Sunday, May 6, 2007

Things you should know about your bread

If you eat white (or any kind of store bought) bread, you should know a few things before you eat that next slice, and here they are.

In the mid 1950's the inclusion of artificial additives, preservatives, emulsifiers, hydrogenated oils and other chemicals in bread became standard practice. Whole wheat flour was replaced by bleached, enriched white flour around this same time. Which is then artificially "enriched" by adding in materials that were destroyed in the chemical process of bleaching, like vitamins and minerals.

Milling the endosperm of wheat berries or kernels yields white flour, regardless of what type of grain is milled. This process also removes so much natural nutrients and vitamins that subsequent enrichment can never completely replace them. Therefore, enriched white bread is by no means nutritionally equal to whole wheat bread.

In addition, "wheat bread" on the label does not mean that it is made from whole wheat flour. It is just to distinguish the bread from those made from other types of grains. Breads made from whole wheat flour should normally have "whole" or "100 percent whole" before the term "wheat bread".

The manufacturers make white flour because, compared to whole wheat flour, it has a longer shelf life (because of the chemical preservatives), which saves them money because they don't have to worry about spoilage. However, that flour could be killing you because of the lack of nutrients in it. It turns into glue in your colon! Not to mention all those chemicals and additives you're putting in your body.

There's more where that came from, we've only scratched the surface on what you should know. I'll write more on this particular subject tomorrow or another day, so make sure you check back!