Wheat Germ The start of something really good :: Food and Nutrition

Wheat Germ
by author Lisa Petty, RNCP

To protect our health we often try to avoid germs–but wheat germ is one germ we can all embrace! Its name originating from the word germinate, the wheat germ is the embryonic centre of the wheat grain, containing enzymes and nutrients required to start a new plant.

This tiny gem of a germ includes a high concentration of oil, which, while incredibly nutritious, causes the rapid deterioration of refined grain products. As a result, the germ is separated from the bran and starch during the milling process. (The germ is preserved as a vital part of whole grains.) When it comes to wheat, we definitely don’t want to throw the germ out with the chaff.

Waste Not, Want Not

While wheat germ might spoil soft breads and pastries, it contains a treasure trove of nutrients waiting to be used. Containing plenty of minerals, including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc, wheat germ can help build strong bones and healthy blood.
Essential for the growth of seeds into plants, protein makes up about 23 percent of wheat germ. It also supplies a rich source of vitamins B1 and B3, so wheat germ is a particularly good food choice for vegetarians. Wheat germ is also a good source of dietary fibre.

As for those oils that made it an unwelcome addition to flour: they’re rich in omega-6 essential fatty acids (EFA), and offer some omega-3 EFAs as well. The germ also contains fat-soluble vitamin A, and is one of the best food sources of healing vitamin E. Wheat germ derives about 25 percent of its calories from fat–but it’s the kind of fat that helps to create healthy skin, hair, and nails.

Stir It Up

It’s best to take wheat germ with meals. Replace up to ½ cup (125 mL) of the flour with wheat germ in pancake, muffin, and baked-goods recipes. For optimal health benefits, choose raw wheat germ and keep it refrigerated, as the high oil content will cause it to quickly become rancid otherwise.

You can also try organic cold-pressed wheat germ oil, which has a nutty taste. The recommended daily intake is about 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of oil per 100 pounds (45 kg) of body weight. Obviously, you’ll have to avoid wheat germ if you have wheat allergies, and because it contains a small amount of gluten, wheat germ shouldn’t be offered to a child under the age of six months.

Nutritious enough to kick-start life, imagine what wheat germ can do for you!

Wheat Germ Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 100 g

Calories 360
Total fat 10 g
Saturated fat 2 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 12 mg
Potassium 892 mg
Total carbohydrates 52 g
Dietary fibre 13 g
Sugars 0 g
Protein 23 g

–Source: USDA National Nutrient Database

Wheat Germ in Your Diet

To ensure maximum amounts of wheat germ in your daily diet, avoid bread that is 100 percent whole wheat in favour of 100 percent whole grain. Only whole grain bread includes the entire wheat germ.
Add raw wheat germ to your morning routine by sprinkling it on yogourt, cereal, or oatmeal.
Replace up to 1/2 cup (125 mL) of flour with wheat germ in baked goods and morning starters such as muffins and pancakes.
Get an extra boost by adding 2 to 4 tablespoons (30 to 60 mL) of wheat germ to your morning smoothie.
Wheat germ can be substituted for up to half the breadcrumbs when making dinners such as meatloaf and casseroles.
Try mixing wheat germ into the topping when making a fruit crumble for dessert.

Lisa Petty, RNCP, is a wellness coach, health journalist, and author of Living Beauty: Feel Great, Look Fabulous â€” Live Well (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2005). livingbeauty.ca

Source: alive #315, January 2009

Cancer
Cancer develops when cells in the body function abnormally and multiply uncontrollably--a process which eventually leads to tumor growth. A healthy body routinely detects and eliminates abnormal cells.

The Magic of Muesli
More than 90 per cent of all foods North Americans eat have been tampered with in one way or another through chemical farming, processing, refining and now genetic engineering.

Getting The Fats Straight
Until recently, saturated fats were designated the health food "bad boys." They stay solid at room temperature and are commonly found in animal products such as beef, duck and pork.

Go With the Grain
Tens of millions of people in North America are sensitive to wheat. This is not just because the seed has been extensively modified, but because most wheat products are processed beyond recognition.

