What are whole grains?

Whole grains are defined as foods that contain all the naturally occurring nutrients and parts of an entire grain seed in the original proportions in which they grew. Common whole grains include wheat, brown rice, rye, sorghum, corn, buckwheat, oats, millet, quinoa and barley.

If a product is labeled as a whole grain, the bran, germ and endosperm must all be present in the finished product after being crushed, as is the case with whole grain flours. Some commonly accepted grains such as buckwheat and quinoa are not true grains due to botanical distinction, but because of their nutritional profile and common uses, these pseudo-grains are considered and treated as whole grains.