{"id":25667,"date":"2025-10-29T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=25667"},"modified":"2025-10-29T10:20:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T14:20:03","slug":"why-eat-whole-grains-are-some-whole-grains-more-nutritious-than-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2025\/10\/29\/why-eat-whole-grains-are-some-whole-grains-more-nutritious-than-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Eat Whole Grains? Are Some Whole Grains More Nutritious Than Others?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

whole grains Freepik photo<\/p><\/div>\n

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD<\/p>\n

Ever since 2005, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans<\/em> have recommended that at least half of the grains eaten should be whole grains. Sadly, about 98 percent of Americans do not meet this recommendation (1). Whole grains contain all three of the parts of a grain \u2013 bran, germ, and endosperm. The bran, or outer coating of the grain kernel is a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The germ, which is the part of the kernel that can sprout into a new plant, is also a good source of vitamins and minerals. The endosperm mainly supplies calories in the form of carbohydrates.<\/p>\n

Refined grains have had the bran and germ removed. This means that, unless nutrients are added back in, refined grains have lower levels of fiber, vitamins and minerals than their unrefined whole grain counterparts. By choosing whole grains more frequently, you\u2019re boosting the amount of fiber, vitamins, and minerals in your diet.<\/p>\n

Do some whole grains stand out for their nutrient content? The tables below compare the calories, protein, fiber, calcium, iron, zinc, riboflavin, and folate in some whole grains. Amaranth, quinoa, and buckwheat are also included since they\u2019re often categorized as grains despite, technically speaking, being pseudo grains<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Table 1: Calories, protein, and fiber in a 1 cup serving of cooked whole grain unless otherwise indicated<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Grain<\/strong><\/td>\nCalories<\/strong><\/td>\nProtein (grams)<\/strong><\/td>\nFiber (grams)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Amaranth<\/td>\n251<\/td>\n9.4<\/td>\n5.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barley, hulled (1\/4 cup uncooked)<\/td>\n160<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Buckwheat<\/td>\n155<\/td>\n5.7<\/td>\n4.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bulgur<\/td>\n151<\/td>\n5.6<\/td>\n8.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Farro (1\/4 cup uncooked)<\/td>\n190<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kamut berries (1\/4 cup uncooked)<\/td>\n190<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Millet<\/td>\n207<\/td>\n6.1<\/td>\n2.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oatmeal<\/td>\n166<\/td>\n5.9<\/td>\n4.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quinoa<\/td>\n222<\/td>\n8.1<\/td>\n5.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Brown rice<\/td>\n218<\/td>\n4.5<\/td>\n3.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Teff<\/td>\n255<\/td>\n9.8<\/td>\n7.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wild rice<\/td>\n166<\/td>\n6.5<\/td>\n3.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Table 2: Calcium, iron, zinc, riboflavin, and folate in a 1 cup serving of cooked whole grain unless otherwise indicated<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Grain<\/strong><\/td>\nCalcium (mg)<\/strong><\/td>\nIron (mg)<\/strong><\/td>\nZinc (mg)<\/strong><\/td>\nRiboflavin (mg)<\/strong><\/td>\nFolate (mcg)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Amaranth<\/td>\n116<\/td>\n5.2<\/td>\n2.1<\/td>\n.05<\/td>\n54.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barley, hulled (1\/4 cup uncooked)<\/td>\n\u00a015<\/td>\n1.7<\/td>\nNot available<\/td>\nNot available<\/td>\nNot available<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Buckwheat<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n1.3<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n.07<\/td>\n23.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bulgur<\/td>\n18<\/td>\n1.8<\/td>\n1.0<\/td>\n.05<\/td>\n32.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Farro (1\/4 cup uncooked)<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nNot available<\/td>\nNot available<\/td>\nNot available<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kamut berries (1\/4 cup uncooked)<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n2<\/td>\nNot available<\/td>\nNot available<\/td>\nNot available<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Millet<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n1.1<\/td>\n1.6<\/td>\n.14<\/td>\n33.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oatmeal<\/td>\n21<\/td>\n2.1<\/td>\n2.3<\/td>\n.04<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quinoa<\/td>\n31<\/td>\n2.8<\/td>\n2.0<\/td>\n.20<\/td>\n77.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Brown rice<\/td>\n20<\/td>\n1.0<\/td>\n1.2<\/td>\n.02<\/td>\n7.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Teff<\/td>\n123<\/td>\n5.2<\/td>\n2.8<\/td>\n.08<\/td>\n5.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wild rice<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n2.2<\/td>\n.14<\/td>\n42.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

No single whole grain stands out as a nutritional powerhouse. Amaranth, kamut berries, quinoa, and teff are the highest in protein while hulled barley, bulgur and teff are the highest fiber sources. Teff and amaranth are noteworthy for providing about 10% of the Daily Value for calcium in a 1 cup serving as well as for being the highest in iron. By choosing a variety of whole grains, you can get an assortment of flavors and textures while helping to meet your needs for protein, fiber, iron, zinc, and B vitamins.<\/p>\n

Reference<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. <\/em>9th Edition. December 2020.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For recipes using whole grains see:<\/p>\n

    Ancient Grains<\/a><\/p>\n

    Whole Grain Vegan Quick Breads<\/a><\/p>\n

    Whole Grain Baking<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD Ever since 2005, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans have recommended that at least half of the grains eaten should be whole grains. Sadly, about 98 percent of Americans do not meet this recommendation (1). Whole grains contain all three of the parts of a grain \u2013 bran, germ, and endosperm. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25667"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25754,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25667\/revisions\/25754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}