Here’s an easy question you’ll probably get wrong (I did): Is whole wheat flour made from pure whole wheat? The answer, at least in the United States, is “Probably not.” The problem is convoluted; the solution is straightforward.
A rational person would assume that pure whole wheat flour is made by grinding unprocessed kernels of wheat (wheat berries) into flour. However, in the United States, profits always trump rationality. Almost all whole wheat flour is made from processed wheat berries; it’s a relatively complicated procedure designed to extend the life of the product by removing many nutrients that can spoil and shorten shelf life. Good for business; bad for nutrition.
Sigh.
What is Pure Whole Wheat Flour Made From? Not What You Think
The fiber from wheat berries is called bran. Many people think the main function of fiber is to help old people with their bowel movements but it has many other important functions; people who maintain high-fiber diets live several years longer than people who don’t. That’s several years in which they can enjoy a lot more than a few good bowel movements.
Wheat germ is the reproductive part of a wheat berry that germinates. It grows into a plant; it is the embryo of the seed. It’s the most vitamin- and mineral-rich part of the wheat kernel.
The third part, the endosperm, is used as food by the seedling when it first starts to grow. The endosperm is mainly… starch. Complex carbohydrate. Not much nutrition, and when you eat it, it quickly turns into sugar.
Wheat bran and wheat germ are remarkably healthy so naturally, we knock them out to make white flour. White flour is pure endosperm, it becomes pure sugar, and pure sugar is pure poison.
Sigh (again).
Why Pure Whole Wheat is so Healthy
Flour is different. Flour particles are vanishingly small: 0.5 to 10 microns. If you were bored enough to put ten or twenty thousand flour particles in a row, your row will be about an inch (2.5 cm) long. Now, here is the part that most people miss: whether flour is whole wheat or white, each individual particle is pure: pure bran, pure wheat germ, or pure endosperm.
When particles of endosperm pass through the intestines, they are quickly converted into glucose, a basic sugar. It doesn’t matter if the original flour was whole wheat or white; the endosperm (starch) is converted and absorbed at about the same speed. That’s why whole wheat bread and white bread have similar effects on blood sugar, and why they have similar glycemic indexes and glycemic loads.
That said, whole wheat flour made from intact wheat berries has so many beneficial nutrients that the minor whack to your blood sugar isn’t significant. It’s excellent food, assuming you eat reasonable portions and do not have celiac disease or a wheat allergy. However, strip away enough of its nutrients and you have… brown-colored white flour. If you are lucky. And with whole grain products, your luck often runs out.
Mega-sigh.
What About Whole Grain Products?
The whole, unprocessed wheat berry that you just ate is 83% endosperm. Specifically. it is 83% endosperm, 14.5% bran, and just 2.5% germ. This means that 100% whole wheat flour is 83% white flour. And now it gets worse.
The definition of ‘whole grain’ was written by an industry lobbying group and then, in a textbook example of a pimp/whore relationship, adopted without change by the FDA. According to Scientific American, “In a definition created in 1999 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) International, an organization of food industry professionals and scientists, and adopted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006, “whole grain flour” refers to any mixture of bran, endosperm, and germ in the proportions one would expect to see in an intact grain. However, the grain can be, and usually is, processed. The three parts are separated, processed, ground, and then recombined before being incorporated into foods. The result? Whole grain flour is roughly as pure and unadulterated as Harvey Weinstein. (FYI, Harvey is pure endosperm. He and Donald are welcome to each other.)
The Legal Definition of Whole Grain Flour
Here’s the legal definition of what whole grain flour can be made from:
That sounds impressive, but it leaves enough wiggle room to make Robert Mueller cry. For example, nutrient-rich oils and water-soluble vitamins that evaporate or are purposely lost during the processing are not replaced, in part because eliminating those nutrients give the product a longer shelf life. Of course, the longer bread stays on the shelf, the more time the remaining nutrients have to degrade. Good for profits; bad for nutrition.
And it gets even worse.
In the US, Whole Wheat Flour Can Legally Be 49% White Flour
For a food product to be considered whole grain, the FDA says it must contain at least 51 percent whole grains by weight. That means that a product can legally claim to be made from whole grains if it is 51% processed whole grain flour and 49% poison oak.
Are Quasi-Whole Grain Products Healthier than Refined Grain Products?
