Grain

Every grain entry in the Typed food library. Each one is a full page: what it does, stage by stage, and what the evidence says.

• AmaranthAmaranth is a tiny ancient seed packed with a rare protein building block most grains lack, but its calcium doesn't count for as much as milk's does.
• Anzac BiscuitA traditional treat biscuit, high in sugar and saturated fat, best enjoyed for what it is.
• BagelDenser than it looks, and one bagel is usually two serves of bread.
• BarleyThe same cholesterol-lowering fibre found in oats, in a chewier grain.
• BiscuitSweet biscuits vary by how much fat and sugar got added; savoury ones vary by fat and salt.
• Bran Flakes (Fortified)Nineteen grams of fibre and almost a full day of iron — most of it added.
• BreadWhat separates one loaf from another is mostly how much of the wheat grain is still in it.
• Bread RollA roll is loaf dough in a different shape — more crust, one fixed portion, and sometimes cheese baked on top.
• BreadcrumbsBecause the water is gone, everything else in the bread is roughly three times as concentrated.
• Breakfast CerealTwo cereals can sit side by side on the same shelf and be almost nothing alike.
• Brown RiceThe bran layer left on is where the whole difference from white rice lives.
• BuckwheatDespite the name, it is not wheat at all — and it is naturally gluten-free.
• Buckwheat GroatsA gluten-free seed cooked like rice, with more magnesium and protein than most grains.
• Bulgur WheatBulgur is cracked wheat that's already partly cooked, so it fills you up fast without spiking your blood sugar the way white rice or bread can.
• BunA sweet bread. Most of the difference across the three is the icing on top.
• CakeAll cakes are sweet. What really separates them is how much butter, oil or cream is in the crumb.
• Cake or CupcakeA treat, and one of the lighter cakes at that. Sponge gets its lift from whipped eggs rather than from butter.
• ConeA hollow biscuit that holds the ice cream. It is the ice cream that carries the calories.
• Corn ChipsFried nixtamalised maize and salt — more fibre than a potato crisp, and roughly the same amount of salt.
• Corn TortillaSoaking corn in lime doesn't just turn it into dough — it unlocks nutrients that plain corn keeps hidden away.
• CornbreadCornbread gives you quick energy from cornmeal carbs, plus a B-vitamin boost if the cornmeal was enriched.
• Cornflakes (Fortified)Nutritionally, most of what is on the label was sprayed on afterwards.
• CornmealCooking polenta does not change what is in it much — it mostly adds water.
• CouscousCouscous looks like a grain but it's really tiny wheat pasta pellets — so your body breaks it down fast, more like noodles than like brown rice.
• CroissantTwelve grams of saturated fat per hundred — more than any other bread product here, by a distance.
• CrumpetLow in fat, low in sugar, and 860 mg of sodium per hundred grams.
• Damper (Bush Bread)A simple, plain bread that still delivers real folate, since Australian bread flour is required to have it added.
• Doughnut (Iced)The only thing in this batch with more than a gram of trans fat per hundred.
• Einkorn WheatEinkorn is one of the oldest kinds of wheat, barely changed since ancient farmers first grew it. It has more protein than regular wheat, but don't be fooled — it still has gluten.
• English MuffinThe lowest-calorie thing on this shelf, and quietly the highest in calcium.
• Extruded SnackLight, salty and gone in seconds — which is exactly the design, and exactly why a bag disappears so easily.
• Ezekiel BreadThis is bread made from sprouted grains and beans mixed together, which gives it more protein and fiber than regular bread.
• FarroAn ancient wheat with a chewier texture and more fibre than modern wheat products.
• FlourFlours differ by how much protein they hold and whether the bran is still in them.
• FreekehFreekeh is just wheat picked early and roasted over fire — and that head start gives it more fiber and gut-friendly carbs than regular ripe wheat.
• Gluten-Free BreadBread made without wheat, rye, or barley — useful for anyone who cannot tolerate gluten, though it tends to run higher in salt.
• High-Fibre White BreadTwice the fibre of white bread, and it is not the same fibre wholemeal gives you.
• Instant NoodlesDeep-fried before they were dried, which is where 19 g of fat per hundred comes from.
• Kamut (Khorasan Wheat)Kamut is just a big, protein-rich ancient wheat — not a magical grain from a pharaoh's tomb.
• LamingtonA classic Australian sponge cake — enjoyable as an occasional treat, not as a source of much nutrition.
• MaizeCoarsely ground maize with the oily part taken out, so it stores well but has lost some of its nutrition.
• MilletA naturally gluten-free ancient grain with a gentler blood sugar impact than white rice.
• Milo (Chocolate Malt Powder)A fortified chocolate drink powder that supplies real calcium, iron and vitamin D, plus a fair amount of added sugar.
• MuesliMuesli's chewy oats aren't just filling — regular whole-oat muesli can quietly help your cholesterol.
• MuffinAn English muffin is bread. A cafe muffin is cake. They share a name and almost nothing else.
• Multigrain BreadMore grains doesn't automatically mean more fiber -- read the ingredient list, not the bag.
• NaanThe enriched bread of the batch — fat, sugar and 630 mg of sodium.
• NoodleRice, wheat, buckwheat or egg — which one it is matters more than the shape.
• Noodle SnackNearly a quarter of it is oil, and that oil is there to dry the noodles, not to flavour them.
