Flour enriches our tables, but are its health effects positive or negative?

Flour is an important food, being the main ingredient in many of the world’s favorite foods, such as bread, pasta, and noodles. However, the gluten in flour can have a negative impact on gut health, and refined flour can have a negative impact on health due to its lack of nutrients. It’s important to control your flour intake and maintain a balanced diet.

 

Recently, an entertainment show challenged its contestants to go a week without flour. After just one week, they showed the positive changes that could be seen in their bodies. It sparked a wheat-free craze among the general public. Nowadays, it”s not uncommon to see people around you who are trying to reduce or eliminate flour. With the growing awareness of the negative effects of flour, especially among health-conscious people, gluten-free alternatives have become increasingly popular. More and more people are cutting out wheat, not just for weight loss, but also in an effort to improve symptoms such as digestive disorders and chronic fatigue.
On the other side of the world, however, some people eat wheat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Flour is a staple food resource in many parts of Korea and is an essential ingredient in our daily diets in the form of bread, noodles, and more. In this article, we’re going to talk about flour, a food that has recently gotten a lot of attention as a double-edged sword, and what are its characteristics.
The amount of gluten in flour depends on the type of wheat, when it was sown and harvested, and how it was milled. Gluten is the protein in flour and is an important factor in determining the elasticity and texture of the dough when making bread or noodles. The higher the gluten, the more elastic it will be, and the more string-like gluten networks it will have, which will trap more air and give it a tougher texture after cooking. In the baking process, it’s easy to see that the dough is chewier and rises better when using a flour with a higher gluten content. Conversely, flours with less gluten retain a relatively soft and light texture, which is ideal for fluffy foods like cakes and biscuits.
In addition, the protein in flour called gluten forms a network of elastic fibers when combined with water, making the dough more elastic and tender, which helps breads and noodles to rise well and give them a nice chewy texture. The reason for kneading the dough is to develop a dense network of gluten. When the gluten network is well formed, it traps the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast as it ferments, causing the dough to rise, which in turn improves the texture of the bread or noodle. Based on the amount and nature of gluten, flours are categorized into weak, medium, and hard wheat flours, each of which has different uses.
First of all, all flours are made from wheat, and the type of wheat determines the gluten content and the characteristics of the flour. There are three main types of wheat. First, hard wheat flour has a very high gluten content (12.5 to 13.5%) and is used to make bread, bagels, pizza, noodles, and other foods that require a chewy texture. This flour is mainly obtained from hard wheat, which is sown in spring or fall and harvested in late spring or fall. Next, weak flour has a lower gluten content of 7 to 8 percent, making it ideal for foods that require a softer texture, such as cakes and biscuits. This flour is primarily made from wheat that is sown in the fall and harvested in late summer, and is used in recipes that require a light dough.
Medium wheat flour has a medium gluten content of 9 to 11 percent and is a versatile flour that can be used in a variety of applications. It can also be used to make bread, but don’t expect a chewy texture like hard wheat flour. It doesn’t rise as much and is denser, so it’s often cooked flat. Finally, Durum Wheat is the hardest wheat, and its high protein content makes it harder to work with in dough, but it’s often used to make pasta. It is from this wheat that pasta gets its characteristic elasticity and texture.
However, gluten has a negative connotation. Studies have shown that gluten has a similar structure to the intestinal fungus Candida, which can adversely affect gut health. The fungus can cause itching, immune disorders, dizziness, and more, and flour can feed the fungus and worsen the gut environment. This can lead to a decrease in beneficial lactobacilli and a weakened immune system, leaving you vulnerable to various diseases. Gluten can also acidify the blood, which promotes the loss of calcium and has been implicated as a possible contributing factor to osteoporosis.
Beyond the gluten problem, flour is also stripped of many important nutrients during processing. In particular, white flour is stripped of nutrients during the refining process, which removes the hull and germ from the wheat, leaving little fiber, minerals, or vitamins. This nearly nutrient-free flour is quickly digested and causes a rapid spike in blood sugar, which is a major contributor to high insulin levels and pancreatic strain. Flour products also often contain high amounts of sugar, salt, oil, and other additives to improve texture, which can be even more harmful to your health.
Flour is now a very important part of the human diet. It“s the basic ingredient of many of the world”s favorite foods, such as bread, noodles, pizza, pasta, and more. Nevertheless, if you“re concerned about your health, it”s important to understand the types and amounts of flour that you consume and control them to maintain a balanced diet. Rather than categorically rejecting flour, it”s important to find ways to consume it in moderation and stay healthy.