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Whole grains at play in the realm of health and wellness

January 27, 2011 by Suzy Badaracco — President, Culinary Tides Inc

Trends are often born with dual personalities. It is not that they are two sides of the same coin – they don't typically oppose each other like Jekyll and Hyde. Instead, the most successful trends are those which fulfill a variety of needs.

The megatrend of Health & Wellness itself has a duality with Health referring to the body and Wellness referring to the mind. The few trends possessing duality and the capability of playing in Health & Wellness rarely have adversarial trends powerful enough to bring them down. Such a trend will more likely exhibit morphing behavior. Think of a morph as a cousin born off the original trend which is simply capturing more of the spotlight without any serious harm to its older cousin. The whole grain trend is the poster child for a morph pattern.

The whole grain trend however is actually the younger cousin of the whole wheat trend and has since given birth to the single grain and ancient grain phenomenon. You can tell you are dealing with a morph if you can still play in all the spaces the cousins are in. For instance, a company could launch products simultaneously in whole wheat, whole grain, single grain, or ancient grain if they chose.

As for personality, on one hand, whole grains act as "interpreters" to the food world. Whole grains, single and ancient grains, can be used as translators for introducing global flavors to consumers in a non threatening way. Many times, bread turns out to be the least intimidating item in an unfamiliar meal. It is a bridge to new food experiences – the interpreter or translator - if you will. This is the calming, nurturing side of whole grains.

Whole grains' other face is that of luxury and decadence. Here, grains play in the world of desserts but are usually so well masked by their more vocal counterparts in the recipe, any health benefits are overlooked. Here, they behave as evil temptresses of joy, luring you with guilty pleasure instead of tenderly holding your hand as they do when acting as an interpreter.

Whole grains fit into both Health and Wellness. Leading first with Health, yes whole grains are tied to healthy digestion but look beyond these headlines. Whole grains also are tied to lower cholesterol rates, cancer incidence, diabetes rates and onset, and increased weight loss and satiety. Think of the ties to breakfast, a current rockstar in obesity research, with cereal leading the way followed close behind by breakfast sandwiches and breads. Grains also are the largest group of the Food Guide Pyramid. In fact, the whole grains category has no adversaries in health research or among health and medical practitioners or among industry adversaries for that matter.

Regarding Wellness, whole grains act through causal relationships. Grains have strong research ties to cognitive function research and the sub-category of Mood foods. They have been credited with improved focus and memory in the elderly, Gen Y and Z, and have been found to improve the mood of teen boys - decreasing aggression specifically. Folate, itself a component of whole grains, has been shown to elevate mood. Liverpool University found that consuming cereal improved mood, weight, and body satisfaction – the Health & Wellness trifecta. But Mood is enormously complex since mood disorders themselves have ties to other disease states. For instance, those who suffer from depression are at higher risk for obesity, diabetes, anxiety, heart disease, dementia, and chronic pain. Think about that...your state of mind can create a cascade of physical ailments which can then shorten your life or increase the number of infirmed years which lay ahead.

Looking ahead in 2011, there is a dichotomy setting up. And this is where the temptress side of whole grains comes into play, unfortunately. As consumers come out of the recession they will swing back toward adventure, risk taking, experimentation and luxury. Food portions are growing again, dessert is back in the spotlight, and behavioral research indicates consumers are saying one thing about their diet and doing another. When this swing to adventure happens there is the risk of caution being thrown to the wind in other areas of a consumer's life. Excess calorie intake is among the concerns.

However, the hope I leave you with is that any new disposable income is spent on gym memberships, dance lessons, or training for extreme travel instead of the latest (non-Wii) video games or that case of fantastic, overly indulgent, high calorie, fill-in-the-blank food you can never eat just one of. I personally am planning on some shipwreck snuba (yes, snuba is an actual thing) in the Caribbean. Believe me; nothing gets you to put a fork down faster than picturing yourself in a bathing suit.

About Suzy Badaracco

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