Greetings!

In today’s class, we shall look further into the policy about ‘enriched’ flour. As we do, consider the superiority of God’s policy compared to the worlds. God’s policy “looks at things from every point of view. But worldly policy has a short range of vision It can see the object nearest at hand, but fails to discover those at a distance. It is ever watching for opportunities to gain advantage. Those who follow a course of worldly policy are building themselves up by pulling out the foundation from another man’s building.” 5T 563

 

Canada and England

Food authorities in the Dominion of Canada did not see fit to join in the artificial enrichment plan, but proceeded to include a larger portion (78%) of the wheat kernel in the flour. This enriched the flour with an extra amount of nature’s own elements which she put in the wheat for good reasons. The flour was branded “Canada Approved.” Since the war the millers and bakers have been allowed to resume their former practices.

In the British Isles the government was determined to retain even more of the life-giving elements nature placed in the wheat, and their process kept 85% of the wheat kernel in the flour. They called it “85% extraction.” Since the war England still requires 83% extraction as the minimum.The attitude in Great Britain, and that of certain leaders in the United States, is revealed by the following:

Prof. A. J. Carlson, Department of Physiology, University of Chicago, during the graduating exercises of the University of Texas Medical School in December, 1942, said: “The germ and the outer coats of the grain hold valuable proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Human dietary safety on this front would seem to be: go back to the first principles, putting the whole grain into the flour of the bread. This can be done. We can learn to like it. If Great Britain…can take an important step in that direction, why can’t we? Fortunately, we still eat oatmeal, a whole grain food, having among other valuable nutrients, proteins of high biologic value.

“I believe we can learn to prevent the oxidative rancidity of whole grain flour…Until we have that problem licked, what is the matter with storing the wheat and milling the flour as we need it? I do not see any essential economic principle in storing the flour in place of the wheat. In my judgment, the recent addition of a little of the vitamins and minerals now milled out of the grain, and singing peans of dietary salvation over this ‘enriched’ flour and bread, is not a sound policy, either for today or tomorrow. Let us go back to first dietary principles on this front. The whole wheat, rye, oat, barley, corn and rice grain are among out most valuable and least expensive protective foods. This is nothing new. We are told in the Book of Genesis: ‘Behold I have given you every herb-to you it shall be for meat.’

“On the whole, we can trust nature further than the chemist and his synthetic vitamins. Recently Prof. J. C. Drummond, the scientific adviser to the British Ministry of Food, voiced his reluctance to put the dietary safety of a nation on synthetic vitamins, as a long range policy. He things we must and should provide the natural vitamins in the natural foods. I stand on that platform, until we know a great deal more than we do today about foods and human nutrition.

Nature Still Makes Wheat

In the United States there still are those, both scientists and laymen, who believe and teach that the Creator, who continues to be responsible for the operation of the laws of nature, which have not changed in thousands of years, is infinitely superior to the human chemist whose work is so imperfect that he has to change his position every few years, or oftener. Such people, while they recognize that certain individuals cannot tolerate whole grains, are continuing to advocate that the rank and file of the people would benefit from the use of the naturally “rich” whole grain flour. The writer of these lines is one of those advocates. The masses may continue to use an inferior food and receive their punishment “after many days,” but it is hoped that the student of these lines will follow the laws fixed by the Creator, and receive His reward.

Bread Made of “Bleached” Flour

While we are discussing bread there is one other matter which should be mentioned. Most of the white flour used has been “bleached” with materials called “improvers.” The reasons do not appear to be in favor of the consumers, but of the bread makers. What kind of policy is this? Worldly.

It is said that the process makes the bread white to meet the demand of the consumers. But there appear to be other reasons, that the flour will take up more water and so make a heavier loaf with less flour, and that the loaves will extend more and make larger, well-rounded loaves without using more flour.

It is more difficult to find white flour in the market which has not been bleached so that the public is practically compelled to use it or go without. We have never heard of whole wheat flour being bleached. Warnings are not and then given from various sources but the practice continues. It seems that the effects of long time use of bleaching agents are not determined before those agents are used. One of them as been found to produce hysteria in dogs and a government order to cease using it went into effect August 7, 1949, after it had been used for 25 years on the unsuspecting public. Other ingredients are not being used which the baking industry fears will sooner or later be forbidden. By God’s grace, let us seek to get unbleached flour.

A Complete Ration

All of the vitamins are necessary to sustain all of the functions of life in the body, and they all are to be found in a balanced ration of natural foods. Some raw fruits and vegetables should be taken every day. You have now been taught how to secure a complete ration. The formula is this:

Protein 10 percent, fat 25 percent, carbohydrate 65 percent, plus all of the minerals placed in natural foods, with an alkaline proportion of 75 percent to 25 percent of acid-forming foods, and the vitamins without any loss.

 

By God’s grace, we have now completed the series on the Mysteries of life (1-14). Is there anything that stood out to you in this series, that the Lord has brought to your attention? Please let us know in the comment section below! Furthermore, join us next week as we start our new series entitled…you’ll just have to come back next week, to find out! Blessings!

*Study adapted from the book, Abundant Health, by Julius G. White