At Great Harvest, when we mill our flour, we grind and use the entire wheat kernel, throwing nothing away, providing you with the maximum whole grain benefit, including lots of high-fiber, protein, antioxidant nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and essential oils—all in one delicious slice!
Diets rich in "whole grain" foods and other plant foods low in total fat,
saturated fat, and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease and
certain cancers.
Let's take a look at our basic building block, the kernel of wheat. This natural miracle is a storehouse of nutrients that people have needed and used for thousands of years - the "staff of life". Each kernel (it takes about a million to fill a bushel basket) has 3 parts:
1) The BRAN is the fiber-rich outer layer, contains protein and B-complex vitamins.
2) The GERM is the nutrient-rich embryo that will sprout and grow into a new wheat
plant. The germ packs abundant
E & B-complex vitamins and trace minerals.
3) The ENDOSPERM is the largest part (83%), the "insides" of the kernel. This is where starch is stored. It contains carbs, protein, iron and B-complex vitamins.
Did you know.....in the grain-refining process used by many commercial bakers (not Great Harvest!), most of the bran and some of the germ are removed, resulting in the loss of dietary fiber, beneficial nutrients, antioxidants, and disease-fighting properties.
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If any of the 3 parts are removed during processing then it's NOT "whole
grain".
"WHITE FLOUR"
is made from the
endosperm only
= not a whole grain
"WHEAT FLOUR"
often has
bran & germ removed
= not a whole grain
"WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR" or "WHOLE
GRAIN":
"Whole wheat" uses all 3 parts of the wheat berry and therefore is a whole grain.
Look for the word "whole" on ingredient labels.
Read the labels....
Current food labeling makes it difficult to find whole grain. Many consumers are fooled by color and by the sometimes misleading list of ingredients. All "brown" bread isn't whole wheat or whole grain. "Wheat flour", "enriched flour", and "enriched wheat flour" are NOT whole grains. Regardless of what they call a bread - "whole wheat", "multigrain", "12 grain", etc., it isn't even 51 percent whole grain unless the first ingredient listed on the label is "WHOLE GRAIN" (or "whole wheat").