Good question, no answer. The American Society for Nutrition reviewed studies published about whole grains between 1965 and 2010. Descriptions in many studies did not conform to the current FDA definition, lax as it is; the early studies considered foods such as wheat germ and bran cereals to be whole grain. (Both are now considered parts of the whole grain.)
Ultimately, the researchers found that the only whole-grain-rich diets that reduced the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes were either those that included bran as a ‘whole grain’ or those that contained high amounts of fiber. Studies of “whole grains using the currently accepted definition don’t have enough data to support them for preventing these different chronic diseases,” says co-author David Klurfeld, national program leader for human nutrition in the Agricultural Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Degradation of Whole Grain Foods Continues
And just in case ‘eight grams’ seems impressive, that’s about one-fourth of one ounce. About as much as two guppies.
When a food is marketed as containing whole grains, “it takes on a ‘health halo,’ and companies can slip in all sorts of junk without people recognizing what they’re getting,” says Professor Ludwig, professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Joanne Slavin, professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota, who served on the committee for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, agrees that many foods with whole-grain labels are “really not very nutritious food products.”
Don’t Trust the Label “100% Whole Grain”
Molly Kimball, writing for NOLA.com, says, “Even something labeled as 100 percent whole grain doesn’t mean that it contains only whole grains. Original Wheat Thins don’t contain any refined flour, so they’re legitimately labeled as 100 percent whole grain. However, they also contain sugar, malt syrup, and invert sugar – not exactly what you’d call wholesome ingredients.
And the term ‘multigrain’ simply means ‘more than one grain’. It does not mean ‘whole’ grains. Take Pepperidge Farm’s 12-grain Farmhouse Bread, for example. It has 12 different grains but unfortunately, the first ingredient is ‘unbromated unbleached enriched wheat flour’ (translation: white flour).”
How Can You Protect Yourself?
I could add a great deal more, but you get the point. Most breads, pastas, and cereals labeled ‘whole wheat’ or ‘whole grain’ were probably not made from 100% unprocessed whole grains. And the labels ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ don’t mean much; the food can still be highly processed.
So… what should you do? How do you make sure you are eating the healthiest grain products? Start by knowing what to look for.
- Wheat: Look for products that use whole wheat flour made from 100% wheat berries. I Googled “bread made from wheat berry flour” and found this link: https://www.alvaradostreetbakery.com/products/breads
Oats: There are three types of oats: steel-cut, rolled, and instant. All are made from whole oat (groats), but the healthiest by far are steel-cut. Steel cut oats are 100% whole oats that are lightly roasted then chopped. That’s it. They are minimally processed, so you get almost all of the nutrients. They take about twenty minutes to cook, so I usually make eight portions (twelve ounces of dry oats), separate them in plastic bags, and freeze them. Note: rolled oats and instant oats have been steamed and then flattened, and many of the essential vitamins and enzymes are lost. Often, sweeteners and flavorings are added. Most important, compared with steel-cut, instant oats taste the way Play-Doh looks.
Corn: cornmeal and corn flour are both made from corn that has been dried and then highly processed. Yellow cornmeal, as sold in the US, has very little bran or germ left, so it is similar to white flour. Enjoy either flour in moderation, assuming it isn’t a trigger food; just don’t have them too often.
Rice Flour, Rye Flour, etc.: Most flours are highly processed, so you are eating something that the body rapidly degrades into fructose. They are fun for special occasions, not for every day. Brown rice and rice flour are disappointing; they are surprisingly low in vitamins, bran, and other nutrients compared with wheat or oats. People on ketogenic diets or paleo diets, and people with celiac disease or other wheat sensitivities may have a hard time finding truly healthy, gluten-free flour; if you have any suggestions, please send them to me and I’ll publish them.
Check Out the Charts
I’ve scattered pictures of the nutritional values of the four most popular whole grains throughout this post. The links in the list above take you to the original site, with full-sized versions of each chart. The portion sizes are not consistent, but they still show that steel-cut oats are by far the healthiest. Whole wheat berries are close behind.
More important, be sure to read bread labels carefully and try to reduce the amount of bread and other flour-based products that you eat. Replace them with fruits, vegetables, and steel-cut oats, and you will make a small but significant improvement to your general health.
A final note: I took the above charts from http://nutritiondata.self.com/. It’s an excellent site with a great deal of solid, unbiased information. I often use it when preparing a new post. JSW
Read More:
Draft Guidance for Industry and FDA Staff: Whole Grain Label Statements
from Weight Loss Insider https://ift.tt/2rb8vMT
via Best Weight Loss Supplement
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