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You are here: Home / Eating Healthy / What You Need To Know About Carbohydrates – Grains

What You Need To Know About Carbohydrates – Grains

September 20, 2021 By Toby Smithson

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Grains may be the very first food purposefully farmed in ancient times, partly because they are easy to store for long periods. And grains pack energy in starch. Good news for ancient people, but a real challenge for those of us managing diabetes now. Watch this video to get the nutritional facts about grains.

Welcome back to Diabetes Every Day, I’m Toby Smithson….please remember to subscribe and sign up for my newsletter. I’m here to inform and support your daily efforts at managing diabetes, and this next video in my series on the various groups of carbohydrate foods is about grains.

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Table of contents

  • True Grain or Not – We Only Care About The Carbohydrates.
  • What Are My Portions?
  • I Always Recommend…
    • Did You Know?
  • Finally… The Popcorn, Grain or Not?

Be Sure To Check Out – The Other Videos in This Series: Diabetes and Carbohydrates – What You Need To Know About Dairy, Diabetes and Carbohydrates – What You Need To Know About Nonstarchy Vegetables, and Diabetes and Carbohydrates- What You Need To Know!

True Grain or Not – We Only Care About The Carbohydrates.

Grains have been a dietary staple food for humans for a long time, in part because they store well. Grains have strong cultural connections too, and that makes managing our intake of these concentrated carbohydrate foods a real challenge. And, of course, grains are everywhere.

Once again, our definitions of dietetics differ somewhat from our botanist’s friends. “True grains” are all members of the same scientific family…..rice, corn, oats, barley, rye, and wheat.  But we’ll talk more about corn when we consider starchy vegetables, and we’ll include foods like quinoa that don’t fit into that definition but resemble true grains. We don’t really care about scientific classification here….we care about carbohydrates.

What Are My Portions?

Grains concentrate carbohydrates like starch. For the most part, a portion of 1/3 cup cooked equals 15 grams carbohydrate, plus or minus a gram or two. That’s white or brown rice, quinoa, teff, amaranth, barley, and millet. For some grains, the 15 grams carbohydrate portion is ½ cup cooked – oats, kasha, wild rice, tabouli, and cream of wheat, for instance. Then we have the “is it grain or not” question with cornmeal, where grits offer a ½ cup portion and polenta a 1/3 cup portion. As main dish, grains are tricky. Order take out from your favorite Asian restaurant, and you’ll likely get this little container of rice along with it….except this little container holds ten 1/3 cup portions….150 grams of carbohydrate. If you come from a cultural background where rice is THE staple food managing the carbs from rice can be a challenge.

Of course, grains are used to make many other challenging foods… bread and pasta would top the list, I’m guessing. One slice of most bread or 1/3 cup of cooked pasta is where you’ll encounter 15 grams of carbohydrate. The bread group would also include tortillas and crackers. And don’t forget “breading”, which can add carbs to otherwise low carbs foods like fish, chicken, or even nonstarchy vegetables, and baked goods containing flour. Breakfast cereals are another dietary challenge where too often, the carbohydrates from the grain are magnified by more carbohydrates from added sugar. For commercial products, the nutrition facts label is, once again, essential for managing diabetes.

Be Sure To Check Out – Can People With Diabetes Eat Bread

I Always Recommend…

From a nutrition standpoint, I always recommend getting the most nutrition possible from carbohydrate foods….like more nutritional benefits justify the carbohydrates, which, as we know, will impact blood sugar. In the grain group, this bargain means go for whole grains whenever possible. Refined grains, like white rice or white bread, have been processed to remove the “bran” and the “germ,” leaving only the endosperm. In general, the carbohydrate content is the same, but whole grains retain some important nutrients and maybe, more importantly, much more dietary fiber, which the American diet sorely lacks.

Did You Know?

Centuries ago, humans learned how to make alcoholic drinks from grain, and that’s worth a mention. While “distilled spirits” are carb-free drinks with a lower alcohol content, like beer have a pretty wide range of carbohydrate content. Check online for the nutrition facts on your favorite grain-based beverages.

Finally… The Popcorn, Grain or Not?

Finally, I’ll settle the “is it or isn’t it a grain” debate by introducing you to my favorite whole grain….popcorn. What’s my favorite thing about popcorn? As a person with diabetes, my favorite thing is the portion size because we’ll find our 15 grams of carbohydrate not in 1/3 cup, like with pasta or rice, but in a portion, 9 times larger…. 3 full cups popped. If that’s not a great way to end this look at grains, I don’t know what would be.

Be Sure To Check Out – 10 Best Foods for Diabetes – Pantry Edition

Join me again in a few weeks to discuss starchy vegetables where we’ll find potatoes and, yes, corn starring in a different role.

Cheers to your health.

Don’t forget to take a look at our most frequently asked questions.

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  • Beat Diabetes With More Fruits and Vegetables

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Toby Smithson dynamically combines her knowledge as a certified diabetes educator and registered dietitian nutritionist with her life experiences successfully managing type 1 diabetes for more than five decades.

