In my kitchen, the number one rule is: stay away from white foods. Rice, bread, pasta, tortillas - they're all subject to my dictatorial stance on refined carbohydrates. If it's not brown, we're probably not eating it. But what about white bread that's actually brown?

To appease the palates of the majority of Americans, many companies are manufacturing products made from white wheat flour - which, naturally, comes from the white wheat grain. This multitasking grain can be milled into flour that has the flavor and texture of traditional white flour with all the health benefits of the wheat-ier variety.

Traditional white flour - you may know it as "all-purpose" - is made by milling red wheat [1] to remove the bran and germ. This process removes most of the nutrients and leaves it with no fiber. Hence my aversion to white food. In wheat flour, the bran and germ stay put, which gives it five grams of fiber per quarter-cup serving, as well as a darker color, grainy texture, and a mildly bitter taste that comes from the tannic acid in the bran.

White wheat is a combination of the two. It contains less tannic acid [2] so it can be milled with the bran and germ - making it as healthy as traditional wheat flour - while maintaining a texture, taste and appearance that's close to white flour.

I will continue to hope for a national palate that is not averse to the flavor and texture of whole grains, but until then, if white wheat makes the nutrients easier to swallow, I support its cause.

[via CNN [3]]

image: upenn.edu