Health and Fitness Tips

The foods that are found in nature that are the most multi-colored also provide the highest dietary worth for our bodies. There are very few “white” foods that offer much nutrition, cauliflower and jicama are the only remarkable exceptions. Orange, red, purple, green and even brown foods offer the highest nutritional value. White flours and white rice are tremendously void of nutrients.

Many years ago, in an attempt to preserve foods for a longer period of time, white flour was invented. The customary whole grain flour, which tends to be a range of shades of brown, comprises all of the exceedingly wholesome and fiber-rich parts of the kernel including the exterior bran layer and the germ. However, whole grain flour has a inclination to rot more rapidly and it also attracts weevils.

So in order to protect foods for a longer interval of time, flour made from only the endosperm of the seed was developed. This flour was light and white and often even bleached with chemicals in order to make it white and pretty. It is interesting to note that while whole grain flour will be a magnet for weevils, white flour is actually a inherent insecticide because insects cannot survive on a food intake of pure white flour, as there is not enough food value.

White flour became a big hit. Many folks enjoyed the appealing white bread that it made and the lightness of the baked goods. However, not long after that it was discovered that this pretty white flour no longer provided any dietary value. At that point, the flour was enriched with 4 vitamins and minerals. However, in the processing 15 vitamins and minerals had been lost along with all of the roughage. None of the fiber was put back in.

It is regrettable but even today the mass of the breads and baked goods on our store shelves is made from this nutritionally devoid flour. Even the so-called “wheat” breads often list enriched flour as the chief element. If you want to get the uppermost nutritional value from breads and baked products you need to make sure that the first ingredient listed on the label is not enriched flour but whole grain flour.

White foods tend to be void of the major nutrients. The more processed a food is the less nutritious it tends to be. White rice is similar to white flour in its dietetic value. In order to receive the uppermost dietetic value you need to look for whole grain foods and foods that are made from whole grains are never white but instead they are shades of brown.

Other colors are also significant when it comes to nutrition. Orange fruits and vegetables offer beta-carotene. Purple fruits and vegetables supply anthocyanins and resveratrol. Green fruits and vegetables provide many other antioxidants and critically vital vitamins and minerals. The healthiest and most healthy diets are the most colorful.

So if you want to make the most of your nutrition, reduce all of the white foods, except cauliflower and jicama, of course. Improve your ingestion of colorful vegetables and fruits and include lean protein sources such as lean meats, fish or poultry or if you are a vegetarian you can add in a mixture of beans and legumes for a protein source. And make sure that your bread is made from whole-grain flour and not enriched flour.

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