Bread Tips
Remember "Only bakers can make dough and loaf!" Part One of: The Great Wheat Robbery
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Cooking Corner Bread Tips!!
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Whole Grains 101 Health experts advise everyone – men and women, young and old – that grains are a healthy necessity in every diet, and that it's important to eat at least half our grains as "whole grains."
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When wheat is milled into white flour the bran and wheat germ are removed, two of the most healthful parts of the wheat kernel. The milling company attempts to replace the nutrients they take out with synthetic vitamins. This is a crime. When God created wheat to be used, He put the right balance of vitamins and minerals in that little wheat kernel. He then sealed it in a tough outer shell, the bran, to preserve it. Wheat berries will stay fresh and full of vitamins for years and years. In fact they found wheat berries in King Tut's tomb and were able to sprout it and make bread out of it! However, once the outer shell is broken in the milling process, the whole wheat flour is subject to rapid spoilage. The oil in the wheat germ will turn rancid, which is why they began taking it out in the first place. This gives the flour a longer shelf life, a benefit for the miller and the grocer, but does not do much for our bodies! Refrigeration will slow the spoilage process, which is why most health food stores keep their whole wheat flour cool.
Whole Grains
The modern milling process separates the distinct parts of the wheat kernel to produce flour suitable for easy storage and shelf life. This is a basic processed food.
Buying whole wheat flour at the grocer is to buy flour that has gone through processing and been somewhat put back together. You can say the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Where does it all go?
- Bran - Essential to good health; it permits the body to rapidly eliminate wastes and toxins which are believed to be the cause of many health problems and deseases. It is resold to us consumers (minus much of the original nutrients).
- Middlings -This highly nutritious ouside layer directly under the bran; contains a high percentage of minerals and vitamins and is sold to ranchers and farmers as livestock feed.
- Wheat Germ - This important source of vitamins and minerals is also removed and sold separately as a food or food supplement.
- Wheat Germ Oil - This oil is rich in vitamins, but is removed along with the wheat germ to insure longer shelf life. Oils exposed to air oxidize and rapidly turn rancid, giving a bitter taste to foods that become harder to digest. Wheat germ oil is widely used in cosmetics because of its high percentage of Vitamin E.
- White Flour - The result of the commercial milling process is white flour, almost entirely devoid of nutritional value. It is tasteless and usually flavored with sugars, fats and salt, which are at the root of many of today's diseases: obesity, constipation, diabetes, hypoglycemia, hypertentsion, heart disease, etc... "Enrichment" which is required by the US government (not the Japanese government), consists of only restoring artificially 3 vitamins (B1, B2, and Niacin) and 1 mineral (iron) after having romoved 39 of them plus the bran.
Following is the USDA comparison of whole wheat and white (I wonder, does it allow for the oxidation?) Three ounces is approximately the amount of flour in a thick slice of bread:
