*Ended* MORE Whole Grains General Mills Prize Pack

Happy New Year Resolutions! How many of you are still working on your resolutions? Like most people, the New Year provides a new start and a lot of people make resolutions to eat healthier. This usually entails getting rid of fatty foods, or cutting down on sugar, etc. But what about eating more of something?

Whole grains are just one of those things that you should think about be adding more of to your diet. Dietary Guidelines recommend people get at least 48 grams of whole grain in their daily diets and to make sure then whole grains are listed as the top ingredient.

To make sure you get a great jump-start on the day’s nutrition, incorporate whole grain into your morning routine by adding cereal. You can easily accomplish this by looking for that familiar “white check” on the box.

According to Dr. Travis Stork, emergency room physician and host of “The Doctors,” identifying whole grain products can be challenging. Shoppers can look for nutritional cues on the front of the box, but they need to read the ingredient list to know if they are getting enough whole grain. Ingredient lists detail ingredients in order of prevalence, and if the words “whole grain” are followed by a grain like wheat or oats, it means the food contains more whole grain than any other single ingredient.

 Dr. Stork has some additional recommendations to help you include whole grain easily into your diet. They include:

• Start Early! The Dietary Guidelines recommend people get at least 48 grams of whole grain in their daily diets. Get a jump-start on the day´s nutrition by incorporating whole grain into your morning routine. For instance, when choosing cereal make sure whole grain is listed as the first ingredient. One easy choice is cereal with the white check, which have more whole grain than any other single ingredient.
• Make Simple Swaps. Choose whole grain versions of the foods you love. Great options include whole wheat pasta and whole wheat bread or even whole grain crackers. Also, try different types of whole grain. Use brown rice instead of white rice as a side dish at dinner or popcorn, which is a whole grain, for a snack.
• Don´t Judge a Food by Its Cover. The front of food packages provide good nutritional cues, but don´t forget to read the ingredients and check the nutrition label and side labels for additional health information. Cereals with the white check even include the amount of whole grain per serving on packaging.

To help with choosing products with whole grain, General Mills developed “Fast Lane for Whole Grain,” an online educational game. Consumers can navigate virtual grocery store aisles and identify products that have whole grain as the first ingredient, with the option to enter a sweepstakes to win one of each of the 50 cereals with the white check. Make a commitment to add more whole grain to your diet by simply pouring a bowl of cereal with the white check including Cheerios®, Lucky Charms®, Cinnamon Toast Crunch®, Honey Nut Cheerios® and Total®. For more information on the importance of whole grain and a chance to enter the “Fast Lane for Whole Grain” sweepstakes, visit www.WholeGrainNation.com

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WIN A MORE WHOLE GRAIN GENERAL MILLS PRIZE PACK

(One (1) winner will receive 5 boxes of General Mills cereal with the white check, cereal may vary from those shown above)

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Disclosure: The prize pack, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.