Have you wondered what all the hype is about raw foods? Let's take a look at whole vs. refined foods.
The food on America's dinner table has, for the most part, undergone extensive processing, thus removing from the original food much of its nutritional content. In a few cases, an attempt is made to replace the vitamins and minerals lost through processing. The so-called "fortified" or "enriched" product is still very inferior to the whole product that nature provided. Beyond this, even more of the food's inherent nutritional health-promoting qualities, particularly enzymes, are lost in cooking.
As an example of the "wholeness" that is lost in processing, take a look at the steps involved in preparing common white rice: Removal of the hull, removal of the bran layer and embryo, and then bleaching--cleaning-milling--"pearling" (polishing with talc), plus oiling and coating.
 |
| Rice Ready to be Harvested |
To repeat, even though food manufacturers sometimes try to make up for the losses by "enriching" or "fortifying," their efforts fall far short of the balance and goodness found in the natural whole grains.
The case with wheat is that forty plus nutrients are added back. Those that are added have gone through their own isolating and synthesizing process.
All that processing is not natural or healthy for the human body. so, the bottom line--eat grains as close to their original form as possible. The more steps the grain goes through from the field to your table, the worse it is for you.
In a future post, I'll share with you some easy and delicious ways to make whole grains a part of your diet.
I'd love to hear how you are implementing this into your own life! Share your ideas in the comments below.
For more information on health and healing, visit our website at http://www.abundantlivinginfo.com/ or http://www.alinfo.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment