Nutritional and Health Benefits of Wheat

Wheat is a grass that is widely grown for its seed, a cereal grain that is a staple food worldwide. Wheat is one of the most frequently eaten cereal grains in the world. It comes from a kind of grass (Triticum) which is grown worldwide in countless varieties. Of the thousands of varieties known, the most important are common wheat (Triticum aestivum), used to make bread; durum wheat (T. durum), used in making pasta (alimentary pastes) such as spaghetti and macaroni; and club wheat (T. compactum), a softer type, used for cake, crackers, cookies, pastries, and flours. Additionally, some wheat is used by industry for the production of starch, paste, malt, dextrose, gluten, alcohol, and other products.

Types (Species) of Wheat

There are different species of wheat; the different substrains and varieties within each category make for subtle differences in the food produced. Below are the different recognizable species:

Hard Red Winter Wheat

Hard Red Winter Wheat is one of the most widely grown and used wheat. Hard Red Winter Wheat has a protein content of approximately 10.5 per cent, and is mostly used by commercial mills in all-purpose blends. It is equally popular with those who own grain mills and use flour for hard rolls, Asian-style noodles and pan-baked bread.

Hard Red Spring Wheat

Hard Red Spring Wheat is the second most common wheat grown in the world. This variety is one of the hardest varieties of wheat. It is also known for its high protein content of 13.5 per cent, the highest in all varieties of wheat. Even though it is one of the most difficult grains to grind, it is still used to make croissants, pizza dough and soft breads of consistently high quality compared to other flours. For this reason, many bakers add a small amount of spring wheat to their flour mixtures; this increases protein content and also makes Hard Red Spring wheat a common blending agent.

Soft Red Winter Wheat

Soft Red Winter Wheat is the third in the ranking. This soft wheat is low in protein and is mostly used to produce pasta, bread, pastry or cereal. Since it’s fluffy, it’s not as hard to grind, so it’s a decent option for those who have a smaller grinding cone on a manual grain mill.

Hard White Winter Wheat

Hard White Winter Wheat is the fourth to be considered and is a relatively new wheat variety, although it is becoming more popular. Its protein content is similar to Hard Red Wheat, but as one would have guessed from its name, it is not red and has a more neutral, sweet taste. Many people choose Hard White Winter Wheat because it still has the same rich taste that comes from home-made grinding and provides bread that is much more similar to the white bread they purchase. This wheat is used for much of the same items as Hard Red Winter Wheat: pan breads, Asian-style noodles, and so on.

Soft White Spring Wheat

Soft White Spring Wheat is the fifth wheat included in our list. In common with Soft Red Winter Wheat, it has several characteristics, and bakers prefer to use it for cakes and pastries that require a much sweeter taste and lighter colour.

Durum Wheat

The last variety of wheat is the hardest known to man, and contains the largest amount of protein as well. Durum wheat is used for producing noodles and pastas of the finest consistency. Durum wheat, on the other hand, has low gluten amounts; this means that although it is a perfect alternative for combining with other flours.

Historical Background (Origin) of Wheat

Wheat originally came from the Near East and Ethiopian Highlands of the Levant region, but it spread over time and is now cultivated worldwide.

The first archeological findings of domesticated wheat discovered in what is now southeastern Turkey’s Karacadag mountain region date back some 12,000 years. At the Ohalo II site in the southern Levant, which was 23,000 years old, wild emmer was the first wheat harvested (of the wild type). Domesticated wheat has seeds that are much larger than wild ones, and the seeds are attached to the ear. By 6500 BCE, cultivated wheat came to Greece, Cyprus and India, Egypt shortly after 6000 BCE, Germany and Spain by 5000 BCE, and wheat entered England and Scandinavia by 3000 BCE.

Domestic strains that were more suitable for human consumption were rendered by cultivation and repeated harvesting and sowing of wild wheat farmers’ grains. We have several wheat species today:

A species that is the most commonly grown in the world is common wheat or Bread wheat. Durum is wheat with a very rough, transparent, light-colored grain that is used for pasta to produce semolina flour (coarse, purified wheat middle). The protein is very rich in gluten. Hard White is hard, opaque, light-colored, chalky wheat with a medium protein amount. In dry regions, it is sometimes cultivated and widely used for bread and brewing. Soft White is a soft, light-colored wheat grown in temperate moist areas that is very poor in protein. Used for cake and pie crusts.

