Dear Sue:

I have read a lot lately about the benefits of eating nonprocessed carbohydrates. I love pastas and bagels, but now feel that I should be striving even harder to eat healthily. Is there a list of vegetables, grains and nuts that are the best sources of carbohydrates? And maybe a list of tier-two, "not too processed" foods that can be eaten when choices are limited (like in restaurants and while traveling)? Thanks.

--facowee

Dear facowee:

The closer a food is to its original form, the more nutritious it is. That's because every time a food is handled, exposed to heat or air, or otherwise altered, some nutrients are destroyed. For example, wheat loses its bran (fiber) and its germ (protein and vitamins and mineral) when it is made into white flour.

•When buying grain-based carbohydrates look, for the word "whole" in front of the name of the particular grain.

•When buying fruits and vegetables, purchase the freshest possible (best from an organic farmer at a local farm stand).

•Pay attention to the integrity of fruits and vegetables. A fresh apple with the skin still on is superior to apple sauce, a baked potato with its skin is better than mashed. Whole leaf lettuce is more nutritious than prepared, bagged salads because cutting the lettuce leaf has exposed the vitamins to air, which results in nutrient loss.

In order of most nutritious to least:
1. whole fresh
2. fresh frozen
3. canned
4. dried

To maintain maximum nutrition, cook vegetables for as short a time as possible.

At a restaurant, go with stir-fried, or sauteed vegetables, assuming they're not swimming in oil. Order sandwiches on whole wheat bread, baked potatoes instead of mashed or fried. If the choice is between white rice or a baked potato, take the potato and eat the skin too.

For breakfast, order oatmeal or bran muffins instead of English muffins or Danishes. Choose the whole wheat crackers from the cracker basket, buy only whole wheat or mixed whole grain bagels, buy cereal made from whole grains, use brown instead of white rice. Kudos for going the whole grain, whole food route! It's the way nature intended food to be! We sometimes forget that in this over-processed, over-packaged world of ours.

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