Enriched Flour- Did you know?
To enrich something means to make it richer by adding good things to it. But why on earth would we need to enrich a food??? The reality is that many of the good things that were originally in it have been stripped out through refinement.
An important problem of the industrial revolution was the preservation of flour. Transportation distances and a relatively slow distribution system collided with natural shelf life.
The reason for the limited shelf life is the fatty acids of the germ, which react from the moment they are exposed to oxygen. This occurs when grain is milled; the fatty acids oxidize and flour starts to become rancid. Depending on climate and grain quality, this process takes six to nine months. In the late 19th century, this process was too short for an industrial production and distribution cycle. As vitamins, micronutrients and amino acids were completely or relatively unknown in the late 19th century, removing the germ was an effective solution.
Without the germ, flour cannot become rancid. How Enriched Flour Affects Your Health Once this stuff has been stripped down, you’re left with a starch. How does your body react to pure starch? The same way it reacts to pure sugar! The consumption of enriched white flour or products containing enriched white flour causes your body to scream through the ride of a sugar high/low roller coaster. Whole Grain Flour vs. White Enriched FlourWhole grain foods are higher in fiber because the wheat germ and bran have not been processed out of them.Whole grain foods are digested more slowly, leaving you feeling fuller for a longer.
Whole grain foods have more nutrients than “enriched” foods.Whole grains are not processed as a starch, so they don’t throw your body into a sugar dependency cycle.
Now, it’s unlikely that we can eliminate enriched flour from our diets completely. However, understanding more about what we eat gives us the power to make better choices! Most likely there will be alternatives at your local sandwich shop or restaurant. Remember, making small changes to your diet will give you a greater chance for longterm sustainability and success!
