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12 Steps to Whole Foods

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Replacing White Flour with <strong>Whole</strong> Grains<br />

One of the virtues of whole wheat is that it’s easy <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>re. Those who opened King Tut’s <strong>to</strong>mb found wheat<br />

still capable of sprouting. Wheat can last many years in sealed buckets or cans because of its hard, protective<br />

exterior. When you break that outer layer, grinding it in<strong>to</strong> flour, however, it begins <strong>to</strong> oxidize rapidly, becoming<br />

rancid in a short period of time (a few weeks or months). I believe that many people who say they don’t like<br />

things made with whole wheat actually mean that they don’t like the taste of things made from rancid grain,<br />

since many things made with whole grains go rancid by the time the consumer eats them. When the oils in the<br />

grain become rancid, they are carcinogenic, so you should avoid them for more reasons than just taste. An<br />

electric grain grinder is a worthwhile investment, then, so you can grind your wheat just in time <strong>to</strong> use it.<br />

Even some products being <strong>to</strong>uted as “whole grain” in health food s<strong>to</strong>res are not nutritious. For example, puffed<br />

grains and many other cereal products, even though they are advertised as “whole grain,” are in fact harmful,<br />

for a few reasons.<br />

Most whole-grain granolas and cereals contain a high level of concentrated sweeteners, as well as harmful<br />

refined oils, usually canola or soy oils. And virtually all of them contain <strong>to</strong>xic refined salt. Also, most contain<br />

soy and corn products, which are America’s most genetically modified foods, and we should avoid them as<br />

much as possible.<br />

Finally, they are processed in other ways besides removing the germ and bran. A particular trend <strong>to</strong> begin<br />

noticing and avoiding is the puffed grains that were documented in an unpublished study done by a cereal<br />

company and documented by Paul Stitt. One group of rats received plain whole wheat, water, and synthetic<br />

vitamins and minerals. A second group received puffed wheat (an “extruded” cereal), water, and the same<br />

vitamins and minerals. A third set was given only water. A fourth was given only water and the vitamins and<br />

minerals.<br />

The rats that actually attained “longevity” were those eating only whole wheat. They lived over a year. The rats<br />

on water and vitamins lived two months. Those on water alone lived a month. But the rats given vitamins,<br />

water, and puffed wheat died within two weeks. It is unsurprising that the cereal company elected not <strong>to</strong><br />

publicize these findings.<br />

Another experiment in the 1960s, designed as a joke at Ann Arbor University, fed 18 rats three different diets:<br />

corn flakes, the cardboard box the cornflakes came in, and rat chow. The rat-chow group lived a long time. The<br />

ones who ate cardboard got sick and died. But the cornflake-eating rats died first! Before they did, they<br />

developed schizophrenia, became aggressive with each other, and had seizures.<br />

The chemical changes resulting from pressure of the puffing and other processing apparently causes a<br />

nutritious grain <strong>to</strong> become a <strong>to</strong>xic fuel. So, whole grains are not all made equal!<br />

These trends in packaged foods, or what I call “feel-good health foods,” make it that much more important <strong>to</strong><br />

learn <strong>to</strong> use whole grains, freshly milled, in our own homes, where we can avoid the pitfalls of processed foods<br />

masquerading as good nutrition.<br />

© Copyright Robyn Openshaw <strong>12</strong> <strong>Steps</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Whole</strong> <strong>Foods</strong> 247

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