Wholemeal flours are a panacea for health: that’s why it’s better to prefer them to refined ones
Nutritionists always advise to prefer wholemeal bread to one made with white flour. But what makes whole grain products better for health than refined ones? Why is it better to eat wholemeal pasta or bread? Numerous studies have shown how the use of wholemeal flours, or their partial addition, has a effect on the glycemic index of breadresulting in a less abrupt rise in blood glucose. Wholemeal bread provides similar amounts of calories and protein to white bread, but contains more minerals and fiber. A portion of type 00 bread, which has refined flour as its only ingredient, contains about half the fiber compared to the wholemeal version.
differences between white and wholemeal flour
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Every type of bread – and there are countless varieties in Italy – is mainly made up of three ingredients: flour, water and yeast. In many cases salt is added and the flour can be bran or durum wheat instead of soft wheat. Soft wheat flours, based on the degree of grinding, are classified into type 00, type 0, type 1, type 2 and wholemeal. Bran represents the outermost part of the grain of wheat and is rich in fibre, B vitamins and minerals. The germ consists mainly of lipids, good amounts of vitamin E and other antioxidant compounds that prevent the degradation of the fatty acids present in the germ. The endosperm, i.e. the part that remains of the seed, is mostly represented by starch, a complex carbohydrate, and proteins. Wholemeal flour has a fiber content of about 10 grams, while type 00 only 2.5.
nutritional properties of wholemeal flours
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A diet based mainly on foods source of fiber reduces the risk of developing major chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and also contributes to the maintenance of body weight. Another reason to prefer wholemeal products is that the refining process halves the lipid content present in the flour and decreases both minerals and vitamin E. Some data for comparison: for 100 grams of product, wholemeal flour contains 68.4 gr of carbohydrates against 78 of white flour and 9.6 g of fibers against 2.5 of 00 flour.
How to recognize wholemeal products in the supermarket?
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For an informed purchase it is necessary to stop and read the label: the important thing is that the wording “wholemeal flour from..” is among the first ingredients on the list. While the presence in the list of ingredients of 00 wheat flour followed by bran indicates that the bread was made with a mixture of refined flour and a waste product from the milling process, eliminating the germ with consequent loss of noble compounds. In the list of ingredients, also pay attention to salt, sugars and added fats. The latter are often inserted to obtain greater softness and shelf life of the product. The rule that the shorter the list of ingredients is, the better the quality of the product purchased will always be.
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