To enrich something means to make it richer by adding good things to it. If you add some organic apple cider vinegar to your water, you’ve enriched it. Enriched white flour, then, has had lots and lots of good things added into it, so it’s good for you. Right? WRONG!
The truth is, so many of the good things that were originally in it have been stripped out through refinement that they HAD to add a little something back in. Now here’s the really scary part. What they are adding back into your flour is actually toxic!
Iron is one of the “nutrients” added back into enriched flour, except that the type of iron that is added in is not really a nutrient at all, but is considered a metallic iron. Metallic iron is obviously not available for use by the body, and was never meant to be consumed in the first place.
Enriched flour is absorbed by the body not as wheat or a grain, in which case your body could use the energy slowly and effectively, but as a starch. That is because the wheat germ has been stripped from the flour; the FDA specifically states that enriched flour cannot have greater than 5 percent wheat germ.
Enriched Flour: How It Affects Your Health
Okay, so this stuff has been stripped down and you’re left with a starch (that makes a nice paste when combined with water). 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 on a sugar high/low roller coaster.
Enriched white flour also makes people fatter. White flour is really nothing more than refined carbohydrates. According to a study that was referenced by Natural News, Americans are eating enough extra calories (mostly through refined carbs) to add three pounds of body fat per month to their weight. Carbs should come from unrefined sources, like fresh organic fruits and vegetables. Not from something that’s been processed and bleached and then had trace amounts of synthetic nutrients added back in so that the “industry” can sleep at night.
Alternatives to Enriched White Flour
It’s difficult to live flour-free. So many of the foods that people cook and buy are made with flour of some type and it is hard for most people to go flour-free without switching to an all-produce diet or raw food diet.
Luckily there are alternatives to enriched white flour. Popular diets demand the removal of products containing enriched white flour and call for replacement with either nothing or with whole wheat based products. Pasta and bread are the foods that most commonly contain white flour, but pay attention to what you eat because even foods like breaded chicken nuggets contain enriched flour products.
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If you can find sprouted flours these are the best.. (Always buy organic of course)
You can also buy a lot of foods that are already made without white flour, typically they are labeled as “whole grain” foods. Eating organic sprouted whole grain pastas and breads are becoming easier and easier to obtain, as America wakes up to find itself overweight and undernourished. However, as I stated above, the best diet plan would contain little to no grains and more live fruits, seeds and vegetables.
Whole Grain Flour vs. White Enriched Flour
- Whole 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, so you feel fuller for a longer period of time and end up eating less.
- Whole grain foods have more overall nutrients than “enriched” foods.
- Whole grains are not processed as a starch, so they don’t throw your body into a sugar dependency cycle.
Banishing enriched white flour from your diet isn’t really all that hard, after all. If you’re interested in tracking your progress or challenging others, you should! Start a 10 day no enriched white flour challenge group online-you might be surprised at the number of people who will participate! Better yet, share the challenge with your family and friends.
Related Articles About Nutrition:
- The Benefits of Himalayan Salt
- The Health Benefits of Probiotics
- The Health Benefits of Olive Oil
- List of High Fiber Foods
November 12th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
i eat white flour i have a birth mark of it i eats it 2r 3 times ady but a time i dont swallow it an that other times i spit itout please help me wit i please com up wit some kind of solution.
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July 7th, 2011 at 10:37 am
WOW! I honestly had no idea that enriched white flour was so bad for you. I am going to eat nothing but wheat bread from now on. THanks for the info!
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June 24th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
Giving up enriched flour was the second best thing I ever did for my diet. The first was cutting out all the High Fructose corn syrup. Taking those two substances out of your diet, will greatly improve your health and energy levels.. I know from experience!
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June 13th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Since I have stayed away from foods containing enriched flour; I have never felt so energetic. Lots of fruits, vegetables, greens, fish, chicken and lots of water. Staying away from enriched flour has also helped me take off the last few pounds I had to lose. I am 63 years old but I feel like 40. And also by eating well, I look much younger. Most people think I’m in my 40′s.
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Byron replied on August 23rd, 2010:
That is Wonderful! Hi I’m an ILS worker and have been working on getting all my clients off enriched and processed foods. I myself stopped purchasing them about 6 months ago and have lost 35 lbs. and feel great. Most people can’t believe how much I weigh (210), they think I weigh 170. Funny tho, I wear cloths that fit me when I weighed 190. America should ban all enriched and processed foods and shut some hospitals down.
Thanks,
Byron
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June 13th, 2010 at 10:01 am
I eat very healthy. Lots of fish, chicken breast, greens, fruits and vegetables. I must stear away from food made with enriched flour if I don’t want to feel sluggish, depressed, tired, agressive and have flatulence.
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January 14th, 2010 at 11:27 am
When a product says that it has whole grains in it you can’t always believe them. If you look to the ingredients you will most likely see enriched flour as the first ingredient. There is a stamp that you can find on the product that shows that it IS whole grain. Take time to check the ingredients on the product and you will be able to find whole wheat products. Even better, make your own bread and grind your own flour and you will be much better off!
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pete replied on November 1st, 2011:
How do you grind flour?
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October 29th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
There is still a lot baked goods that I avoid because of the white flour content. I expose myself every Sunday in the church’s coffee room after service when I snack on an old favorite such as gingerbread or some other thing that I used to eat when I was a kid. I no longer drink coffee and now use Himalayan Gree Tea which 99.95+/- caffeine-free. No longer young at 72+.
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October 29th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I am so glad to see so much of what I believe in, in black and white where I can copy it and give to my friends. I had cancer 3 years ago and was healed by vitamins and such and I learned so much from a nutritionalist. I preach and preach but I like to have it where I can copy it to show to everyone.
Finally I am finding more and more of what I believe in so strongly.
Barby
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September 25th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Do you have a source for the statement that nutritionally unsuitable metallic iron is used to enrich bleached flour? The FDA guideline for enriched flour (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=21&PART=137&SECTION=165&YEAR=2001&TYPE=TEXT) specifically requires that “All ingredients from which the food is fabricated shall be safe and suitable.”
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STEVE replied on February 28th, 2010:
You are right. Iron in a metallic form is not added. The type of iron added to bakery goods is usually iron sulfate which is a water soluble form of iron that is identical to the medicinal iron sulfate taken by most women to replace iron loss in their blood stream. Iron filings in cereal would be a “mistake” and not the result of deliberate formulation. This reference is just more hysteria to make better reading.
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June 5th, 2009 at 7:46 am
I like this type of food.
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June 1st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I heard on Oprah a few years back to always look at the ingredients when buying bread. If it says “enriched flour” at the top, put it back and look for something else. Because of this, I’ve discovered that alot of the breads that say “whole wheat”, even list “enriched flour” as an ingredient. So you really have to look closely at what you are buying.
I’m a big believer of eating whole wheat breads and pastas. Fiber is very important for overall health. I believe it’s the “key to your health”. Great article Dr. G!
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