Grain

Sprouted-grain bread offerings in the market have been slowly but steadily on the uptick of late, and a number of health claims have attached themselves to the spongy, nutty-tasting loaves: more digestible, richer in protein and higher in vitamins and minerals compared with other breads. But are the claims true? Yes -- and no. Sprouted-grain products have distinct nutritional advantages over white breads, but when compared to other whole-grain breads, they're usually nutritionally comparable -- although nutrient contents can vary, depending on the sprouts included.

Pour yourself a nice big bowl of whole-grain cereal. A study finds that diets high in fiber, particularly from cereal and whole grains, may reduce the risk of colon cancer. The study, released online today in the British Medical Journal , is a meta-analysis of 25 studies that examined the relationship between dietary fiber and colorectal cancer, the third most common type of cancer diagnosed among men and women in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. Previous studies have shown that dietary fiber may decrease colorectal cancer risk, but the authors of this study said it's not apparent whether certain types of fiber are key. After analyzing these papers they found that for every 10 grams of dietary fiber and cereal fiber there was a 10% reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

Soviet Grain Buys Eased: The Soviet Union, which broke its record last week for buying U.S. corn and wheat, could easily gain permission to exceed the current ceiling on purchases, Agriculture Secretary Clayton K. Yeutter said. The Kremlin has bought a record 19.3 million metric tons of American grain since the trade year opened Oct. 1. The Soviets recently received permission to buy up to 24 million tons of grain without needing advance U.S. approval. "If the Soviets need something higher than a 24-million-ton ceiling, I doubt whether they would have much difficulty obtaining it," said Yeutter, who labeled as "incorrect" some reports that the Soviets had sought a 30-million-ton ceiling in late April.

USC quarterback Matt Barkley isn't getting caught up in the hype, or in Washington Coach Steve Sarkisian's assessment of him. Sarkisian said this week that if he were an NFL coach, he'd take Barkley ahead of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck , the presumed No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL draft. "I definitely think it's a little sugarcoating," Barkley said Tuesday. "We'll see what he says in March or after this game. " Not that Barkley disagrees. He'd also take himself over Luck.

Some good buys for your health and your pocketbook: Buy fresh fruits and vegetables in season. Buy frozen otherwise. Frozen is cheaper and may even be better for you than fresh. That's because produce is usually frozen at its ripest, which is usually when it maxes out in nutrient content too. Some nutrients do break down or leach out in the freezing process, but most make it through.

BEIJING - "Beijing power struggle heralds end of China Communist Party," screams one headline. More sensational headlines purport to reveal how the wife of recently sacked Politburo member Bo Xilai poisoned an Englishman, who may have been her lover. And if that weren't enough, other stories claim that "Bo planned airline crash" and "slept with more than 100 women. " It's payback time for Chinese exiles, especially those with a printing press, television station or just a computer at their disposal.

Remember the oat bran craze? In the late 1980s, several published studies touting the benefits of oat bran for lowering cholesterol had health professionals singing its praises. Food companies were only too happy to accommodate the newfound demand, trotting out oat bran garlic bread, oat bran muffins, oat bran animal cookies, oat bran brownies, even oat bran-dusted potato chips and doughnuts.

Medical science has determined that one cannot separate mental and emotional health from physical well-being. Which one of us hasn't suffered the bodily reaction to stress — felt the heart race when running late to an important meeting at work or experienced an adrenaline surge during a freeway delay? Feed the soul, not just the body: For me, a part of that is church. When I attend Sunday services, often my soul is refreshed; balance is restored. I need equilibrium because, ahem, as my daughters will aver, I tend to go a bit overboard on nutritional matters and require intervention.

Most pharmaceutical ads in biomedical journals may not be up to snuff as far as Food and Drug Administration guidelines are concerned, a study finds. Researchers examined 192 pharmaceutical ads for 82 individual products in 12 journals from November 2008 using criteria from the FDA's Prescription Drug Advertising Guidelines (excluded were ads for devices, over the counter medications and disease awareness). They also assessed ad content that related to safe prescribing. At least two people reviewed each ad. Only about 18% of the ads complied with all 20 FDA guidelines and about 58% didn't calculate serious risks of the drugs, including death.

A Diet Built on Grains In an effort to consume a healthier diet, many Americans have increased their intake of grains, especially whole grains. After all, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid recommends six to 11 servings of grains a day, and many studies have found that whole grains offer protection against disease.

