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Mineral matters: More reason to eat whole grains over refined ones and brown sugar instead of white sugar.
In our lectures and many issues of SNaC Bytes, you've heard us cite the various benefits of whole grains over refined grains. To further illustrate this point, we share with you the table below describing the pre and post mineral content of grains. Note that the refined grains have a much lower percentage of many minerals.
Mineral \ % found in Whole Grain \ % found in refined grains
Zinc \ 100 \ 17
Iron \ 100 \ 10
Cadmium \ 100 \ 30
Chromium \ 100 \ 38
Copper \ 100 \ 20
Manganese \ 100 \ 10
Lead \ 100 \ 95
Silicon\ 100 \ 10
Nickel \ 100 \ 20
Eat sugar? Switch to brown…
At SNaC, we recommend that you eat more whole and less refined foods whenever possible. See the chart below to see the varying amounts of minerals found in brown (whole) versus white (refined) sugars and choose brown sugar whenever possible. Just be sure that sugar is still a small component of your overall diet, as it lies on the tip of the food guide pyramid.
Chart: Amount of mineral found in brown sugar versus white sugar
Mineral \ Amount in Brown sugar \ Amount in White sugar *
Iron \ 49 \ 0.1
Copper \ 3 \ 0.08
Silicon \ 735 \ 4.0
Vanadium \ 400 \ 2.0
Iodine \ 30 Ppb \ 1.0 Ppb (parts per billion)
(All amounts are in expressed in parts per million (ppm) except where noted.)
In our lectures and many issues of SNaC Bytes, you've heard us cite the various benefits of whole grains over refined grains. To further illustrate this point, we share with you the table below describing the pre and post mineral content of grains. Note that the refined grains have a much lower percentage of many minerals.
Mineral \ % found in Whole Grain \ % found in refined grains
Zinc \ 100 \ 17
Iron \ 100 \ 10
Cadmium \ 100 \ 30
Chromium \ 100 \ 38
Copper \ 100 \ 20
Manganese \ 100 \ 10
Lead \ 100 \ 95
Silicon\ 100 \ 10
Nickel \ 100 \ 20
Eat sugar? Switch to brown…
At SNaC, we recommend that you eat more whole and less refined foods whenever possible. See the chart below to see the varying amounts of minerals found in brown (whole) versus white (refined) sugars and choose brown sugar whenever possible. Just be sure that sugar is still a small component of your overall diet, as it lies on the tip of the food guide pyramid.
Chart: Amount of mineral found in brown sugar versus white sugar
Mineral \ Amount in Brown sugar \ Amount in White sugar *
Iron \ 49 \ 0.1
Copper \ 3 \ 0.08
Silicon \ 735 \ 4.0
Vanadium \ 400 \ 2.0
Iodine \ 30 Ppb \ 1.0 Ppb (parts per billion)
(All amounts are in expressed in parts per million (ppm) except where noted.)