You hear a lot these days about adding whole grains to your diet as one of the ways to help you eat healthy and lose weight. Many manufacturers are making more whole grain products. Eating a bowl of whole grain cereal like Chocolate Cheerios is not the same as eating brown rice however. You need to do a little research to decide if you should "buy." Here are three steps to help you decide:

1.    Is it whole grain? - Choose products that list whole grain as the first ingredient. If the packaging says "Excellent source of whole grain or 100% grain; "Made with whole grain" means at least half the grains used are whole grains; the notification defined "whole grain foods" as foods that contain 51% or more whole grain ingredient(s) by weight.

2.    Is it heart healthy? - Read the nutrition label to find out if the product is low in sodium, saturated fat, and is trans fat free. A product needs to be all three in order to be "heart healthy." Look for products that contain 5% or less of the daily value for saturated fat, sodium and zero trans fat.