Not All Fats Are Bad Fats
Avoid bad fats, choose good fats--it's vital for health. Most people know only the negative half of the fats story. The gist is that fats are bad. This one-sided presentation is hype that serves the industry's need for food products with long shelf lives. Research proves much of the hype completely wrong..

Essential Oils-Essential to Beauty
The art of using oil to improve physical, emotional and psychological well being has been with us for centuries. In the 11th century AD, European healers extracted oils from plants through squeezing and distilling methods. The essential oils were burnt for their antiseptic properties and used topically as medicinal salves..

Fields of Plenty
July first is Canada Day! Something to celebrate is this country's important contribution to the world's food suppl.

Go with Whole Grains
Replacing refined grains with whole grains is one of the best ways to improve your health and regain vitalit.

Winter Blues
While most depression lifted as they resumed normal routines, some have persistent symptoms that require intervention. Mild to moderate depression is not incapacitating and usually improves after three to six weeks.

Fatty Acids are Essential
We eat fat every day. It's one of the three macronutrients-the other two are carbohydrates and proteins-that can be used in the body to produce energy (calories) for heat, to move our muscles and to drive all sorts of metabolic processes that keep us alive and well.

Go Wheat-Free
Grains are an integral part of our daily fare. In the West, the word "meal" literally means "ground grain." Similarly, "meal" is synonymous with the predominant grain of the East, rice.

Our Daily Bread-Bon appétit?
Bread. The "staff of life." Truly, real bread with whole grains becomes a living organism as flour, yeast or sourdough and water interact to make this life sustaine.

Oats For Winter Wellness
Just as oats thrive in cold, damp climates, they will help you thrive through the long Canadian winters. These hardy grains are certainly more versatile than simply breakfast food.

Fats and Oils
There are two kinds of fats: the bad fats we must avoid because they make us sick, and the good fats and oils, which we need for our bodies to function properly and stay healthy until we die at an old age.

Whole vs. Processed Foods
If you choose processed foods over whole grains, you cheat yourself of nutrients and increase your risk of obesity and degenerative disease. White bread, white rice and white pasta.

Human Nutrition

Developing Your Personal Nutrient Plan
Each of us would do well to become more educated about our body and then develop a personalized vitamin-mineral program to suit.

Give Your Head a Shake
The sun is shining brightly, but when you look at your shoulders you swear you can see snow. Of course, those tiny white flakes have nothing to do with the weather, but they aren't all in your head either. Those embarrassing tiny specks result from an overgrowth of skin cells on the scalp.

Living Longer, Living Well
North Americans appear to be living longer. In 1900, the average life expectancy was 45 years but now it is estimated to be 71 years for men and 78 for women.

Rice is Nice
In many cultures, rice means "life. Perhaps that's why it has been a staple of substantial importance for centuries in many countries, including India, Korea, and China. Its arrival in North America is linked to the import of slaves from Africa in the mid-1600s.

Whole Grains
Whole grain bread moves through the intestine in 30 hours but white bread takes 80 hours to diges.

Mmm, Oatmeal
The humble oat is greatly under appreciated and often overlooked as an excellent option in a whole food die.

What's in a Grain Kernel?
A grain kernel consists of three parts: the innermost germ, the endosperm that surrounds the germ, and the bran that envelopes both. Most of the kernel's nutrients are locked into the germ and bran.

Baking Better Breads
Mmm, can you smell it? Nothing seduces the senses better than the smell of fresh bread baking. Your first hint that a loaf of bread is really good comes from feeling it. It is solid, firm to the touch, and resists pressure.

Alternative Grains
"I can't eat wheat, said a client as she showed me her allergy test results. "But what are these things? She pointed to a list of alternative grains she'd been told to eat instead.

Good Fat. Bad Fat.
While the negative effects of saturated fats have been well documented and widely discussed over the past 30 years, an artificial and potentially deadly fat has silently made its way into our food supply.

Shopping List for a Healthy Heart

Vitamin E (100 percent natural source mixed toco.

Minerals
While minerals comprise only about six percent of our total body weight, their absence or imbalance can mean the difference between health and wellness.

Minerals
An increasing number of diseases today may be attributable to a deficiency of minerals in our diet.

