After two years on a low-carb diet, I often craved a lot of fruit. Yet, sometimes I would still feel tired. So I looked into sources of healthy carbs. When even that was not enough for my body, I learned about flour. It is a type of processed food and therefore not that healthy. But there are healthier versions and ways to include it in a healthy diet.
Flour is processed food
When food is processed, the molecules in it are changed in some way. Often, processing also includes taking out or adding parts. In the case of flour, the long-chained glucose molecules in natural grains are chopped to short bits.
These short bits are taken up by our bodies much faster than our metabolisms can handle. The shorter molecules are also packed more tightly. As a result bread, for example, contains much more carbs than the same amount of broccoli. So we end up eating far more carbohydrates every day than our bodies need.
In whole grains, the carbs are also wrapped up in two types of fibre, which form a net inside our gut and slow down the absorption. But in flour the fibre is either missing, has been chopped up or replaced with just one type of fibre which is useless without the other kind.
Types
While no flour is healthy in large amounts, eating healthier versions sometimes can help you feel better. If like me, you decide to add some of it back to your diet, you might want to know how to find these healthier versions.
Luckily, there’s an easy way. Flours have type numbers on the packaging. The type tells you how much of the grain was used. The higher the number, the better.
As the image above shows, flour type 405 only uses up to 72% of the grain, and only the central part, while type 1050 uses most of the grain. The healthiest version contains the two types of fibre from the grain husks, which you only get with wholegrain flour.
Different grains
Then there are different kinds of flours, like spelt and rye flours, which are also healthier for our bodies than wheat. These also come in types.
The rules are always the same: The higher the type, the healthier the flour and wholegrain is the healthiest because it includes the grain husk.
You may be wondering if you can just use flours with higher numbers for any recipe. The answer is yes, but the result isn’t great. The lower the number, the finer the flour. If you try to make pizza dough with wholegrain you probably won’t like the result. Also, the higher the type number, the more liquid you need to add to make a recipe work.
Mix and match
So how do you use your healthier flour? My personal solution is to mix different kinds and decide how much of which type I use depending on what I cook or bake. For example, if I bake a cake, half of the flour might be spelt flour type 650 and the other half almond flour. For breads I will always add wholegrain.
I enjoy rye flour, especially wholegrain, mixed with almond flour and even add it to some baked goods. But I do not use it in pizza dough. After a few tries, you’ll figure out what works best for you and which mix you prefer.
Flour does not have to be the enemy. Especially if you exercise a lot, you might need to add more carbs to your diet. There is only so much broccoli we can eat. If you want to experiment with flour, just remember that the higher the type number, the better and mixing is key.
The Dodo Munches cannot and does not contain medical/health advice. The information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Please read the full disclaimer here.