Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Gift of Real Food

When I started milling and baking our bread, I was a little concerned that my husband and I would gain some weight. After all, the bread tastes so good that we eat half the loaf when it is still warm.  It has been two months and something strange has happened.  I have lost 4 pounds.  I wasn't trying to lose weight.  I was just trying to eat healthier as I've been replacing some processed food with more natural ones.  I'm not overweight - just at the high end of the healthy range.  My weight does not normally fluctuate.   I think the real food has been so satisfying that I just haven't wanted to eat junky food.  I do think that if I started getting into making a bunch of homemade cakes and cookies with my fresh flour, I would be in trouble.  The cookies I have made are dangerous.  They are so good that I can't stay away from them.  Even with the healthier flour, they still have the sugar.

I want to emphasize that I'm not saying you will lose weight if you use freshly milled flour and make your own baked goods.  My point is that if you are making healthy baked goods and eating them instead of less healthier options, you probably aren't going to gain weight and might even lose some weight.  If you use the flour to make a bunch of cookies, cakes and pies, you're on your own.  I think bread has gotten a bad rap because many breads are nutrient deficient and are considered empty calories.  If your bread is full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, you will feel more satisfied and not want to eat more to feel full.

I still haven't tackled the specifics of the nutritional value of using freshly milled flour - there is so much information on that one that it might take me a while to condense it down into one or two articles.

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