Growing and processing wheat did not vary too much from the practices of ancient Egypt until the early 19th century. Farmers hand-harvested wheat with a sickle. The stalks were tied into bundles by hand and waited for threshing. Trashing was carried out to loosen the grain from the stalks by animals who trampled the stalks or farmers beat the stalks. Chaff was isolated from the grain by tossing the chaff out in the breeze that swept it away. That practice was called winnowing.

In 1834, Cyrus McCormick, an American engineer, invented a reaping machine. The same year, a threshing machine was invented. This machines have made the harvest quicker many times. The steam engine of the 1880s and the internal combustion engine of the 1920s replaced the original machinery with horses and cattle and made the harvest quicker and simpler again.

Nutritional Value (Composition) of Wheat

In 100 grams, wheat contains 1,370 kilojoules (327 kilocalories) of food energy and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of several essential nutrients, such as protein, dietary fiber, manganese, phosphorus and niacin (table). Several B vitamins and other nutritional minerals have a substantial content. Wheat is 13 per cent water, 71 per cent carbohydrate and 1.5 per cent fat. The 13 percent protein content is mainly gluten (75-80 percent of the protein in wheat).

Wheat proteins are of poor nutritional consistency according to the modern system of protein quality (DIAAS) advocated by the Food and Agriculture Organization. While they contain ample quantities of other important amino acids, at least in adults, wheat proteins are deficient in the essential amino acid lysine. Since proteins in the wheat endosperm (gluten proteins) are especially low in lysine, white flours are more deficient in lysine than in whole grains. Important strategies have been adopted in plant breeding to grow lysine-rich wheat varieties without success as of 2017. Supplementation of proteins from other food sources (mainly legumes) is widely used to substitute for this deficiency, as the restriction of a single essential amino acid allows the others to break down and to be excreted, which is highly necessary during the growth cycle.

100 g (3.5 oz) of hard red winter wheat contains approximately 12.6 g (0.44 oz) of protein, 1.5 g (0.053 oz) of total fat, 71 g (2.5 oz) of carbohydrate (by difference), 12.2 g (0.43 oz) of dietary fiber, and 3.2 mg (0.00011 oz) of iron (17 percent of daily requirement); the same weight of hard red spring wheat contains approximately 15.4 g (0.54 oz) of protein, 1.9 g (0.067 oz) of total fat, 68 g (2.4 oz) of total fat (20 percent of the daily requirement)

Uses of Wheat

Wheat is used in the production of a variety of foods that are eaten in the average person’s everyday life and is thus readily absorbed into the diet. One of the best ways to get wheat is to have bread in our meals, preferably whole wheat bread.

It can be used to cook tasty sandwiches and sauces. Another way to integrate it into our diets is to get wheat flakes for breakfast. A bunch of delicious fruits may be added to the bowl to add the nutritious value and flavor. Wheat is used for the production of feed for livestock. Wheat is used to produce beer as well.

Health Benefits of Wheat

Wheat is one of the most popular food products in the world. Wheat is a rich source of dietary fibre, magnesium and manganese. The following are some of the most acknowledged health benefits of wheat.

• Prevents Obesity
• Enhances Body Metabolism
• Prevents Type 2 Diabetes
• Inhibits Chronic Inflammation
• Prevents Gallstones
• Prevents Breast Cancer
• Promotes Gastrointestinal Health
• Prevents Childhood Asthma
• Prevents Coronary Diseases
• Relieve Postmenopausal Symptoms
• Combats Heart Attacks

Prevents Obesity

While wheat is known to control obesity, this advantage is much more active in women than in men. Eating whole wheat products on a daily basis will potentially benefit people with obesity and can lead to substantial weight loss.

Enhances Body Metabolism

If the metabolism of the body does not operate at an optimum level, it may contribute to a number of metabolic syndromes. Four of the more popular are elevated triglycerides, visceral obesity (which leads to a pear-shaped body), high blood pressure, and low levels of HDL cholesterol. These can place patients at risk for cardiovascular disease.

