This Is What White Flour Could Do To Your Body
People who believe that white flour is good for health must read this post to know the actual truth…
If you have ever eaten a bowl of pasta or have been to a bakery, the chance is that you have consumed white flour. It is made by grinding roots, nuts, seeds, beans and grains and is used to make a variety of foods. It is the major ingredient of bread that is a staple food for different cultures.
It’s safe to say that wheat flour is an important ingredient in European, South American, Oceanic, Middle Eastern, North American, North African and North Indian cultures. We all use white flour in the form of pastries and bread.
Despite the fact that white flour is cheap, airy and light, it is entirely stripped of nutrient value. This means there are no minerals, fats, and vitamins to keep you healthy and fit.
The Main Sources Of White Flour
You must have eaten various foods that contain excessive white flour, but the best ones are bread, cookies, pasta, chips, muffins, cake, pretzels, cereals, crackers, doughnuts, pizza crust, and pie crust.
You can see that most of them are junk foods; these items not only contain white flour but also have other harmful ingredients like artificial flavors, sugar, preservatives, and oils.
Is Enriched White Flour Bad For Health?
A large number of companies manufacture and sell white flour at affordable prices. Most of them remove the nutrients from whole grains to obtain refined white flour. Once these nutrients are removed, the flour becomes meaningless. They only fortify or enrich the flour to meet government regulations or guidelines.
The problem with these types of flours is that the minerals and vitamins present in them are not as effective and beneficial as are natural ingredients. This means they are not the type of nutrients our bodies need. Even when white flour is fortified or enriched, you should avoid using it.
What White Flour Actually Does To The Human Body?
Our bodies need minerals and vitamins to perform different functions. When these nutrients are removed from our diet, we start getting weaker. The tissues become reluctant donors, and this eventually leads to the problem of mineral deficiency or vitamin deficiency.
Here is how white flour impacts our health.
- Type II Diabetes — The level of blood sugar increases when we consume white flour on a regular basis. It is known to have a high glycemic index. This scale rates the speed at which a particular food increases the blood sugar level. It eventually jacks up the level of insulin and causes Type 2 diabetes.
- Obesity — Micro and macronutrients are not present in white flour. These are required by the body to stay healthy, fit and energetic, and in their absence, an increase in visceral and subcutaneous abdominal body fat is noticed. We should also remember that white flour is usually present in junk foods, which causes obesity.
- Cancer — You may think that white flour has nothing to do with cancer. However, it has now been proved that the growth of cancer cells is prompted by regular and long-term consumption of white flour. Thus, we need to consume anti-cancer diets and the products that don’t contain white flour.
- Cardiovascular Diseases — It is believed that the consumption of a large number of refined grains can cause heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases.
Are There Any Alternatives?
If you believe that you don’t have anything to eat, you may try wild rice, brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, teff, sorghum, amaranth, and gluten-free oats. All these whole grains have sufficient fats, minerals, proteins, and vitamins.
In case you are looking for some other things, you can try nut flours (like almonds, pecans, cashews, and walnuts) or seed flours (like sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin). These foods have a lot of proteins, fibers, and fats. You can discover many other gluten-free flour options according to your requirements.
