Wheat germ Certain types of food can be nutritious “overall”, meaning that when they are consumed in their full form, both the normal parts and the beneficial parts are consumed, so the food is “healthy” Wheat is one of those examples, and wheat germ is the healthy part which contains the vast majority of nutrients. A wheat kernel consists of the outside shell (wheat bran), the starchy endosperm (used to mill flour), and the wheat germ (the reproductive element). The wheat germ is the part of each kernel that helps in reproducing the plant, so naturally, it contains the many nutrients needed to grow and develop into a healthy, new organism. For years, wheat kernels were used mainly to mill flour, in which case the bran and germ parts were causally thrown away, and white flour was produced, with little or no nutritional value of any kind, and in fact, once synthetic vitamins and bleaches are added to that flour, it can actually do more harm than good. When wheat germ is extracted from the kernel and isolated into natural oils, or when the grain is eaten in its’ entirety, the nutritional benefits of the germ can be passed into a person’s system. It is often turned into cooking or baking oil for highly concentrated doses of wheat germ on salads or in pasta sauces, but it should not be used as frying oil, because much of the nutrients are lost when heated to that level. Wheat germ can act as an additive in desserts or smoothies, or even as a replacement for breadcrumbs or flour in many recipes, conferring a wealth of nutritional benefits on those that choose to add it to their diet. In health conscious times like we live in, nearly every store will sell raw wheat germ in or around the cereal aisle, so get creative, and get cooking.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 18:39:42 +0000
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