The health benefits of including wholegrains are well known. From promoting a healthy weight, to reducing your risk of type two diabetes and heart disease. By including 2-3 serves of wholegrains each day you can reduce your risk of chronic diseases by as much as 20-30%! Having a healthy body improves your quality of life but have you considered the savings you will make by including wholegrains in your day?
Wholegrains support the health of your body by providing a matrix of health benefits. Some of the individual nutrient’s wholegrains gives your body includes dietary fiber for a healthy gut and gut microbiome. Also, folate which is needed for DNA synthesis and repair, thiamin which is needed to make energy from the food you eat, magnesium, which allows your muscles to contract normally and iron which allows oxygen to be transported throughout your body and plays and important role in promotion optimal immune system function.
A new study focusing specifically on type two diabetes and heart disease has found that by including just 48g of wholegrains each day saved the healthcare system 1.4 billion dollars. These savings are from annual healthcare and productivity losses. Imagine how much you could be saving from the many additional illness and diseases which wholegrains are linked to reducing your risk.
To reach your 48g of wholegrains daily this can be achieved by:
- 2 whole wheat biscuits (30g) and a wholemeal sandwich (40g wholegrains)
- ¼ cup of mueslei (35g wholegrains) and 3 wholegrain crackers (30g wholegrains)
- ½ cup of cooked brown rice (50g wholegrains) and 1 piece of multigrain bread (12g wholegrains)
Take home message: Support optimal health and quality of life while saving money by including 48g of wholegrains each day. What have you got to lose?
References:
- https://www.glnc.org.au/grains/grains-recommendations/whole-grain-dti/
- Abdullah MMH, Hughes J, Grafenauer S. Healthcare Cost Savings Associated with Increased Whole Grain Consumption among Australian Adults. Nutrients. 2021; 13(6):1855. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13061855
