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Nutritional Information

You can find everything here that you need to know about cereals and wholegrains including detailed nutrition information on all the nutrients you can find in them, and the nutritional information on wholegrains, oats, wheat and barley.

Nutritional benefits of cereals
Cereals such as wheat, rice and oats are not only a tasty and versatile part of our diet they also provide important nutrients such as carbohydrate and protein along with a range of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.

Along with fruit and vegetables, beans and pulses, cereals are a major source of dietary fibre, supplying both soluble (the type that helps to reduce blood cholesterol levels) and insoluble fibre (the type that helps to keep the digestive system healthy).

Several studies have shown that a diet rich in cereal foods, particularly wholegrain varieties, offers a number of health benefits including a reduced risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer. All cereals share a similar nutritional profile - although the vitamin and mineral content will vary depending on the degree of processing.

Macronutrient content of cereal grains (per 100g raw grains)

Cereal

 Protein (g)

 Fat (g)

 Carbohydrate (g)

Wheat

12.6

 2.7

 72.4
Rice (brown)

7.5

 1.9

 77.4
Maize

9.0

 3.9

 72.2
Millet

10.0

 2.9

 72.9
Oats

15.0

 7.0

 69.0


Lorenz & Kulp (1991) (awaiting copyright permission)

Vitamin content of selected cereals (mg/per 100g, unless specified)

 Vitamin

 Vitamin E

 Thiamin

 Riboflavin

Niacin
equivalent (µg)

Vitamin B6

Folate (µg)

Wheat flour,
white, plain

 0.30

 0.312

 0.03

 3.62

0.15

 22
Wheat flour,
Wholemeal

 1.40

 0.47

 0.09

 8.2

0.50

 57
Rice, easy cook
white, raw

 (0.10)

 0.41

 0.02

 5.8

0.31

 20
Rice, brown,
raw

0.80 

 0.59

 0.07

 6.8

N

 49
Popcorn, plain

 11.03

 0.18

 0.11

 1.7

0.20

 3
Oatmeal, quick
cook raw

 1.50

 0.90

 0.09

 3.4

0.33

 60
Barley, pearl raw1

 0.40

 0.12

 0.05

 4.8

0.22

 20
Rye flour, whole

 1.60

 0.40

 0.22

 2.6

0.35

 78
Millet flour1

 Trace

 0.68

 0.19

 2.8

N

 N

Mineral content of selected cereals (mg/per 100g, unless specified)

 Mineral

 Na (mg)

 K (mg)

 Ca (mg)

 Mg (mg)

 Fe (mg)

 Zn (Mg)

 Se (µg)

Wheat flour,
plain white

 3

 150

 1402

 20

 2.02

0.6 

 2

Wheat flour,
wholemeal 

 3

 340

 38

 120

 3.9

 2.9

 6

Rice, easy cook
white, raw

 4

 150

 51

 32

 0.5

 1.8

 13

Rice, brown,
raw 

 3

 250

 10

 110

 1.4

 1.8

 10

Popcorn, plain

 4

 220

 10

 81

 1.1

 1.7

 N

Oatmeal, quick cook, raw 

 9

 350

 52

 110

 3.8

 3.3

 3

Barley, pearl raw1

 3

 270

 20

 65

 3.0

 2.1

 (1)

Rye flour, whole

 (1)

 410

 32

 92

 2.7

 3.0

N

Millet flour 1 

 21

 370

 40

 N

 N

 N

 N 

(awaiting copyright permission)

You can find more information about the nutrients mentioned on the nutrients page. There is also a glossary explaining some of the terms used on this and related pages.

These tables are taken from a report on the 'Nutritional Benefits of Cereals' from the British Nutrition Foundation.

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