Do Something About It At Home

What is in your pantry? Freezer? Refrigerator? Kathy Stevens shares some great information about pitfalls found in the pantry. Today, just focus on removing this one thing from your kitchen. Though it is a carbohydrate, it is a great vehicle for lots of fat. If you replace half of the carbohydrates you eat with veggies, you will consume fewer calories, more fiber, and much less fat!

WHITE FLOUR

White flour is stripped of its most vital nutrients and the products made from white flour such as cereal, baked goods and pasta can cause blood sugar problems that lead to weight gain.  Just by changing from white to whole wheat bread you can lower your risk for heart disease by 20% according to April 2, 2003 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.  When wheat is refined to the point of white flour, the most nutritious parts of the grain are lost: most of the vitamins and minerals, essential fatty acids and the fiber.  This is the joke about refined foods, even though 30 nutrients are removed during the refining process, by law only 5 nutrients must be added back in. Replace any white flour products with whole-wheat flour and enjoy the hearty taste in your own homemade baked goods.  You can also experiment with other flour blends including gluten free flours.    

To get the fiber of one piece of whole wheat bread, you’d have to consume eight pieces of white bread.  So much for the “enriching” process!