Wheat

The first change we made was to eliminate white flour from our diets. I will share some downsides to white flour later. Of course, that is a whole lot easier said than done. I started to buy whole wheat flour from the store, but the results were heavy, dry, and gritty. When we moved to Raleigh, I met somebody from work who milled wheat for her family. I had never heard of that before and to be quite honest, thought it was a bit overboard. However, despite my feelings, I started to research. She shared a CD with me from Bread Beckers. The website is www.breadbeckers.com. You can get a CD from that website as well as a host of other information. I want to share what I learned and how it influenced my decision to start milling wheat for anything that requires flour. I will try to be as concise as possible.

The neat thing about grain is that it is storable. You can see the example from the life of Joseph in Genesis 41:35. It is a live food, and it sustains life. Other food is storable, but it's dead already. Grains and beans are the only foods from a plant that we eat that is not only the seed, but also the fruit. I'll address the health benefits of beans in another entry.

Grain consists of 3 parts: 1) bran-hard outer shell, 2) germ-life of the plant, which is inside, 3) endosperm-white part of flour. Once the hard outer shell is opened/milled the grain will lose 45% of it's nutrition in just 24 hours, and 90% within 72 hours.

Before the early 1900's, people took their wheat to a miller and went home and used it immediately. It would spoil if not used quickly. (Think about the children of Israel and the manna God provided). In the 20's and 30's the bran and germ were sifted away. All that was left was the flour. It wouldn't spoil, could be mass produced, and shipped all over the country. The bran and germ were then sold as cattled feed. Now, that sounds like a good idea, right? Two serious health problems began to show up in the population: beriberi-a vitamin B1 deficiency that causes nervous disorders, and pellagra-a GI disturbance. These two issues were traced back to white flour. So, they began to "enrich" or "fortify" the flour. Thirty-five to forty vitamins/minerals were removed when the germ and bran were sifted away, and only 4 were put back in. This "took care" of beriberi and pellagra. They would not stop the sifting of the flour because they had found a market for it and were making money.

They also started to bleach flour with a chlorine derivative. Chlorine contributes to ADHD symptoms, and it's also a poison. A miller was once asked what would happen if the cattle were fed the white flour. His response was that they would die. So why are we eating it?

Wheat is the richest source of vitamin E, but it has to be freshly milled. Vitamin E helps with female regularity, as well as the virus that causes warts. There are also other benefits, but in order to keep this relatively short, I will stop here. The freshly milled flour that we use is not dry, gritty, or heavy. I make all our bread, pancakes, waffles, muffins, etc...My son eats it like it's going out of style, and my husband even likes it as well. He has special requests every once in a while.

Here are a list of diseases and health issues that can be linked with the use of white flour. Now, I am not saying that white flour causes these diseases, but that it does contribute to them. Sue Becker goes into detail as to how they are linked on her CD, and it is amazing! I do have some extras if you want one, or you can get one from their website. Most of these diseases are related to the fiber being removed and nutrients being lost.

1. constipation
2. allergies/congestion
3. taxed immune system
4. appendicitis
5. diverticulitis
6. cancer
7. hiatal hernia
8. heart disease
9 diabetes
10. obesity

Jordan Rubin in The Maker's Diet says, "Most medical doctors totally exclude basic nutrition from their treatment plan." I can personally attest to that with my son, but that is for another time. Our health is directly related to what we put in our mouths. I would rather pay a little more now for proper health and nutrtion than pay more later on medical bills because I didn't take care of myself or my family. In fact, Brandt's new pediatrician was amazed that he had never had an ear infection-not one! He's had the occasional runny nose, but that's about it. I am thankful for the knowledge I have gained and God's provision so that we can implement these changes.

For the next couple of entries, I want to address the issues of refined sugar and artificial sweeteners. Until then....

Proverbs 31:27-She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

The Beginnings

Nutrition is something I have been extremely interested in for about 5 years now. I started my "quest" as a result of severe allergy problems. The more I read, the more I learned, and the more changes our family started to implement. I am by no means an expert in the field of nutrition, but I can read and research. I'm not one to jump on the latest bandwagon or fad diet. I wanted to make lifestyle changes that would stick. We still have a long way to go, but we're getting there. We all feel better and can tell when we've veered away from our usual eating patterns. My son, however, is blessed in that this is all he has ever known. I wanted to start him out on the right foot.

A verse that jumped out at me is I Corinthians 6:19, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" Now, this does not deal directly with food, but there are some implications. First, if you are a Christian, your body does not belong to you. Think about the last time you borrowed something from a friend. Didn't you take extra good care of that object in order to return it in the best possible condition? As a Christian, my body belongs to the God that created the universe, the God that flung the stars into space, the God that gives me every breath and keeps my heart beating. It is even more important to me now to take care of to the very best of my ability what is on loan from God. We ask Him to bless our meal to the nourishment of our bodies, but are we really thinking about what we're asking him to bless? This was the main area where I was convicted. I knew I needed to start making changes that would be more Christ honoring. I want to use this blog to share what I have learned and am continuing to learn, as well as share some healthy recipes or ways to get them. I am by no means saying these changes are for everyone or that this is the only way to eat. All I want to do is share my thoughts and ideas that have benefited our family.

The next post will deal with the first major change that we made--wheat and flour. I wish I could post every day, but with a one year old running around, that is next to impossible. Plus, I do want to make sure I have thoroughly read and researched a topic before I post. I don't want it to be just my opinion. I value your comments and ideas.