How many servings of grains do you really need?

Grain foods make up an important food group as part of a balanced diet. They offer a range of valuable nutrients. When choosing grains, look for the word “whole grain.” Wholegrains contain the original three components: bran, germ and endosperm. Refined grains are those that are no longer whole because one or more of the three parts has been removed. Most Australians eat less than half the recommended quantity of wholegrains and too many refined grains.

What are examples of grains?

Common examples of grains include bread, breakfast cereal, rice, pasta, quinoa, popcorn, barley and rolled oats. Examples that may be less known to people include triticale, polenta, millet and Indigenous grains such as native millet. A wholegrain would be brown rice and white rice a refined grain.

The Healthylife Living Healthy Report 2023 found bread to be the largest contributor of serves to the Grain food group by more than double the second contributor, breakfast cereals, from Woolworths Supermarket purchasing data across Australia.

How many servings of grains should you eat per day?

How many servings of grain food per day you should eat varies based on age, sex and physical activity level. The Australian Dietary Guidelines outline the number of serves for the various categories, in general adults should be having at least 4-6 servings of grains per day with at least two thirds of grain foods eaten recommended to be wholegrain or mostly high fibre cereal varieties. Additional serves of grains can be added for extra energy needs. 

What does a serving of grains look like?

A serve of grain foods is based on a serve that provides around 500 kilojoules in the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Some of these serves are smaller than you might think:

• 1 slice bread or ½ medium bread roll (40 g)
• ½ cup cooked rice, pasta, noodles, barley, quinoa
• ½ cup (120g) cooked porridge
• 2/3 cup wheat flake cereal
• ¼ cup (30g) muesli
• 1 small scone (35g)

What are the benefits of eating more grains?

The most well known nutrient that grains provide is carbohydrates for energy; picture an athlete with a bowl of pasta or a growing teenager with a big bowl of breakfast cereal. Grains also offer a range of vitamins and minerals such as B vitamins folate, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamin E and phosphorus. Many of these B group vitamins are important for energy production which fits nicely with the carbohydrates grains provide. 

Grains can also be a valuable contribution to overall dietary fibre intake. The type and composition of dietary fibre varies between grains with soluble, insoluble and prebiotic fibre.

Having a variety of grains in the diet can help with ensuring you are capturing all types and the different health benefits they provide. Eating enough dietary fibre is key for heart health, blood pressure, blood sugar control, gut health and weight management. Grains provide around 50% of the dietary fibre intake in a typical Western diet. 

Looking for gluten free grains?

You can still get the gains from grains even when following a gluten free diet. Here’s how:

1. Look for grains that are naturally gluten free, such as corn/maize, rice, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, soy and legume flours.
2. When shopping, look for “gluten free” on the product pack or use filter when shopping on Woolworths online.
3. Don’t ditch the grains! As we’ve learnt, grains contribute over half of our dietary fibre intake. Opt for those that are gluten free and choose wholegrain where you can.
4. If you think gluten may be affecting your health, it’s important to discuss this with a healthcare professional. 

How you can hit your daily grain intake

To hit your daily grain target try these  tips:

1. Start your day out right with a high fibre breakfast cereal such as oats, muesli or a whole grain bread.
2. Have wholegrain snacks on hand if you need an energy top up during the day e.g whole grain crackers, plain popcorn, wholemeal crumpet.
3. Use whole grains in salads e.g brown rice, barley, quinoa (a ‘pseudo-cereal’ as technically a seed but similar nutritionally to grains).
4. Try out some different grains including Indigenous varieties and Ancient grains such as farro and bulgur (you may have enjoyed this in Tabbouleh). 

To keep you performing at your best be mindful of including enough grains, mostly wholegrain and high fibre varieties in your daily diet. Easy to do when they taste so great!

If you’re struggling with any nutritional areas, be sure to speak with your healthcare professional for support. 

Curious if your groceries are on track to hit the recommended serves? Find out today with Food Tracker! Food Tracker takes the guesswork out of your groceries by showing you how many serves of grains you have, compared to the recommended amount. Join for free today.