“3 cups of flour” my mom uttered to herself as
she began setting the ingredients out for the apple pie. The first use of flour
was 30,000 years ago and today most meals still use it as a thickening agent. However,
lately, there has been gluten free craze traveling around the world. Should we
actually avoid all gluten though? There is a stark difference in the health
benefits and withdrawals between different types of flour, and it is our responsibility
to be educated on what we decide to put into our body.
During
Christmas vacation I traveled to Florida to visit my gluten free family and
found it unnaturally difficult to cook meals for all of my kin. None of them were actually allergic to
gluten, but rather felt that it was healthier to avoid wheat altogether. Countless
people like my family in Florida argue that white flour, being processed, is
not healthy for consumption. While they are accurate that the handling of white
flour removes much of its nutrients it also has some benefits and has a history
of successful use. White flour contains only the starchy endosperm of the grain
which makes it easy to digest if one has a compromised digestive system. Numerous
cultures have survived on high diets in starch and their populations have been
extremely healthy. Like the Okinawans, who traditionally obtained 85% of their
calories from starch. or the Tukisenta in Papua New Guinea who consumed 94.6%
starchy carbohydrates in the 1960s. Cultures like these were shown to have
exceptionally long lifespans and a virtual non-existence of modern illness such
as heart disease. Furthermore, white flour can be kept for a very long time
which makes it more economical. The issues with processed flour, however, is
that it contains chemical residue left over from the bleaching of it to turn it
stark white. Certain proteins in the flour produce an oxidizing chemical
reaction with the chlorine gas which forms a very toxic byproduct known as Alloxan. Alloxan has been used to induce
diabetes in lab rats. With these scary names of chemicals and diseases
surrounding white flour in an enigma many people attempt to avoid it
altogether. It should not be this difficult to have family reunions due to
dinner time, white flour in moderation can be consumed without extreme worry
for your health.
In contrast with the high-risk white
flour, wheat flour has many more benefits in nutrition and health. In fact, The
2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that at least half of your daily grain
intake come from whole grains. One of the primary
nutritional differences between whole-wheat and white flour is the food’s fiber
content. Dietary fiber has a number of health benefits -- it prevents
constipation, lowers blood cholesterol and might help you lose weight,
according to Colorado State University. The refining process associated with
making white flour separates the fiber-rich brain from the rest of the grain,
so white flour typically contains less fiber than its whole-grain counterpart.
For example, 1/2 cup of white flour contains 1.3 grams of fiber, while an equal
serving of whole-wheat flour contains 6.4 grams. As a result, selecting foods
that contain wheat flour helps you reach your dietary fiber intake goal -- 28
grams daily if you follow a 2,000-calorie diet, according to Colorado State
University. Numerous other benefits include reduced risk of stroke, asthma,
colorectal cancer, and healthier blood pressure level.
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