That’s why most doctors prescribe that whole wheat grains be part of the diet. They boost overall digestion, which eventually leads to improved metabolism, stopping these complications from occurring in the first place.

Prevents Type 2 Diabetes

Although type two diabetes is a lifelong condition which can be very dangerous if not carefully managed, it is also a disorder that can be reversed if one pays more attention to one’s diet. Magnesium is one of the nutrients present in wheat in abundance.

This mineral is a co-factor for more than 300 enzymes that specifically influence the way the body processes insulin and secretes glucose. As a result, eating whole wheat on a daily basis helps regulate the sugar in your blood. By merely substituting wheat for rice in the everyday diet, diabetics can effectively regulate their sugar levels by a good margin.

Inhibits Chronic Inflammation

Chronic inflammation refers generally to any inflammation that has lasted for a few months. It may be triggered by a variety of factors, such as a response to a negative stimuli or an issue within the immune system. While it does not seem like a really serious concern, if left untreated, it may lead to some forms of cancer, including rheumatoid arthritis.

Luckily, chronic inflammation is something that can be managed by wheat. Wheat produces betaine, which not only decreases inflammation but also assists with other disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive impairment, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis.

Prevents Gallstones

Whole wheat helps to prevent gallstones in women. Gallstones are created by the excessive secretion of bile acids. Owing to the fact that wheat has insoluble fiber in it, it allows easier digestion, needing less bile acid secretion, thereby mitigating gallstones.

Prevents Breast Cancer

Wheat bran is an anti-carcinogenic agent in women, which means that it counteracts carcinogenic effects and eliminates some forms of cancer. As the levels of estrogen rise to exceed an unhealthy amount, it contributes to breast cancer. Wheat Bran optimizes the levels of estrogen so that they remain regulated at all stages to deter breast cancer.

This is particularly successful in premenopausal women, who are typically more at risk for developing this form of cancer. In addition, wheat also produces lignans. Lignans are the reservoirs of hormones in the body, and also helps to maintain an elevated circulating estrogen level under control, and helps reduce breast cancer.

Promotes Gastrointestinal Health

Wheat is high in fiber and helps digestion better. This ensures that the body needs less acid bile secretion to break down the food and carry it on. As a consequence, the excretion of bile acid and enzymes in the feces is lower. This will prevent colon cancer from occurring and promotes improved gastrointestinal health in general, particularly in women.

Prevents Childhood Asthma

Consuming a wheat-based diet decreases the risk of childhood asthma by at least 50%. It’s because the wheat is high in magnesium and vitamin E. However, in many asthma cases, wheat is still a food they have been asked to eliminate, so this is something that can be used in the diet only after consultation with the doctor. It’s the only way to keep the disease from getting worse.

Prevents Coronary Diseases

Plant lignans is a phytonutrient that is very common in whole wheat. As eaten, the receptive flora in the body is converted into mammalian lignans in the intestines. One of the lignans present in wheat is known as enterolactone, which protects the body from hormone-dependent cancers such as breast cancer.

They also inhibit multiple forms of heart failure. Wheat also raises healthy cholesterol (HDL) in the body, and also plays a major part in the prevention of heart disease. Another feature of wheat that can reduce the risk of heart disease is that it combat obesity.

Relieve Postmenopausal Symptoms

Indulging in a diet that has whole wheat content is perfect for women who have just been through menopause since they are at risk for a variety of diseases. It deals with elevated blood pressure, coronary disease, and high cholesterol by slowing down the process of atherosclerosis, which corresponds to plaque formation in the blood vessels and arteries, and by decreasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes in women.

Combats Heart Attacks

Whole grain diets such as wheat and foods high with dietary fibre have been found to lower blood pressure in patients, which decreases the risk of heart disease. Of course, in order to be fully successful, a balanced diet must be supplemented by all the recommended exercises.

Allergies and Side-Effects Associated with Wheat

People that are prone to allergic reactions are warned to avoid wheat because it will make the reactions worse. This can escalate to eczema, scratching, hives, and rash. Wheat is rich in oxalates, too. Research data indicates that so much oxalates in the blood can lead to a variety of complications, such as kidney stones, gallstones, and gout.