CALORIES FROM WHOLE-GRAINS VS PROCESSED GRAINS

Okay, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.  That is a long-established fact and must be considered when watching one's weight.  However, there was a small study done a few years ago by a group of scientists from Pomona College in California that showed it is how the body processes the different calories that can make a small difference.  These scientists divided people into two groups, A and B.  They fed these groups cheese sandwiches, but group A had sandwiches made with real cheese on whole-grain bread while group B had sandwiches made with processed cheese on white bread which is fiber stripped.  They made sure the sandwiches in both groups had the same number of calories.  The journal Food and Nutrition Research published the study findings.  The study found that group B (processed sandwiches) had the rate of diet-induced thermogenesis - the number of calories you burn eating and digesting - reduced by about 50% over group A.  It was estimated that just that one sandwich could create a rise in metabolism (thermic effect) to account for about 10% of a typical person's daily calorie expenditure.

The take-away from this study is that not only are whole-grains better for you nutritionally, but they may also essentially be lower-calorie even though not in numbers.

If you are trying to lose weight, maybe you should throw out any products that aren't whole-grain and replace them with those that are.