains intact. And that essence is what will change your life.
Consider this: there are so many things we do these days, trying to make ourselves whole: Yoga, meditation, therapy. Finding the perfect mate, or wrestling our current mate into our vision of perfection. To be whole is the deep, underlying agenda of the human being. But did you know you could eat your way there? Nature isn’t neurotic; flowers bloom, the sun shines, babies are born–not too complicated. When we eat whole grains, we bloom, and shine, and are re-born.”
Chew Grains Well: Okay, now I’m gonna sound like a total freak; I’m suggesting that you actually chew these magical seeds A LOT. Like, 50 to 100 times per mouthful.
When you’ve finished laughing, I’ll explain why: Complex carbs needs to be ground in the mouth in order to break down their molecules, and there is a digestive enzyme in your saliva that aids in this process too. In the mouth, complex carbohydrates become glucose–totally ready to be absorbed by the body. Without this chewing, digesting them can be more laborious and yield weaker results.
If you really want to get on this magical carpet ride, chew your grains well. Not at every meal, but at least once a day, chew about 1/2 a cup of grain, keeping all the mush in your mouth and not swallowing until your 50 chews are up. This will take practice, because you’re basically re-training your mouth, so be patient with yourself.
Wow! Jessica, you said a whole grain mouth full.
Thank YOU!
Spread the word, NOT the icing,
Janice
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