Whole Grains

Whole grains are cereal grains that contain bran and germ as well as the endosperm, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm.

Types of oats

Oats are the seeds from the cereal grain plant Avena sativa. Once the hard outer hull is removed from the oat grains they are known as ‘oat groats’.

Whole grain oats are made by toasting and rolling the whole oat groat, which includes the nutrient-rich bran part of the cereal. They have a coarse nutty flavour.

Rolled oats are usually steamed or toasted and then rolled. These are fragmented to different degrees; a more fragmented product will cook more quickly as it absorbs water more readily. The amount of bran retained in rolled oats also varies.

Scotch oats are oat groats that have been cooked and then milled into smaller flakes, retaining some of the bran layer.

Oat bran is produced from the bran (outer) layer of oat groats.

Groats are the hulled grains of various cereals, such as oats, wheat, barley or buckwheat. Groats from oats are a good source of avenanthramide.

Groats are nutritious but hard to chew, so they are often soaked and cooked. They can be the basis of kasha, a porridge-like staple meal of Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Roasted buckwheat groats are also known as kasha or kashi, especially in the United States.

Wheat groats, also known as bulgur (bulgar) are an essential ingredient of the middle eastern kitchen, including some salads like tabbouleh.

Brown rice (or "hulled rice") is unmilled or partly milled rice, a kind of whole grain, a natural grain that remains unbleached. It has a mild nutty flavor, is chewier than white rice and becomes rancid more quickly. Any rice, including sticky rice, long-grain rice, or short-grain rice, may be eaten as brown rice.

In much of Asia, brown rice (Chinese: 糙米; pinyin: cāomǐ; Korean: 현미; hyeonmi Japanese: 玄米; genmai; Thai: ข้าวกล้อง; Vietnamese: gạo lứt) is associated with poverty and wartime shortages, and in the past was rarely eaten except by the sick, the elderly and as a cure for constipation. This traditionally denigrated kind of rice is now more expensive than common white rice, partly due to its relatively low supply and difficulty of storage and transport. Today brown rice is a staple for health conscious eaters who believe food should be consumed in its most natural state.

Brown rice and white rice have similar amounts of calories, carbohydrates, and protein, although many types of brown rice contain more fat than white rice. The main differences between the two forms of rice lie in processing and nutritional content.

When only the outermost layer of a grain of rice (the husk) is removed, brown rice is produced. To produce white rice, the next layers underneath the husk (the bran layer and the endosperm) are removed.

Several vitamins and dietary minerals are lost in this removal and the subsequent polishing process. A part of these missing nutrients, such as Vitamin B1, Vitamin B3, and iron are sometimes added back into the white rice making it "enriched", as food suppliers in the US are required to do by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)^{[citation needed]}.

One mineral not added back into white rice is magnesium; one cup (195 grams) of cooked long grain brown rice contains 84 mg of magnesium while one cup of white rice contains 19 mg.

When the bran layer is removed to make white rice, the oil in the bran is also removed. Rice bran oil may help lower LDL cholesterol.^[1]

Among other key sources of nutrition lost are small amounts of fatty acids and fiber.

In addition to having greater nutritional value, brown rice is also said to be less constipating than white rice. Although this effect also depends on natural adaptation to the product by its users and whether or not the rice has been washed prior to cooking, brown rice generally allows better digestion

Barley is a cereal grain derived from the annual grass Hordeum vulgare. It serves as a major animal feed crop, with smaller amounts used for malting (in beer and whisky) and in health food. In 2007 ranking of cereal crops in the world, barley was fourth both in terms of quantity produced (136 million tons) and in area of cultivation (566,000 km²)

Hulless or "naked" barley (Hordeum vulgare L. var. nudum Hook. f.) is a form of domesticated barley with an easier to remove hull. Naked barley is an ancient food crop, but a new industry has developed around uses of selected hulless barley in order to increase the digestible energy of the grain, especially for swine and poultry.^[11] Hulless barley has been investigated for several potential new applications as whole grain, and for its value-added products. These include bran and flour for multiple food applications.^[12]

http://www.eatmoreoats.com/recipes.html#OatmealWheatGermCoconutCookies