Don't Get Stiffed
Over four million Canadians suffer with the debilitating symptoms of arthritis-pain and inflammation. Arthritis encompasses over 100 forms of inflammatory disorders with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis the most common.

What's Old is New
The phrase "functional food is everywhere these days, but what does it mean? From a natural health perspective, functional food refers to nutritionally superior food products that have been enhanced through processing, fermentation, or growth technologies.

A Grain of Truth

Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine

Good News for Carnivores
It's pretty hard not to notice the growing number of organic products available to today's consumer. At one time the exclusive preserve of health food stores and farmer's markets, organic produce and, more recently, meat products are now taking up substantial shelf space in your local supermarket.

Are You Getting Enough Essensial Fatty Acids?
We know the body manufactures most of the fats it needs from other nutrients. However, essential fatty acids (EFAs)-sometimes referred to by their derivatives, alpha linolenic and linoleic acids-are essential because the body needs but cannot make them.

Over the "Moo-oon for Non-Dairy Drinks

Health Gains From Whole Grains
Health experts recommend at least three servings per day of whole grains, but many of us aren't sure how to increase our intake. The good news is that you can get your whole grains without making big changes in the foods you eat or the time you spend preparing them.

Attention Deficit: A Male Disorder?
Attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the leading childhood psychiatric disorder in North America.

Zinc and Selenium
Along with a diet rich in whole foods, nutritional supplements play an important role in preventing and treating all types of cancer. And although we have seen the value of supplementing with just zinc or selenium, mounting evidence confirms that a combination of antioxidants will provide greater protection against cancer than any single nutritional antioxidant.

Big, Fat Beautiful Hair
Strong, healthy hair and smooth, glowing skin requires a daily intake of essential fatty acids (EFAs). These natural oils help build a soft flexible cell wall, resulting in smoother hair and skin. Our bodies crave fat because cells use these good fats to regenerate and build new tissue.

Navigating the Supplement Maze
Your first trip to the local natural health store's supplements aisle can be overwhelming. The myriad of nutrient and herbal helpers that populate the shelves can make it difficult to navigate your way to just the right supplements for your own good health.

Whole grains can control diabetes

Avoid diabetes during pregnancy

Purity Life
Since 1984, when David and Elyse Chapman first opened the doors of Purity Life, the small distribution company has grown into Canada's leading supplier of natural health products.

Platinum Naturals
Three may seem a small number to some. To David Khang, founder and president of Platinum Naturals, three is a prime number; it represents the significant ways in which his company differs from others in the natural products industry.

A Cereal History
Most parents know that sugar, preservatives, and artificial colours and flavours are more prevalent in the cereal aisle than almost any other section of their neighbourhood grocery store. It wasn't always that way.

Rice Bran
Rice, a staple for more than half the world's population, has a rich history dating back to 5,000 BC. While white rice holds little nutritional value, the bran that is removed contains 65 percent of the rice kernel's nutrients and boasts a bounty of healthful benefits.

Five Reasons to Get Your 3s
Medical and nutritional researchers from around the world continue to discover the seemingly endless health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids.

Essential Fatty Acids
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are critical for human survival, and yet the human body is incapable of manufacturing them-that's why they're essential.

Morning Glory
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, goes the old adage. While no meal should be chosen haphazardly, research continues to show that sinking your teeth into a nutritious repast before you head out the door can make a real difference to your health.

Easy on the Tummy
So don't. Skip the weigh-in for today and have an easy tummy day. Drink water to flush out all the extra salt you may have consumed, have a light breakfast of fruit and probiotic yogourt, a simple lunch of salad and a lean protein, and a dinner of whole grains.

Breakfast Rules!
Current research suggests breakfast, more than any other meal, is an investment in good health. Unfortunately, it's an investment not enough of us are making on a regular basis.

Mineral Ascorbates
Burgeoning rates of geriatric conditions such as osteoporosis have sparked an interest in mineral supplements and their absorption rates. But which mineral forms are best, and how do we get the most bang for our buck from mineral supplements?

Stress Less
Many Canadians suffer from stress. It’s the root cause of numerous health challenges we experience. Finding ways to reduce stress is essential to improve our health and our quality of life.

Superstar Supplements