Wheat...Apparently A Complicated Issue

Who knew wheat could be so complicated, but it seems to be. I'm sure many of you have been online and seen different health stories. Sometimes it says "10 Foods You Should Never Eat", "7 Foods You Should Never Eat", These Foods Cause Cancer", yada, yada, yada. I've read quite a few of those articles and while I'm sure there is a lot of validity to some of the stories, some probably should be taken with a grain of salt. (Oh that's right, salt is bad for you too).

And yes,  I realized that you have to take the information in, research some of the data that is given out and make up your own mind. Needless to say I find at lot of the information is something to keep in mind when you are eating and buying your food.

But let's take wheat. I read one article that says ALL white food is bad. It's refined, overly processed, stripped of nutrients, causes blood sugar to spike and should not be eaten. These include white potatoes, white bread, white rice......well, you get the picture.

Then there was another article I read that NO wheat products should be eaten, doesn't matter if it's white, rye, whole wheat, 7 grain, organic, etc., etc., etc. They claim that the wheat today is not the same wheat that our grandparents ate. They say that the wheat of today, no matter what kind, has been modified, manipulated and changed in such a way that there is really no nutritional value and could possibly be bad for you. Now, I don't doubt, unfortunately, that the wheat of today isn't the same as it was 50-60 years ago.  Seems scientists and the big food corporations can't leave our food alone. But I love me some carbs.

This is a piece of information that I intend to process and keep in mind, but it will no keep me from eating carbs....white, wheat, rye or whatever.

That's not to say that I crave carbs, but I do like bread, and pasta and rice and all other carb related items. Do I eat them everyday, no. Do I eat only "white" carbs, no. I switch it up, sometimes white rice, sometimes brown, the same with bread. I  must say though that with pasta, I really don't like the texture of whole wheat pasta, so usually I only eat white pasta.

What does all this mean? Well, for me anyway, it all comes down to "all things in moderation". Really that's all that any of us can do.






































So, in honor of that news, I made homemade bread today! This was a recipe that was shared on Facebook. It really was pretty easy. Just mix all the ingredients together and put in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it set for 12-18 hrs. (overnight). The bake it in an iron dutch oven. And even if I say so myself, it was very tasty!

The way I see it, since I like to do a lot of scratch cooking, I don't have a lot of choice in not using flour (wheat). But in my heart I believe that even if the wheat has little or no nutritional value, eating foods and baked goods that I've made from scratch is still better for me than buying the overly processed items, with questionable ingredients, from the grocery.

Bake on I say........


Kathy