Enriched Flour. What is it?

This article taken from, ahealthiermichigan.org. Copyright listed below.

I was never one to read food labels. . .That was one of several reasons I found it difficult to conquer my obesity for over two decades. . .When someone tried to inform me of all the unhealthy ingredients in pizza, pasta or chicken nuggets, I just ignored their warnings.

You may be consuming some of the same unhealthy ingredients and not even realize it. Take a moment to read the ingredients of your favorite bread. Chances are the first ingredient is going to be enriched wheat flour. Do you know what “enriched” means? Neither did I.

Enriched flour is flour in which most of the natural vitamins and minerals have been extracted. This is done in order to give bread a finer texture and increase shelf life.

When the bran and the germ (the parts of the wheat that contain fiber and nutrients) are removed, your body absorbs wheat differently. Instead of being a slow process that gives you steady bursts of energy, your body breaks down enriched flour more quickly, which typically raises blood sugar more quickly as well. This excess blood sugar has to be metabolized by the liver, and if there’s an excess of sugar, your body will store some of it as fat.

Read that again: your body STORES IT AS FAT. All this and you’re not even getting close to the amount of nutrients that whole grains contain.

In other words, enriched flour sounds healthy but isn’t so healthy after all.

Okay, so what ingredient should you be looking for in your bread? Whole wheat flour or whole grain flour should be the first ingredient on the label of your bread because they are richer in dietary fiber, antioxidants, protein, dietary minerals — which includes magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and selenium — along with niacin, vitamin B6 and vitamin E. By eating whole grains you reduce the risk of certain cancers, coronary heart disease, digestive system diseases, diabetes and obesity.

I now read food labels and have found that there are many products that seem healthy at first, but in reality they are not. If the label on your favorite bread includes the words “soft wheat” or “multigrain,” make sure you still read the ingredients because the majority of these breads are mostly made with enriched flour. Even if the word “enriched” is not there, if it doesn’t say “whole,” then it’s the same stuff.

Also remember that even if the bread color is brown and has a very healthy appearance, unbleached wheat flour is still missing the bran and the germ that contain essential nutrients and fiber.

My suggestion? Try to look for food products that say 100 percent whole wheat or whole grain … the healthy stuff!

Below are the food items that commonly contain enriched flour:

Bread Donuts Chicken nuggets – breaded

Cake Pie Crust

Cookies Crackers

Brownies Pasta

Pretzels Pizza

What’s in Your Food? Enriched Flour Tops List of Unhealthy Ingredients. July 26, 2011. (c) ahealthiermichigan.org

What’s For Dinner?

“Your words were found and I ate them. . .” Jeremiah 15:16

After fasting forty days and forty nights Jesus was hungry! Incredibly hungry. His body would have been screaming for sustenance. In one translation it says, “And the tempter came to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Have you ever been really hungry? So hungry you are weak and not sure when your next meal would come? Most of us have not, short of being lost or imprisoned. But even in prison, the captives are usually fed. One thing I do know, the farther between meals we go, the weaker and more vulnerable we become. And that is where Jesus was, weak. Satan could tempt him with food, or so he thought.

Instead, Jesus called upon the Word of God and replied, “It is written, Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:1-4)

Is God my food? Do I see that God’s word is the basis of my very life? Is it like food and water to my soul? Or has it become an occasional snack when I feel those slight hunger pangs a few times a day. You know, those times when a few bites will do. Do we savor every morsel He’s written or do we approach his banqueting table as a buffet, picking and choosing the bits we prefer?

The prophet Isaiah proclaims this, regarding the birth of Christ our Lord: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” Isaiah 9:2

2 Tim. 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the faith and correcting error, for re-setting the direction of a man’s life and training him in good living. The scriptures are the comprehensive equipment of the man of God and fit him fully for all branches of his work. – Phillips

1 Peter 2:1-2 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment.

John 6:57-58 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

Psalm 119:9-16 How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. I have tried hard to find you— don’t let me wander from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. I praise you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. I have recited aloud all the regulations you have given us. I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways. I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.

Hebrews 10:16-17 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

I knew a young man in the Navy who, after three years of good service went off the deep end, walked away from his duty assignments (more than once) and spent time in the brig (more than once). After getting his head adjusted, he was transferred to his final duty assignment, a Navy ship. On the first day, his immediate supervisor called him aside and said words something like this, “I know all about what you have done and I don’t care. I will judge you by what you do starting today. So if you want to get along here, just do your job and we will get along fine.” The sailor discovered that his supervisor was a man of his word which brought out the best in him. He was forgiven and was determined to show his supervisor how thankful he was.

How much more is our walk with Jesus like this relationship? He has taken on our sins and forgiven us forever. Shouldn’t we show our Lord how thankful we are by devouring His word?

Jer 15:16 When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.