Whole Truth About Whole Grains

Get ready for the next big diet trend: whole grains. Food makers are trumpeting them on everything from Triscuit crackers to Trix cereal. Just because a food has whole grains doesn't mean it's healthy, especially if it's loaded with sugar, says Dr. Dean Ornish of the University of California, San Francisco.

"It's better to eat whole grains with sugar than white flour with sugar," says Ornish. "But better still would be to eat whole grains that are low in sugar." (No more than 5-6 grams a serving.) Check the ingredients list to see if the snack is worth it. It sugar is first, there's probably too much to make a difference. Of course, you could make your own whole grain snack. Bran muffins are easy to make.

Reader's Digest P 212. October 2005, Cynthia Dermody