Ancient or forgotten grains are whole grains that have remained free of synthetic genetic change for thousands of years. Some of them are: millet, quinoa, buckwheat, wild rice, spelt, rye, Khorasan (kamut) wheat, amaranth, teff, einkorn, barley, and emmer. Their ancient appeal is again being appreciated as better alternatives to the hybrid wheat & corn monocrops of today’s food monopolies. Ancient grains are more delicious, nutritious, and strengthening than modern hybrids.
All grain is whole grain when it grows in the field. A husk and hull protect it from weather and pests. It remains whole grain capable of sprouting after dehulling as long as its bran, germ, and endosperm remain intact.
Whole grain is at the core of human nourishment and development. Recently, blackballed by food monopolists’ for easy profits, this essential aspect of human health had become societally ignored.
Many whole grains are gluten free. Some, like spelt and Khorasan (kamut) wheat, have more tolerable water-soluble gluten. A well balanced complete food, whole grain has all that is needed for optimal utilization. Refined grain has most of its nourishment removed, that nourishment is then used as animal feed. Animals get the nutrient variety while people get leftover empty carbs and associated maladies. The animal feed is unrealistically cheap, while the nutrient depleted food is sold at full price to humans as if it were all there.
Today’s commercial definition of whole grain allows the complete disassembly of grain and then the reassembling of an approximate percentage of its three major components. This is an accommodation of Big Ag food lobbyists to provide cheap animal feed and allow generous deviations from the original grain composition after it is reassembled to be marketed as whole grain. White flour is the endosperm component of grain that has been refined primarily into carbohydrates, commonly known today as empty carbs that are stripped of most nutrients.
Good and Bad Carbs
Commercial deterioration of whole grain has been devastating. Worldwide, nutritional deficiencies have caused an ongoing epidemic of health woes. “Frankly, we are only just realizing the nutritional fallout from almost eliminating whole grain from our diet,” says Elaine Magee, RD, of the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic.
After dozens of studies, the medical community and U.S. government now acknowledge the irrefutable role of whole grain in good health. Society is trying to move back to whole grain, but industrial powerhouses thwart those efforts as best they can. EDEN Whole Grains address this trend that brings benefit to people and agriculture in extraordinary ways.
The removal of bran and germ from grain to ‘extend shelf life’ while at the same time providing abundant cheap animal feed, seemed to some to be a good, profitable idea. However, removing phytonutrients like polyphenols, fatty acids, B vitamins, minerals, and countless antioxidants, turns ‘good complex carbs’ into ‘bad empty carbs’.
Enormous Benefits
Real organic whole grains like EDEN Whole Grain, Cereals, and Flours are the finest, best tasting whole grains from sustainable local supply. Nutritional integrity is carefully protected by Eden Foods to ensure optimum nutrition.
Elizabeth Gilbert of Tufts’ School of Nutrition Science and Policy writes in Tufts’ Nutrition Daily, “Grains have received bad press recently. But only claims that refer to refined grains, those that make up the ‘typical’ American diet can be considered true. When you’re talking about whole grains, it is a whole different story.” She further states, “Not only is refined grain devoid of several beneficial nutrients, but its glycemic index is increased. The glycemic index measures the rate at which carbohydrates break down into sugar once they are eaten. When you eat a food with a high glycemic index, you will feel less full than if you ate a food with a lower glycemic index. But not all grain products have a high-glycemic index. Whole grain products, and other high-fiber foods, have low-glycemic indexes, whereas refined grains, grains that are stripped of fiber, have high-glycemic indexes. When grains get ‘bad press’, it is based on the premise that they have a high-glycemic index.”
Elizabeth continues, “Examples of refined grain products made with flour include white breads and other baked goods, pasta, crackers, and white rice, the majority of a ‘typical’ American diet. Do not be fooled by ‘enriched’ grain products; enrichment replaces most of the B vitamins like thiamin, niacin, and riboflavin, but it does not replace any of the fiber, vitamin E, or trace minerals from the bran, lost in the milling process. Eating a variety of plant foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is an important part of a healthy diet and offers numerous health benefits. Unfortunately, people tend to think of grain as a grain, rather than a refined one versus a whole grain. And since supermarkets are teeming with processed foods, whole grains are not commonly incorporated into the daily American diet; but, by omitting them from your diet, you could be missing out on some enormous health benefits.”
Scientists at USDA’s Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University say, “Whole grain helps regulate blood sugar by slowing down the conversion of complex carbohydrates into sugar. In fact, low-glycemic index food such as whole grain reduces hunger and can help to control weight.” Scientists at the Agriculture Research Service completed a study of more than 2,000 people and concluded, “at least three or more servings of whole grain everyday could reduce the chances of developing metabolic syndrome – a condition marked by a combination of abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, poor blood sugar control, low HDL ‘good’ cholesterol, and high blood fats.”
USDA’s Dietary Guidelines suggest three servings of whole grain per day. The Dietary Guidelines say, “Shift food intake patterns to a more plant-based diet that emphasizes vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds.” Even the FDA recognizes whole grain – “Diets rich in whole grain and other plant foods, and low in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers.” Also, “Low fat diets rich in fiber-containing grain products, fruits, and vegetables may reduce the risk of some types of cancer, a disease associated with many factors.”
Vital Integrity Preserved
The three components of whole grain, bran, germ, and endosperm come together with phytonutrients for their complete utilization. Real organic EDEN Whole Grains and Cereals are pure, natural whole grain. Eden Foods works to maintain their vital integrity.
EDEN Whole Grains and Cereals are a satisfying meal. They can be mixed with other whole grain, cooked and added to bread dough, pancakes, waffles, and baked goods. They are excellent in soup, stew, casseroles, grain dishes, and with vegetables as a side or entrée and make superb porridge. Quick cooking, and suitable for many different cuisines they are very versatile.
Some Gluten Free whole grains are EDEN Millet, Buckwheat, Wild Rice, Quinoa, Red Quinoa, and Brown Rice. Those sensitive to gluten find they can often tolerate the water-soluble gluten of EDEN Spelt and Khorasan (kamut) wheat.
Understanding the Disease
by George Ohsawa
When I visited Japan, I met the famous Dr. Akizuki at San Francisco Hospital in Nagasaki. Through a normal diet he had saved his colleagues and patients from the inevitable diseases caused by radiation bombs dropped in Japan. He said, “Western medicine is making the mistake of confusing the cause of the disease with its effect. What the West thinks is the cause of the disease is just the result of the cause. Thus medicine only focuses on treating the symptom. Any treatment offered does not cure, it simply prevents the symptoms from emerging, gradually deteriorating the patient’s condition.”
This clearly points out the limitations of modern medicine. I had never heard such an accurate review of Western Medicine from a doctor. I was surprised and happy to hear such a focused statement. I agreed with his opinion without reservation. For example, medicine considers pain as the cause of the disease and therefore tries to eliminate it by any means necessary, never stopping to think what the real cause is. You also see that swelling causes pain so try to reduce it without again trying to understand the process that causes that expansion. Since pain isn't the cause of illness, its elimination doesn't heal, it just makes us believe it does. This is the fake cure. Sooner or later the sickness will return. Then patients are prescribed painkillers and again think they are cured because the pain is gone. But they don’t understand that the disease will come back over and over again, but each time it comes more rooted.