# wheat != whole wheat
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [January 1, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589 "2005-01-01T22:21:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/21 "2005-01-03T01:52:59Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#):
>
> Uh, thank you for answering. Unfortunately, I can’t extract any additional info from your answer. ☹
>
> “ungrained” – does this mean ‘not made from grain’? As in, no wheat, rice, barley, oats, corn, etc? If so, what is left that is IS made from?
Grained = with whole grains
Ungrained = fully processed, no whole grains
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### Author:  [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/22 "2005-01-03T02:04:39Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#):
>
> Uh, thank you for answering. Unfortunately, I can’t extract any additional info from your answer. ☹
>
> “ungrained” – does this mean ‘not made from grain’? As in, no wheat, rice, barley, oats, corn, etc? If so, what is left that is IS made from?
Stop making it more complicated than it is.
Grained = you can see the grains, as in, whole grain
ungrained = processed, you cannot see the grain.
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### Author:  [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/23 "2005-01-03T02:06:54Z")
Sorry, browser screwed up.
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/24 "2005-01-03T21:13:32Z")
Wow. I never knew.
I’ll be looking at my bread closer now.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/25 "2005-01-03T21:32:12Z")
I’ve noticed this too, looking at the list of ingredients for the local “whole wheat” type breads. First ingredient in some of them - enriched white flour. Um, that ain’t whole wheat. And the price isn’t always an indicator, either. I eat plain, cheap, 100% whole wheat bread, with the first ingredient indicated as “whole wheat flour”. A good indicator is if you get little pieces of wheat husk as you’re eating the bread - that means you’re getting the whole grain, husk and all, with all its fibery goodness.
(Here’s where I brag about how Western Canada gets to enjoy the best wheat and flour in the world all the time. 😃 )
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### Author:  [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/26 "2005-01-03T21:37:36Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#):
>
> I have such a hard time convincing my wife that Amy’s Organic products that use “Organic Wheat Flour” are not using Whole Wheat Flour, they’re using organic wheat processed into white flour. If it was whole wheat, it would say “Organic Whole Wheat Flour”
I’ve got a similar problem with my husband. He refuses to believe that, even if a bread label claims that a bread is made of “stone ground wheat,” if the words “100% whole wheat flour” are not in the list of ingredients, the bread is not whole wheat and is probably about as healthy as eating white bread made from refined flour. I’m glad we don’t happen to eat a whole lot of sandwich-style bread.
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### Author:  [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/27 "2005-01-03T21:41:41Z")
Want even more fun? Go buy [tortillas](http://www.missionfoods.com/products/) some time. You typically have them labelled “corn”, “flour”, and “wheat” (although in the link provided they do actually say “whole wheat”). Aren’t all three are made of _some_ sort of flour? And, of course, both “flour” and “wheat” are made from “wheat flour” …
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### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/28 "2005-01-03T21:42:37Z")
But if the baker bread maker has the package MARKED “100% Whole Wheat” then it is right? They have to have truth in advertizing on the package dont’ they?
I usually stick to oroweat brand, I like their 12 grain, oat bran, and “Health Nut” breads. How does one go about finding a true 100% whole wehat if your favorite bread maker is lying? They’d BETTER not be lying…grrrr
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### Author:  [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/29 "2005-01-03T21:53:55Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#):
>
> But if the baker bread maker has the package MARKED “100% Whole Wheat” then it is right?
Yes. Bread labeled “100% whole wheat” or “100% whole grain” is just that. But if it doesn’t say “100% whole”, _caveat emptor_.
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### Author:  [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/30 "2005-01-03T23:52:35Z")
This is a great thread - since this summer I’ve made a huge effort to eat better. Tea instead of coffee, brown rice instead of white rice, more fruits, more vegetables etc. I always thought I was doing a good thing by buying wheat bread, I had no idea that “wheat” bread and “whole wheat” bread were two different things. Sure enough, I checked the kitchen and the bread in the bread box is made with “unbleached enriched wheat flour.”
The Straight Dope strikes another blow against ignorance!
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### Author:  [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/31 "2005-01-04T03:49:13Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#):
>
> I usually stick to oroweat brand, I like their 12 grain, oat bran, and “Health Nut” breads. How does one go about finding a true 100% whole wehat if your favorite bread maker is lying? They’d BETTER not be lying…grrrr
I like those too. Here in the midwest Orowheat is sold as Brownberry. Health Nut is my favorite, but I also like Oat Nut. You should know, though, none of those you listed are made from whole wheat. The only one they carry that is whole wheat is the 100% Whole Wheat. All the others are not. I checked. But they’re still yummy.
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### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/32 "2005-01-04T09:41:36Z")
> [@Cinnamon Girl](#):
>
> I like those too. Here in the midwest Orowheat is sold as Brownberry. Health Nut is my favorite, but I also like Oat Nut. You should know, though, none of those you listed are made from whole wheat. The only one they carry that is whole wheat is the 100% Whole Wheat. All the others are not. I checked. But they’re still yummy.
I don’t mind, “Health Nut” has all those little wheatberries and nuts and stuff, still lots of roughage and goodies 😃
I knew those weren’t whole wheat, but I was kinda freaking out when I saw the pit thread title, in a “Why I oughtta…they’d better NOT be lying about the 100% part” kind of way.
