Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Optimized Dietary Use From Whole Grain And Multicolored Foods

By Barbara C Jones

The foods that are found in nature that are the most multi-colored also provide the highest dietetic worth for our bodies. There are very few "white" foods that offer much nutrition, cauliflower and jicama are the only significant exceptions. Orange, red, purple, green and even brown foods offer the highest dietary significance. White flours and white rice are particularly empty of nutrients.

Years ago, most breads and flour products were made from highly nourishing whole grain flour. This flour is various hues of brown but not at all white. Whole grain flour is made from the whole seed including the fiber-rich outside bran layer and the germ. However, whole grain flour has a propensity to go rotten quicker and also to attract weevils. In an effort to maintain baked goods for a longer interval of time, white flour was invented.

So flour that was prepared from only the endosperm of the seed was created. This flour was white and it was and still is often lightened with chemicals in order to make it more white. An remarkable side note is that whole grain flour will draw weevils; insects cannot live on white flour because it does not have enough dietary value. White flour is a natural insecticide.

This extremely refined white flour became a big hit. People enjoyed the fluffiness of it and the appealing white food that it made. However, it was soon revealed that this appealing colorless flour contained almost no nutritional value so in an effort to regain some of the food value that had been lost, the flour was enriched by adding back in 4 vitamins and minerals. However, this made little differentiation because 15 vitamins and minerals had been displaced and none of the roughage was added back in.

Even today the greater part of breads and baked goods that are presented to us are made from this nutritionally devoid enriched white flour. Even most breads that are labeled "wheat" are frequently made from enriched flour. If you want to get exceptional nutrients from the breads that you consume, you need to make sure that the first item on the ingredient label is "whole" grain flour and never "enriched".

The foods that are the most processed are the foods that are the least nourishing. White foods are usually deficient in nutrients. White rice is just as nutritionally empty as white flour. Foods that are made from the whole grain have the uppermost inherent nutrition and they also supply crucial roughage. These foods are never white but always hues of brown.

Other colors are also imperative when it comes to nutrition. Orange fruits and vegetables supply beta-carotene. Purple fruits and vegetables provide anthocyanins and resveratrol. Green fruits and vegetables present many other antioxidants and significantly imperative vitamins and minerals. The healthiest and most wholesome diets are the most multi-colored.

In order to maximize your nutrients, have multi-colored foods and do away with all white foods with the exclusion of cauliflower and jicama. Include some lean protein sources such like fish, poultry or lean meats or if you are a vegetarian make sure and include a range of beans and legumes for vegetarian protein. And make sure that the bread that you eat is prepared from whole grain flours and not enriched flours.

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