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I have so many feel goods from attending and presenting at this conference. 
❤️sharing diabetes knowledge at my presentation on Monday morning.
❤️hearing on how the presentation impacted them from so many of the dietitians who attended. 
❤️learning from the amazing speakers at other sessions.
❤️learning and schmoozing with vendors at the expo.
❤️networking with fellow dietitians throughout the conference.
❤️And reuniting with my dietitian bestie. We were academy of nutrition and dietetics spokespeople together for 9 years. ❤️ 
Thank you Todays Dietitian Symposium for another fabulous conference! 
@todaysdietitian #TDinFL @sarahrdtv #dietitianlife #dietitianapproved

I have so many feel goods from attending and presenting at this conference.
❤️sharing diabetes knowledge at my presentation on Monday morning.
❤️hearing on how the presentation impacted them from so many of the dietitians who attended.
❤️learning from the amazing speakers at other sessions.
❤️learning and schmoozing with vendors at the expo.
❤️networking with fellow dietitians throughout the conference.
❤️And reuniting with my dietitian bestie. We were academy of nutrition and dietetics spokespeople together for 9 years. ❤️
Thank you Todays Dietitian Symposium for another fabulous conference!
@todaysdietitian #TDinFL @sarahrdtv #dietitianlife #dietitianapproved
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Look for “live and active cultures” especially on yogurt for it to be a probiotic. @katescarlata #TDinFL @todaysdietitian #guthealth #diabetes #diabetesmanagement @activia

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Curious? Are you currently including fermented foods to your diet for gut health?

Fermented foods: may be healthy for microbiome.
Increase gut microbial diversity to improve gut health. I’ve been adding 1/4 cup serving of kimchi to my lunch which is one serving. Listening to @katescarlata #TDinFL #guthealth #kimchi #diabetes #diabetesmanagement @todaysdietitian
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Enjoyed presenting @todaysdietitian symposium this morning. I’ve received many kudos through the day regarding how much the information impacted the audience. ❤️ Thank you for sharing your personal stories about diabetes. Presented alongside Dr Bev. #TDinFL #diabetes #cognitivedistortions #diabeteslife #livingwithdiabetes #diabetes

Enjoyed presenting @todaysdietitian symposium this morning. I’ve received many kudos through the day regarding how much the information impacted the audience. ❤️ Thank you for sharing your personal stories about diabetes. Presented alongside Dr Bev. #TDinFL #diabetes #cognitivedistortions #diabeteslife #livingwithdiabetes #diabetes ...

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#tomato #tomatowellness #cucumber #lowcarbsides #diabetes #diabetesfriendly #garden #freshveggies

I’m off to speak at a conference. Hoping that when I get back, my tomatoes will be ripe and ready to eat. I’m already meal planning. Thinking of combining my home grown tomatoes, cucumber and onions with rice vinegar dill weed and a packet of low calorie sweetener to make a low carb side dish. 😋
#tomato #tomatowellness #cucumber #lowcarbsides #diabetes #diabetesfriendly #garden #freshveggies
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Excited to pick and eat a cucumber from our garden. Love this low carb veggie that provides fiber, potassium, magnesium, vitamin c and lots of vitamin k. Simple pleasures… sliced the cucumber in my black bean taco salad tonight. #diabetesfriendly #diabetes #cucumber #gardenveggies #joysofgardening ...

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Best reason in the whole wide world on why I took a break from social media! Spent time with our 4 boys+ 4 daughter in laws + our 2 very very special granddaughters. #family #laughter #relaxation #familyvacation #wearefamily❤️ ...

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Are you bored with what you are eating? Need some inspo plus a huge health benefit? I’m in! This information is good for EVERYONE. Link to latest video in my bio.
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Celebrating earth day all week ( honestly everyday here) with: 
🌻 attending a flower arrangement class to prepare for selling our homegrown flowers at our farmers market.
🌻Walking on the bluff in our neighborhood this morning.
🌻Enjoying views of wildlife as I walk my dog. 
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Happy Earth Day! Stay beautiful. #earthday #earthday2022 #earthdayeveryday #physicalactivity #joy

Celebrating earth day all week ( honestly everyday here) with:
🌻 attending a flower arrangement class to prepare for selling our homegrown flowers at our farmers market.
🌻Walking on the bluff in our neighborhood this morning.
🌻Enjoying views of wildlife as I walk my dog.
🌻and tending to my vegetable garden.
Happy Earth Day! Stay beautiful. #earthday #earthday2022 #earthdayeveryday #physicalactivity #joy
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Check out this program for lowering cholesterol conducted by two registered dietitians. More info @nutritionunique @sarahrdtv 
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Check out this program for lowering cholesterol conducted by two registered dietitians. More info @nutritionunique @sarahrdtv
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⬆️ definitely a topic to pay attention to… don’t let some of your eating habits get in the way of keeping your bones healthy and strong. TY @graciouslynourished and @eatthisnotthat for using my insight. #bonehealth #eatinghabits #reducesodiumintake #osteoporosis #osteoporosisprevention @kin.di_rd @freshnutritionny

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Should I? I get this question asked… should I be taking supplements? Find out the answer in my latest YouTube video. Link located in my bio under linktr.ee/tobysmithson

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Spring clean up time for my spice rack! Every year when Passover approaches, it’s a double reminder for me to clean out my refrigerator, cabinets and spices! Rule of thumb is to replace ground spices annually. 📝🗓
When is the last time you threw away spices?
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THIS is my new adventure for my garden this year! Attempting to grow edamame. 👩‍🌾

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If you could only use two words to describe how an above target blood sugar feels… what would it be?

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