We have all heard and know that wheat flour is more nutritional than white. Whole grains are more nutritional than enriched grains. But why? In the process of making white flour 22 nutrients are lost, only 5 of which are added back in. The bran and the germ are both stripped, leaving only the starch. Starch turns almost directly into sugar when it is consumed. This is why process foods are so bad for diabetics. White flour is processed wheat flour. Sometimes when a label says wheat flour, it is also refined, just not bleach. You can't be sure you are getting a whole wheat product unless it says "whole wheat".
As if stripping everything nutritive (is that right?) from the grain weren't enough. No... we are going to bleach it, Yes, literally bleach the flour. However, this is not legal in Europe!! In Europe the bleaching is done by allowing it to sit in the sun and oxidize for 10 days. This still destroys some of the benefits, and the bran and germ are still removed, but at least you aren't putting chemicals into your body.
The following video was the only one I was able to find in the short time I had to look. I found it very informative.
Back on the topic of enriching grains. Check out this site WebNd. I'll just summarize by saying it best to get what we need from whole foods.
Our family is not perfect with this, but we are really trying to work towards it. I think it's a shame that buying a flour that has been stripped of everything, and had chemicals added back in costs more than buying the whole wheat flour, or even the wheat berry. If you feel the need to use white flour (cause let's face it, it's kind of addicting) at least buy the unbleached stuff! However, my honest opinion is that whole wheat flour has more depth to is taste, which I really prefer over white.