This far-flung capital of Nevada's Gold Belt is booming - very, very reluctantly. With the price of gold in the stratosphere, the mine-chiseled corner of northeastern Nevada is scrambling to fill thousands of jobs, while newcomers to the barren region beg for somewhere to sleep. The motels: sold out. The apartments: good luck. The RV parks: get in line. Nevada churns out more gold than all but four nations. The Elko area's 7.4% jobless rate is about half that of the once-thriving Las Vegas region.

Hundreds of angry longshoremen walked off the job at ports in the Pacific Northwest on Thursday, effectively shutting down loading and unloading operations in a wildcat labor action that turned into a raucous confrontation — with union members storming a grain export terminal and holding security guards at bay for hours. Shipping terminals in Seattle, Tacoma and Everett were idled as workers joined the protest in the town of Longview, where police said union members rushed into a contested loading area in the pre-dawn hours, cutting brake lines on a train full of grain, pushing a security vehicle into a ditch and dumping part of the grain cargo off the train.

Picture a mortgage program that seems to defy many of the lessons of the housing bust: • 91% of its borrowers make zero down payments. • Loan amounts go well into the jumbo range — to $1 million and sometimes above, even with little or nothing down. • Credit standards are flexible and generous. Underwriting rules encourage loan officers to look for ways to approve applications rather than to reject them. • Mortgage originations are up — almost triple what they were just three years ago and on track this year to exceed 2010's volume.

Most pharmaceutical ads in biomedical journals may not be up to snuff as far as Food and Drug Administration guidelines are concerned, a study finds. Researchers examined 192 pharmaceutical ads for 82 individual products in 12 journals from November 2008 using criteria from the FDA's Prescription Drug Advertising Guidelines (excluded were ads for devices, over the counter medications and disease awareness). They also assessed ad content that related to safe prescribing. At least two people reviewed each ad. Only about 18% of the ads complied with all 20 FDA guidelines and about 58% didn't calculate serious risks of the drugs, including death.

Here are some of my favorite grains for summer salads, along with their cooking proportions and some tasting notes. Bulgur1 cup to 11/2 cups water (soak only)Chewy, slightly vegetal Couscous (quick cooking)1 cup to 11/4 cups boiling water (soak) Tender, wheaty Pearl barley, farro1 cup to 3 cups waterChewy, earthy Millet1 cup to 21/2 cups waterSlightly chewy, slightly vegetal Quinoa 1 cup to 13/4 cups waterTender, vegetal Wheat berrylike pastaChewy, earthy

Confession time here: For years I avoided cooking with whole grains. There was just such a tinge of sacrifice I associated with them. They seemed like food for penance, not pleasure. "Eat them, they're good for you. " Sure, I'd occasionally add some pearl barley to a mushroom soup, and last year I found a delicious Greek dessert made from wheat berries, but that bit of dabbling was pretty much the extent of it. No longer. After spending a couple of weeks playing with various whole grains, cooking them this way and that and turning them into summer salads, I'm ready to say: "Eat them, you'll like them.

About $405 million worth of grain rots in China's state granaries every year while rats eat 1.5 million more tons, Yang Jike, the vice-governor of Anhui province, a leading grain-producing region, said in a newspaper interview Wednesday.

China's granaries are overflowing after a record harvest, the government said. Niu Ruofeng, director of the agricultural economics institute, said Chinese farmers grew more than 400 million metric tons of grain this year, up 12.5 million tons from a bumper crop in 1983 and more than state grain stores can accomodate. A metric ton is equal to 2.204.6 pounds.

Last weekend, we left the city behind and drove about an hour south to my mother-in-law's kibbutz to see the rolling fields of ripening wheat ready to be harvested just before the Shavuot holiday, exactly like it was in ancient times. Shavuot, starting this year at sundown Tuesday, is a festival with three names: Shavuot, which means "the feast of weeks"; Hag HaKatzir, or "harvest holiday"; and Hag HaBikkurim, meaning "the holiday of first fruits," when the tribes of Israel were obligated to bring their fresh wheat, barley and certain fruits to the Great Temple in Jerusalem.

"Nobody in our family has a flat stomach, Carolyn," my dad stated authoritatively. A scientist, he generally gave us The Last Word on Every Subject. I looked up from my rounded belly. "Well, I still wish mine were flat," I told him as we sat at the table after dinner, nibbling as we talked. Who knew? Belly fat is dangerous. I complained all those decades ago because mine hung over my jeans, a sign of much after-dinner-snacking. Back then, we did not know that a big belly pumped its own chemical mix throughout the body.