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r Flour
See also Bread, Corn, Oats, Pasta, Potatoes, Rice, Soybeans,
Wheat cereals.Nutritional Profile
Energy value (calories per serving): High
Protein: Moderate
Fat: Low
Saturated fat: Low
Cholesterol: None
Carbohydrates: High
Fiber: Low to high
Sodium: Low (except self-rising flour)
Major vitamin contribution: B vitamins
Major mineral contribution: IronAbout the Nutrients in This Food
Flour is the primary source of the carbohydrates (starch and fiber) in bread,
pasta, and baked goods. All wheat and rye flours also provide some of
the food fibers, including pectins, gums, and cellulose. Flour also contains
significant amounts of protein but, like other plant foods, its proteins are
“incomplete” because they are deficient in the essential amino acid lysine.
The fat in the wheat germ is primarily polyunsaturated; flour contains no
cholesterol. Flour is a good source of iron and the B vitamins. Iodine and
iodophors used to clean the equipment in grain-processing plants may add
iodine to the flour.
In 1998, the Food and Drug Administration ordered food manufac-
turers to add folates—which protect against birth defects of the spinal
cord and against heart disease—to flour, rice, and other grain products.
One year later, data from the Framingham Heart Study, which has fol-
lowed heart health among residents of a Boston suburb for nearly half a
century, showed a dramatic increase in blood levels of folic acid. Before the
fortification of foods, 22 percent of the study participants had a folic acid
deficiency; after, the number fell to 2 percent.
Whole grain flour, like other grain products, contains phytic acid,
an antinutrient that binds calcium, iron, and zinc ions into insoluble com-
pounds your body cannot absorb. This has no practical effect so long as
your diet includes foods that provide these minerals.