White vs. Whole Wheat

 

The subject of this posting will be a topic that bothers me each and every time I go into the supermarket.  Do I go for the cheaper white flour product, or do I spend the extra dollar or two for the whole wheat flour product?  Well here’s a little statistic from the American Medical Association, just switching from white flour bread to whole wheat flour bread cuts your chance of heart disease by 20%.

            If that statistic given above isn’t enough to convince you that eating whole wheat products are better for your health, then take this into consideration.  White flour products are nutritionally useless to your body.  White flour products break down as sugars in your body.  You are confusing your body, and it does not know whether or not you just downed a couple of sugar packets or that white flour product.  When your body digests sugar you release insulin, which is a fat storing hormone that stimulates your appetite while also slowing down your metabolism.  Eating processed foods and white flour products means that your body needs to work harder to produce insulin to balance out your sugar in-take.  Eventually your body begins to shut down because of low blood sugar, diabetes and an endless possibility of problems.

            What does all this mean to you, the consumer?  This means that you should be looking for products that are labeled “Whole Wheat” or “Whole Grain.”  Even if the name doesn’t say either one of those terms, look at the ingredients listed, the first ingredient on the label should be either one of those terms.  Another clue to eating a healthier food is the overall fiber content of the product you are eating.  A true whole wheat or whole grain product will have roughly two or more grams of fiber per serving.  The average American does not even get ten grams of fiber per day, when you should, in reality be getting close to thirty grams. 

Taking in this much fiber also lowers your risk of colon cancer as a result of your diet change.  You should ideally have three bowel movements a day as a result of this increased in-take of fiber in your diet.  The increase in your bowel movements means that waste is being removed from your body.  Without this removal of waste harmful parasites and bacteria can begin to form leading to constipation and a variety of other problems, eventually leading to colon cancer.

This is a simple change that may add years to your life and the lives of those around you.  Eating whole wheat may take some getting used to, and it may hit the bank a little bit harder than before, but you will be making your quality of life just a little bit better.  The American public is so tricked into believing whatever the advertisements tell them that no one thinks for themselves any more.  Now that you know the difference between white and whole wheat flour products, go out there and make a change.  Spread the word about the benefits of whole wheat products and help make the quality of life in this country a little better.  The United States is one of the most, if not the most obese nation in the world, and you can make a difference by making this simple change to your diet.