We should eat our wheat as whole as possible, according to a new study that reveals exactly how nutrients degrade as wheat flour is processed and refined. In a “farm-to-table” investigation, researchers found that mineral levels fell by nearly three-quarters in breads made with refined flour, compared to those made from whole wheat flour.
Levels of the nutrients vitamins A and E also fell substantially as flour was refined, they discovered.
From Kernel to Flour to Bread
To conduct the study, the investigators tracked key nutrients in one wheat sample, produced in New York’s Hudson Valley, at three stages: kernel, flour, and bread. Wheat samples were sent to researcher David Killilea of the University of California–San Francisco, who analyzed them for minerals, phytate, starch, fiber, and vitamin B. Tests on ash and protein were run at California Wheat Commission, and analysis of carotenoids (vitamin A) and vitamin E was conducted at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.
Susan C. Olmstead
Author
Susan C. Olmstead writes about health and medicine, food, social issues, and culture. Her work has appeared in The Epoch Times, Children's Health Defense's The Defender, Salvo Magazine, and many other publications.