• Oat BranOat bran's sticky fiber grabs onto cholesterol-related stuff in your gut and carries it out, so your liver has to pull more cholesterol out of your blood to keep up.
• OatsOne of the few foods with strong evidence for lowering cholesterol.
• PancakeThe batter is mostly flour, egg and milk. The sugar comes from what you put on top.
• Pasta (White, Boiled)Cooked and cooled, some of its starch stops behaving like starch.
• Pasta DishThe figures here are for a whole plate, not for the pasta or the sauce alone — which is why they look low.
• PastryThe difference between pastries is not the flour. It is the fat.
• PikeletA mini pancake made from flour, egg, and milk — quick energy, not much else.
• Pikelet or PancakeThe sugar and the salt both arrive in the batter, before anything goes on top.
• Pita BreadPita is regular bread with a fun pocket -- the pocket is just trapped steam, and whether pita is "healthy" depends on whether it's whole wheat or white.
• Pizza (Cheese & Tomato)Not junk by composition — the portion and the sodium are what bite.
• Plain FlourThe refined default — and in many countries, quietly fortified.
• Polenta (Cornmeal)Corn is filling and easy to grow, but eating it as your main food for too long, without other proteins, can leave your body short on a B vitamin called niacin.
• Popcorn (Air-Popped)A genuine whole grain snack, once you skip the butter and heavy oil.
• PorridgeMade with water it is plain and modest. Made with milk it becomes a proper source of protein and calcium.
• PuddingHomemade puddings vary enormously. What is in them depends entirely on the recipe.
• QuinoaA rare plant food that is genuinely a complete protein.
• Rice CakesRice cakes look like a light diet snack, but because they're basically pure puffed starch with almost no fiber, they can spike your blood sugar faster than candy does.
• Rice NoodlesAlmost nothing but starch — and almost nothing else either, which is the point.
• Rice Paper WrapperA thin sheet of rice and tapioca starch. It adds almost nothing to a roll except the ability to hold it together.
• RyeRye holds far more fibre than wheat, and holds onto water in a way that keeps you full.
• Rye BreadIts dense fibre gives it a notably gentler blood sugar impact than wheat bread.
• SagoAlmost pure starch. Dry sago is dense; cooked sago is mostly the water it swallowed.
• SconeThe saltiest thing in the bakery — 968 mg per hundred, in something served with jam.
• SemolinaSemolina is coarse durum wheat flour -- the gritty stuff pasta is made from -- and its tough, dense texture means your body breaks it down more slowly than regular flour, so it doesn't spike blood sugar as fast.
• SliceA proper treat. What changes between slices is mostly the fat and where it comes from.
• SnackThey feel light because they are mostly air, not because there is less in them.
• Soba NoodlesSoba noodles give you steady energy from buckwheat carbs and a plant-protein boost -- but check the label, because most soba also has wheat mixed in.
• SorghumA gluten-free whole grain that keeps its bran, because there is no easy way to take it off.
• Sourdough BreadSourdough's long, slow rise makes its minerals easier for your body to absorb than regular bread -- but it's still not gluten-free.
• SpeltAn ancient grain often marketed as gluten-free — it is not, and treating it that way can be genuinely risky.
• Taco ShellCorn tortilla plus deep frying — the frying is most of what shows up on the label.
• TapiocaAlmost pure starch from a root vegetable. It is there for texture and energy, not nutrition.
• TartThe custard is basically baked milk and egg; the pastry around it is where the fat and salt are.
• TeffTeff is a tiny, gluten-free grain that's genuinely rich in iron and calcium -- but eating it alone isn't as good at raising iron levels as meat or a supplement would be.
• Tim TamA genuine treat — worth enjoying as one, not mistaking for something more.
• Toasted Muesli (Granola)The word toasted means fried in oil and sugar. That is what the toasting is.
• Tortilla Wrap (White)A wrap is not the lighter option — it is denser bread with more salt.
• TriticaleTriticale is a man-made grain that's part wheat, part rye, giving it a bit more protein, fiber, and a key amino acid than regular wheat.
• Turkish BreadSame fortification, more salt, and a piece is rarely 100 g.
• Weet-BixA high-fibre, low-sugar way to start the day, especially compared with most boxed cereals.
• WheatWhite flour is wheat with the outer layer and the seed's embryo taken out. That is the whole difference.
• Wheat Bran (Raw)Forty-two grams of fibre per hundred — the highest figure in the library.
• Wheat GermThe embryo of the wheat seed — small, oily, and the richest part of the grain in vitamins and minerals.
• Wheat NoodlesNutritionally pasta by another name — with more sodium than you would guess.
• White BreadA quarter of a day’s folate and a third of your iodine, by law rather than by nature.
• White RiceWhite rice is a fast, easy source of energy, but most of its fiber and vitamins are polished away -- unless it's "enriched," where a few get added back.
• Whole Grain PastaWhole grain pasta keeps the wheat kernel's outer bran and inner germ, so your body digests it more slowly and pulls out more fiber and minerals than it would from white pasta.
• Whole Wheat BreadThe fibre is what actually separates it from white bread — not the colour.
• Wild RiceWild rice isn't really rice — it's a grass seed with more protein and fiber than regular rice, and it's gentler on blood sugar too.

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