I just picked up some wheat bran from the grocery store. I'm on a whole grain kick and looking to add more unprocessed grains to my diet. Wheat bran is chock full of vitamins as well as phytonutrients that you can't really get from a pill.

What do you do with wheat bran? Well, you can make muffins with it, for one thing. But I plan on putting some wheat bran on my whole grain cereal every morning.

Wheat bran is not the same thing as wheat germ, by the way. Wheat bran is what's on the outside of the wheat berry; wheat germ is what's on the inside. Both are very good for you. I've heard wheat become a bogeyman in some alternative health circles...but that's only if you are allergic to it. Whole wheat is an excellent source of nutrition otherwise.

Women in particular can benefit from adding more whole grains such as wheat bran to the diet. For one, whole wheat can help you lose weight:

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition underscores the importance of choosing whole rather than refined wheat to maintain a healthy body weight. In this Harvard Medical School / Brigham and Women's Hospital study, which collected data on over 74,000 female nurses aged 38-63 years over a 12 year period, weight gain was inversely associated with the intake of high-fiber, whole-grain foods, such as whole wheat, but positively related to the intake of refined-grain foods, such as products made from refined wheat. Not only did women who consumed more whole grains consistently weigh less than those who ate less of these fiber-rich foods, but those consuming the most dietary fiber from whole grains were 49% less likely to gain weight compared to those eating foods made from refined grains.

It may also help prevent breast cancer:

When researchers looked at how much fiber 35,972 participants in the UK Women's Cohort Study ate, they found a diet rich in fiber from whole grains, such as whole wheat, and fruit offered significant protection against breast cancer for pre-menopausal women. (Cade JE, Burley VJ, et al., International Journal of Epidemiology).

(You can read more at The World's Healthiest Foods.)

So eat your wheat bran. Your body will thank you.

PS If you can't find wheat bran in your grocery store, you can order it online from Bob's Red Mill. It's quite cheap.