I’m relieved that they’re not. I’m sure that the bran breads and the health nut types still have plenty of good stuff and fiber, which is one of the main problems with white bread. That and it is just yucky tasting, the texture is just vile. Who wants some spongy mass sticking to the roof of their mouth and their teeth…URK!!!
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### Author:  [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/33 "2005-01-04T11:27:09Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#):
>
> Who wants some spongy mass sticking to the roof of their mouth and their teeth…URK!!!
wheat != whole wheat, but white bread = Elmer’s glue
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/34 "2005-01-04T11:45:45Z")
> [@Chanteuse](#):
>
> I know what you mean. When I order a sub, they always ask me, “White or wheat?” This gets on my nerves. Because they are BOTH wheat! Wheat is NOT the opposite of white, you idiots! It is the alternative to corn, oat, rye, or potato! I do not say this aloud, however. I just say “white” (as you noted, there is little difference between the two anyway) and go my merry way.
>
> But it still gets on my nerves!
I am just getting into bread making. I make really satisfactory pizza dough.
But I would love a whole grain wheat bread recipe. Care to share? 😃
In other news, when I perfect my bread recipe and want to market it to the health conscious Americans out there ( all three of them) I shall call it **Colon Blow**
Educating myself on bread was, to say the least, an eye opener.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/35 "2005-01-04T11:47:38Z")
Also, what blows my mind ( speaking of Blow) is that White Bread, which has little nutritional value and rips when you butter it, is the cheapest but more labor intensive to make with the bleaching of flour.
Why do they bleach flour anyways? Is it a leftover from the industry and someone found a use for it to see if it would sell as White Bread and it did? Or What?
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### Author:  [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/36 "2005-01-04T11:49:32Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#):
>
> when I perfect my bread recipe and want to market it to the health conscious Americans out there ( all three of them) I shall call it **Colon Blow**.
The real [Colon Blow](http://www.colonblow.com/) might have something to say about that.
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### Author:  [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/37 "2005-01-04T11:51:18Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#):
>
> Why do they bleach flour anyways?
See **WhyNot** ’s post #17 above. Keeps it from spoiling. (What’s left to spoil?)
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/38 "2005-01-04T12:16:33Z")
> [@Glory](#):
>
> Tea instead of coffee
Which kinds of tea are supposedly better than which kinds of coffee and why?
**Shirley Ujest** : Labor-intensive, yes, but the labor is effectively amortized over great masses of automated factories and minimally-paid workers in the vast hives of American Industry.
If complexity, both manufacturing complexity and end-product complexity, was the sole arbiter of product price, every single microchip would be orders of magnitude more expensive than the largest mansion, and the price would more than double with every new generation. The fact we can put microchips of relatively recent design in disposable devices is a testament to how effective the Industrial Age practice of mass production is at lowering everyone’s net cost by spreading it around over so many people.
Anyway, my favorite kinds of bread are potato bread (pure starch, almost cakelike), a thick cornbread (not too sweet), and fresh kaiser rolls (with a crust so hard it almost hurts to bite into them, and plenty of room inside for cold cuts or jam).
While I dislike Wonder Bread simply on the grounds of taste and texture, I’m not one of the looneys who thinks it takes up residence in your midgut and firmly resists all attempts at digestion. (In point of fact, quite the opposite is the real problem: It’s _too easily_ digested, turning to something not much better than sugar and filling the blood with glucose. Given that I have a family history of diabetes, I understand the risks of that.)
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### Author:  [@Graycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graycat)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/39 "2005-01-04T13:27:33Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#):
>
> I am just getting into bread making. I make really satisfactory pizza dough.
>
> But I would love a whole grain wheat bread recipe. Care to share? 😃
The best recipes for whole-grain breads I’ve found are in [The Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0812969677/qid=1104845346/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-3202977-4719127). She has a great chapter that takes you step by step through the process of baking with whole grains. A very clear tutorial.
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### Author:  [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheat-whole-wheat/282589/40 "2005-01-04T15:57:39Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Which kinds of tea are supposedly better than which kinds of coffee and why?
From [Super Foods: 14 Foods That Will Change Your Life](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060535679/qid=1104854117/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-4228096-0339837?v=glance&s=books&n=507846):
According to the author, tea “lowers blood pressure, helps prevent cancer and osteoporosis, lowers your risk for stroke, promotes heart health, plays a probable role in preventing sunlight damage to the skin, is antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticavity, anti-allergy and prevents cataracts.”
Tea contains more than 4000 chemical components including the phytonutrient polyphenols called “flavonoids” - the same type that is found in red wine and berries. There are about 268 milligrams of flavonoids in a cup of brewed black tea and about 316 flavonoids in a cup of brewed green tea.
There’s a whole chapter on tea, but other quotes:
“Laboratory studies have consistently showed that tea can inhibit the formation and growth of tumors”
“Drinking tea lowers your risk of developing cavities and well as gum disease. One study found that tea may reduce cavity formation up to 75%…since tea seems to inhibit bacteria from adhering to tooth surfaces”
The author quotes several other studies that are interesting but inconclusive. All I know is that I did a major diet overhaul in July and I haven’t been sick a day since I made the switch.
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