Grains are also the world's most plentiful food and enjoy first place in the diet of nearly every culture, except perhaps fish-loving Eskimos.

What makes grains so good? Around two-thirds of the calories in grains come from complex carbohydrates. This is right in line with current dietary recommendations that 60 to 65 percent of daily calories should come from carbohydrates. Grains are also a rich source of protein. In most cultures, except beef-eating Westerners, most of the protein in peoples' diets come from grains. (In our culture, it's the cattle who get their protein from grains.) Yet, the body can't live on grains alone. Most are not complete proteins, since they are missing one or more of the essential amino acids, usually lysine. No problem. Who eats dry cereal anyway? Mixing grains with dairy, legumes, or just about any other protein source completes the minimal amino acid deficiency of some grains. Also, grains are great sources of: fiber, zinc, iron, folic acid, minerals, and B-vitamins. And there's more great news about grains-they're naturally low in fat.

Many people think that if certain foods are good, a lot is better.
This is not always the case, and high doses of certain food are actually toxic.

Read about the healthy food, research the vitamins and minerals and check with your health care provider if you are unsure about how much to eat and how much may be too much.