| Open up your bread box and read the ingredients of | | | | …You are not your own; you were bought at a price. |
| your favorite bread. Chances are the first ingredient is | | | | Therefore honor God with your body. |
| going to be enriched wheat flour. | | | | Foods that commonly contain enriched flour |
| What does "enriched" mean? | | | | ▪ Bread |
| Enriched flour is flour in which most of the natural | | | | ▪ Pasta |
| vitamins and minerals have been extracted. This is | | | | ▪ Chicken nuggets (breaded) |
| done in order to give bread a finer texture, increase | | | | ▪ Pizza |
| shelf life and prevent bugs from eating it (bugs will die | | | | ▪ Pie crust |
| if they attempt to live off it). | | | | ▪ Crackers |
| Why is enriched flour bad? | | | | ▪ Cake |
| When the bran and the germ (the parts of the wheat | | | | ▪ Cookies |
| that contain vitamins and minerals) are removed, your | | | | ▪ Brownies |
| body absorbs wheat differently. Instead of being a | | | | ▪ Pretzels |
| slow, steady process through which you get steady | | | | ▪ Donuts |
| bursts of energy, your body breaks down enriched | | | | The Wonder Of Chinese Green Tea In Today's |
| flour too quickly, flooding the blood stream with too | | | | Society |
| much sugar at once. | | | | Have you tasted Chinese green tea? As you all know, |
| Your body then has to work hard to absorb the | | | | green tea is the most popular types of Chinese tea. |
| excess and stores it as fat. This causes quick highs | | | | Many people, not only Chinese, consider it as the best |
| and lows in your blood-sugar level which can lead to | | | | drink for sultry summers. The main reason for this |
| type-two diabetes and obesity. All this and you're not | | | | claim is the fact that green tea is cool and fights off |
| even getting close to the amount of nutrients that | | | | inflammation. Many have even claimed that it relieves |
| whole grains contain. | | | | fever. |
| Whole grains | | | | Actually, the health benefits of Chinese green tea have |
| Whole grains are richer in dietary fiber, antioxidants, | | | | been known throughout the world. The Chinese have |
| protein (and in particular the amino acid lysine), dietary | | | | known about these medicinal benefits since ancient |
| minerals (including magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, | | | | times, as they have been using green tea to treat |
| and selenium), and vitamins (including niacin, vitamin B6, | | | | everything from headaches to depression. A writer |
| and vitamin E). | | | | named Nadine Taylor in her book Green Tea: The |
| Health benefits | | | | Natural Secret for a Healthier Life mentioned that |
| By eating whole grains you reduce the risk of some | | | | green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at |
| forms of cancer, digestive system diseases, coronary | | | | least 4,000 years. |
| heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. | | | | These days, numerous scientific researches |
| Don't be fooled | | | | conducted both in Asia and the West is providing hard |
| There are many products that seem healthy on the | | | | evidences for the health benefits long associated with |
| front but in reality they are not. If the bread you are | | | | drinking green tea. To mention, the Journal of the |
| buying says "soft wheat" or "multi-grain" make sure | | | | National Cancer Institute published the results of an |
| you still read the ingredients. Most of these breads are | | | | epidemiological study in 1994, indicating that drinking |
| primarily made with enriched flour. Even if the word | | | | Chinese green tea lowers the risk of esophageal |
| "enriched" is not there, if it does not say "whole" then | | | | cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly 60 |
| it's the same junk. Don't get fooled by color either. | | | | percent. Also, it was reported by the researches of |
| Even if it's brown, unbleached wheat flour is still missing | | | | the University of Purdue just recently that a compound |
| the bran and the germ that contain essential nutrients | | | | in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. |
| as well as the fiber that aids digestion. | | | | There are other medical conditions to which drinking |
| Look for products that say 100% whole wheat. Trader | | | | green tea is reputed to be beneficial. To sum up, |
| Joes carries spaghetti that is 100% whole wheat and | | | | these conditions include cancer, cardiovascular disease, |
| tastes great. Even my father-in-law, Mr. Anti-health, | | | | infection, rheumatoid arthritis, impaired immune function, |
| likes it. | | | | and even high cholesterol levels. |
| 1 Corinthians 6: 19, 20 | | | | |