With my last post in mind, I’ve decided to start a new blog feature I’ve titled, “If you do one thing today…” Each post will feature one thing you can do – one baby step, if you will – that you can do to make your life greener, healthier, and more thoughtful about how your action’s affect other people in the world.
So here we go – it won’t be hard.
Today – start eating whole grain bread instead of white.
Whole grains are more nutritious. They retain the whole grain kernel in the mix. The most nutritious parts – the bran and the germ – are left in the wheat.
What we commonly use for flour in the US is a refined version – the bran and the germ are taken out, leaving only the endosperm. Then the flour may even be bleached, removing even more nutrients!
Then the refiner adds back in some of those vitamins, making an “enriched” wheat (notice that it’s only “enriched” by replacing what was taken out.) The refiner cannot add back in everything, including fiber.
Not only is it better for your nutrition to eat whole grains, but it’s better for the environment. The more anything is processed, the more chemicals and energy are used – to run machines, to make the nutrient mixtures that are added back into the product, the shipment of those items, etc.
I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it at that. For a list of whole grains and refined grains, check here.
Wee Essentials 