The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults recommend that people “eat plenty of cereals (including breads, rice, pasta and noodles), preferably wholegrain.” This dietary recommendation is based on the grounds that grains are significant contributors of nutrients and fibre in the Australian diet.  Wholegrain foods also contain a range of protective components, such as antioxidants and phytoestrogens, which play an important role in the prevention of disease.

Recommended serves of grain-based foods:

The actual daily amount of grain-based foods required by children and adults varies according to factors like age, gender and life stage (see Table 1 below). Setting a minimum amount of grain-based foods for all Australians over four years of age, the dietary goal is at least four serves of grain-based foods each day.

Table 1: Recommended serves of grain-based foods

Children and Adolescents

4-7 years………………………………5-7 serves per day

8-11 years…………………………….6-9 serves per day

12-18 years…………………………..5-11 serves per day

Women

19-60 years…………………………..4-9 serves per day

Pregnant………………………………4-6 serves per day

Breastfeeding……………………….5-7 serves per day

60+ years……………………………..4-7 serves per day

Men

19-60 years………………………….. 6-12 serves per day

60+ years…………………………….. 4-9 serves per day

What is a ‘serve’ of grain-based food?

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating defines a serve as:

• 2 slices of bread
• 1 medium bread roll
• 1 cup of cooked pasta, noodles, rice
• 1 cup of porridge
• 1 cup of breakfast cereal flakes
• 2 wheat or oat breakfast biscuits
• 1/2 cup of muesli
• 1/3 cup of flour

Achieving the recommended 4+ serves of grain-based foods:

The following one-day sample meal plan shows how easy it is to achieve the goal of 4+ daily serves of grain-based foods:

• Breakfast: a bowl of wholegrain flaked cereal or porridge (1 serve) topped with plump prunes and low-fat milk, served with a glass of fruit juice.
• Morning tea: 4 multigrain/wholegrain crispbreads (1 serve) topped with low-fat cream cheese, fresh tomatoes and cracked pepper. Water, tea or coffee to drink.
• Lunch: a wholemeal roll (1 serve) filled with lean ham, low-fat cheese, avocado and salad. Water to drink and piece of fruit or fruit salad to finish off.
• Afternoon tea: one slice of raisin toast (1/2 serve) with a scrape of margarine. Water, tea or coffee to drink.
• Dinner: one cup of cooked wholemeal pasta (1 serve) with a bolognaise sauce and a side salad. Low-fat yogurt and canned fruit in natural juice for dessert. Chilled water to quench your thirst.

Recommended serves of wholegrain foods:

The significant health benefits associated with regular consumption of wholegrain foods are acknowledged, and consumption encouraged, by the NHMRC with the dietary guideline for ‘breads and cereals’ including the advice to choose ‘preferably wholegrain’ varieties.

There is, however, no official Australian recommendation that quantifies the amount of wholegrain foods to include in a healthy diet each day. In comparison, the 2005 US Dietary Guidelines include the advice to consume three or more ounce equivalents** of wholegrain products each day, which means that at least half the recommended grain serves should come from wholegrains. The 2007 revision of Canada’s Food Guide also makes the recommendation that at least half the grain products consumed each day should be wholegrain. There has been a recent recommendation for four servings of wholegrains each day in Denmark.

**An ‘ounce’ equivalent of grains (wholegrain or refined grain) is equal to: 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of ready to eat cereal, 1/2 cup of cooked rice, 1/2 cup of cooked pasta, 1/2 cup or cooked cereal. These quantities are half the serve size referred to by Australian Dietary Guidelines.

A Daily Target Intake (DTI) for wholegrains:

In 2008, in order to quantify ‘preferably wholegrain’ in the dietary guideline for cereals, Go Grains, in collaboration with the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) convened an expert panel to establish an Australian daily target for wholegrain intake.

After reviewing the scientific evidence, the expert panel agreed that 48g of wholegrains each day is an achievable, evidence-based Daily Target Intake (DTI) for adults, teens and older children (aged 9+ years). This DTI is consistent with formal recommendations of the US dietary guidelines and with informal recommendations in Europe.

Young children need to increase the amount of wholegrains in their diets gradually as they grow. Go Grains endorses the following wholegrain daily targets for small children aged 2-8 years, based on US recommendations that are extrapolated from chronic disease prevention evidence in adults and adjusted for energy in young children:

• Children aged 2-3 years: 24g of wholegrains a day

• Children aged 4-8 years: 32-40g of wholegrains a day

The 48g wholegrain DTI can be found on the label of some breads, cereals, crispbreads and snacks, helping food manufacturers to communicate a consistent wholegrain message to Australians.

Wholegrain content of different foods:

The wholegrain content of a food within a given food category (e.g. wholemeal breads) will vary depending on the brand, serve size and ingredients used. If a manufacturer makes a statement about the wholegrain content of their product, then they must state the percentage (%) of wholegrains in the ingredients list. As such, the ingredients list can be made a useful tool when wanting to calculate and monitor the amount of wholegrains eaten each day.

Here are some examples of readily available wholegrain foods and their approximate wholegrain content:

• Wholemeal bread, 2 slices = 30-40g wholegrains
• Multi-grain bread, 2 slices = 5-30g wholegrains
• Wheat-flake breakfast biscuits, 2 biscuits = 30g wholegrains
• Wholegrain breakfast cereal, 30-45g serve = 15-30g wholegrains
• Porridge, using 2/3 cup rolled oats = 60g wholegrains
• Brown rice, 1 cup cooked = 65g wholegrains
• Wholegrain pasta, 1 cup cooked = 55-65g wholegrains
• Wholegrain crispbreads, 2-4 slices = 20g-35g wholegrains

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