September is Whole Grains Month!  Replacing refined grains (think white flour, regular pasta, white rice, white bread) with whole grains helps lower our risk of many chronic diseases.  Even if you only incorporate one serving of whole grains per day in your diet, you will see benefits!  Studies have shown that whole grains reduce your risk of stroke, type II diabetes, heart disease and help you maintain your weight!  Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that consuming an average of 2.5 servings of whole grains daily helped reduce risk of cardiovascular disease by 21%.  The higher rate of chronic diseases in the United States could partly be attributed to our diet and studies like this just show you that the future of your health is in your hands.

Whole Grains include: wheat, oat, barley, maize, brown rice, farro, spelt, emmer, einkorn, kamut, rye, millet, quinoa, amaranth, triticale, teff, sprouted grains and buckwheat.

Here are two websites for you to visit for healthy whole grain recipes:

One way to start incorporating whole grains in your diet is by substituting whole wheat flour for all purpose flour in recipes.  Experiment with ratios and see how your family likes different variations of a recipe.  Slowly increase the percentage of whole grain flour in your recipes and your family will not mind the change.