By Donna V. Scaglione
Looking for ways to eat and cook healthfully? If you have wholesome items on hand, you’re probably more likely to incorporate them into your cooking. Fill your pantry with satisfying foods like brown rice, beans, whole wheat pasta and cereals, dried fruit, vegetables, and cans of tomatoes. These staples not only will help you quickly whip up soups, stews, and other home-cooked entrées, but considering what they’re made of, they might help you live longer.
1. Whole-grain pasta, cereals
With whole grain foods, the three parts of the grain kernel — germ, bran, and endosperm — are used. So you get purer food rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and natural plant compounds called phytochemicals, which fight cell damage that can lead to cancer. When grains are refined, the bran and germ are removed. Look for products that list “whole wheat” or “whole oats” as a first ingredient. When a product says “multi-grain,” it means it contains more than one grain, but it isn’t saying whether the grains are refined or whole.
