Weight gain from white flour, true or false

[jennifer1907]

I read and hear over and over about how bad white flour is because it produces insulin, or something like that and that makes you ultimately gain weight. Same with pasta or anything that is not "whole grain". Well now everything says whole grain on the packages, especially breakfast cereal. Whats the real deal on white flour. I know the bleaching and brominating process cannot be good for you. I also understand that there is greater nutritional value in, say whole wheat rather than white, but does it add to unwanted belly fat, per say?

 

[kariev]

Not Cathe but I figured I would respond since no one else has yet. For me, its all about calories. If my calories are less then what I burn, I lose weight. But, with that being said, when I eat the "white" stuff, it makes me more hungry due to the lack of fiber and insulin response so I end of eating something else afterwards which means more cals leading to increased bodyfat.

 

[RapidBreath]

Basically, what the other poster said, white flour makes you hungrier.

Multi-grain is not particularly great either. I like to stick to whole foods, if I am having grain its steel cut oatmeal or brown rice. I prefer fruits for my carb sources. They contain a lot of nutrition not just calories.

Alisha

 

[DirtDiva]

The purpose of chemical bleaching is to make the flour whiter (except for pasta flours such as seminola) and to age it faster for better baking purposes (develops the gluten). The alternative is to let the milled flour sit for several months, but that's not feasible in the baking industry. My husband works in that industry and this is info from him.

Enriched flours are processed which removes substantial fiber and that makes it very easy to digest. Carbs equals sugar in the body which creates insulin spikes, and anything really easy to digest like processed foods will do this and depending on your age, sex and body type, the fat will target a certain part of the body (on me its the belly and hips).

For example, if you cook pasta al dente it absorbs less water and is chewier and harder for the body to digest, and has a lower glycemic rating (produces a lower insulin spike). Same with those heartier 100 percent whole wheat breads. Its part of that calories in calories out math at the end of the day. I look at my son who can polish off an extra large pizza and at 6'3" has a body fat percentage 12 percent. I have decided these problems only apply to women .