What is Enriched Flour Meaning Explained

In this video I discuss what is enriched flour, and why it is not the healthiest choice.






Transcript (partial)

The process of enriching flour begins with the grain seed. The seed consists of 3 parts, the bran, the germ and the endosperm. The Bran is the outermost layer and it is high in fiber, protein, iron and vitamin B.

The germ is the embryo of the seed and it is very high in protein, fiber and vitamin B as well. The germ has a fat content of 10%, so it can reduce shelf life, ding, ding, ding, key phrase…shelf life, you know where we are going here.

The endosperm is the largest portion of the seed and it is high in carbs, and well……that’s about it. Now we are going to look at the macronutrients and fiber content of each of these. These #’s are based on 100g of each of these. Take note of the protein and fiber content in the bran and germ, they appear to provide some really good health benefits.

Now that we have looked at the seed as a whole, its time to get to the processing part. Whats the 1st rule of processing food…you guessed it, take out the healthiest parts. So, the bran and the germ is removed and all that is left is the endosperm.

Nice. And the question is WHY? Well, manufactures do this for a better texture, appearance and longer Shelf Life.

Once the endosperm is isolated, it is ground into flour, and then 5 of the lost nutrients are added back in. Hmm, take nutrients out, add some back in, this process makes it sound so delicious, doesn’t it? And, the protein and fiber that was lost, they are not replaced.

Bottom line, enriched flour is not the healthiest choice, 100% whole grain, whole wheat flour or bread will give you the most nutritional value.

Timestamps
0:00 The structure of the grain seed
0:44 Nutrients of the grain seed
0:58 Processing of the grain seed
1:40 Bottom line


Other sources:
http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-g...
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/na...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enriche...