From white bread and other baked goods to commercial snack food such as cookies and chips, all these are made from regular wheat flour. It’s the one common ingredient in any of these products.
There are various types of wheat flour. The first broad classification is based on which parts of the wheat grain are milled. Thus there’s whole grain flour which has the bran and germ layer included, and then there’s regular flour which is just the endosperm or the starchy core of the grain.
Regular flour is then further divided into how much gluten it contains. Hard flour (made from hard wheat) is typically 12-14% gluten. Flour specifically used for baking bread is hard flour. Those categorized as soft or weak types have less gluten content and results in products with a crumbly texture. Flour used for cakes and cookies is soft flour.
Even if you set aside the extra sodium, sugar and artificial additives often used in any commercial wheat product, there are still risks that come from the way regular wheat is produced. Read on and learn the negative effects of any regular wheat products (and be sure to also check out recommended soak times for beans, grains, legumes, nuts and rice).
Risks of Regular Wheat Products:
The fact that regular wheat flour no longer has the grain’s bran and germ layers, makes regular wheat products nutritionally inferior to those made from whole wheat. The germ contains most of the health-supportive fats and vitamins, while the bran provides a lot of dietary fiber. With just the starchy core, all that’s left are carbohydrates and a few proteins.
Freshly-milled regular wheat flour actually has a yellowish color. The packaged white flour seen on store shelves has that color because it has been bleached. Benzoyl peroxide, nitrogen dioxide, and chlorine are just some of the bleaching chemicals used in this process. The first one is known to be a compound that triggers production of free-radicals. One animal study has found it to cause skin tumors. The European Union has in fact banned the use of chlorine and peroxides in the processing of regular wheat flour.
Another dangerous type of chemical used in the commercial production of flour is bromate. This compound is also a known carcinogen and has officially been classified as such by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Bromated flour is still available in the US. But in several other regions of the world, regular wheat flour processed with this compound has already been banned.
The purpose of bleaching or adding bromate to flour is to enhance its gluten-producing quality. From a commercial usability stand point, gluten is important because it makes the dough more cohesive and thus results in well-formed baked goods. Of course from a health perspective, using such products makes the flour (and its end products) dangerous for everyone and especially more so for those with gluten-sensitivity.
Some medical researchers are beginning to discover that celiac disease, the condition of being allergic to gluten, is not as rare as it is believed to be. The official statistic is that 1 out of 1000 may have this condition. One doctor from the UK however who tested a thousand of his patients complaining about symptoms possibly related to celiac disease, confirmed the condition through biopsy in 30 of them. That puts the rate in this instance to 3 out of 100. More surprising is the fact that only 5 of those confirmed exhibited gastrointestinal problems. A different large-scale study made by the Maryland Center for Celiac Research involved 8,199 children and adults. This study came up with similar findings on the rate of incidence for celiac disease.
In the next post, I’ll tell you the negative effects of GMO corn and why you should avoid it to succeed in your quest to Become Superhuman.
In the meantime, if you care to jump ahead, here is a complete listing of the grains and legumes on Superhuman Food Pyramid:
Eat:
• Sprouted, Organic Quinoa, Amaranth Or Millet
• Sprouted Legumes (Beans & Lentils)
Moderate:
• Soaked Legumes (Beans & Lentils)
• Soaked, Organic Quinoa, Amaranth Or Millet
• Soaked & Sprouted Wheat Products
Avoid:
• GMO Corn
• Soy Nuts
• Cookies
• Biscotti
• Scones
• Crackers
• Bagels
• Bread
• Cereal
If you have questions, comments or feedback about the negative effects of any regular wheat products, the Superhuman Food Pyramid, this website, or other aspects of Becoming Superhuman, then leave your thoughts below, as well as any tips you have on the negative effects of any regular wheat products.
Author Bio: Ben Greenfield
His credentials include:
Bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology
Personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
Sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN)
Advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta, the “Harvard” of bicycle fitting schools
Over 10 years experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports
Ben hosts the highly popular fitness, nutrition and wellness website at http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com, which features blogs, podcasts, and product reviews from Ben. He is a frequent contributor to Triathlete magazine and LAVA magazine, Endurance Planet (http://www.enduranceplanet.com), the outdoor sports magazine OutThere Monthly and has been featured in WebMD, the Spokesman-Review, Inlander magazine, In-Health magazine, Fit-Pro magazine, PTontheNet, Prevention magazine, Women’s Running magazine, and Inside Triathlon magazine.
As a public speaker on fitness, nutrition, and training, Ben hosts one of the top ranked fitness podcasts in iTunes, the Get-Fit Guy (http://www.GetFitGuy.com), and has been a keynote lecturer at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships Medical Conference, the Coeur D’ Alene Ironman Medical Conference, USAT Art & Science of Coaching Symposium, Can-Fit-Pro Conference, Pilgrim’s Wellness Center Education Series, Fleet Feet Sports Endurance Sports Clinic and REI Nutrition Clinic. He sits on the board of directors for Tri-Fusion triathlon team, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and is the official coach for the YoungTri. As a triathlon coach and competitor, Ben competes at Ironman and Half-Ironman World Championships, holds a ranking as of USAT’s top ranked age grouper triathletes, and competes in 15-20 triathlons each year, both nationally and internationally.
