Wheat: What to Avoid and What to Embrace
Avoid Refined Wheat
Refined wheat has had its most nutritious components removed—specifically the bran, germ, and parts of the endosperm. This refining process strips the grain of vital nutrients:
- Bran: Contains fiber, essential fatty acids, protein, B vitamins, vitamin E, and minerals.
- Germ: Rich in essential fatty acids, B vitamins, vitamin E, folic acid, zinc, and magnesium.
Once removed, these nutrients are lost—no matter how much a product is “enriched” later.
Eat Sprouted Whole Wheat
Dr. Royal Lee emphasized that the oil in wheat is both beneficial and extremely delicate. Once ground, wheat flour becomes perishable—“as perishable as milk,” he said. Because of this rapid rancidification, most commercial “whole wheat” breads—made from flour ground days, weeks, or even months prior—offer little nutritional value. For truly nourishing bread, Dr. Lee advised milling wheat at home and baking it within hours.
“Truly nutritious bread can only be made with flour that is within hours of being ground.” – Dr. Royal Lee, Let’s Live Magazine, 1958
The Bleaching of Flour
In 1906, the U.S. Congress passed the Pure Food and Drugs Act in response to growing concerns over food additives, including nitrous oxide, a bleach used to whiten wheat flour. Researchers at the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station reported that bleaching flour:
- Destroyed vital nutrients
- Created toxic nitrous by-products
- Allowed low-grade flour to mimic the appearance of high-grade flour
Despite a 1914 Supreme Court ruling condemning flour bleaching as illegal under the Pure Food Act, the USDA never enforced the decision. Thus began the systematic degradation of one of America’s dietary staples.
The Nutrient Loss of Refined Flour
The invention of the steel roller mill in the late 1800s introduced “70% extraction flour”—the refined flour we know today. The discarded 30% (primarily the bran and germ) contains nearly all of wheat’s natural vitamins, minerals, and oils.
In places like Great Britain, where bread was once a dietary cornerstone, this posed a significant public health issue. While “chemical nutritionists” proposed adding synthetic nutrients to make up for the loss, others, like Dr. Hugh Sinclair, argued for higher extraction rates to retain the natural germ and its unknown nutritional factors.
“There have been very many tests… and it is acknowledged that rats grow better on flour of high extraction than on [chemically] fortified white flour.” – Dr. Hugh Sinclair, Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 1957
Conclusion
The movement toward refined, bleached, and fortified flour has left modern wheat-based products stripped of their original health value. If wheat is to be a part of your diet, choose sprouted, freshly ground whole wheat—or avoid it entirely.
Mark Colafranceschi, D.C. • Licensed Chiropractic Physician – Arizona License #009154 • Scottsdale, Arizona