Refined (from thefreedictionary.com)

Adjective

OK, I was going to get all snooty and use the Oxford English Dictionary online but it costs almost $300.00 a year to subscribe . . . to a dictionary . . . Really?  *Gasp* but wait!  I have a dictionary . . . and it has to be an Oxford dictionary as my ancestry is almost more British than the Queen’s

Here we go:

refine /totally skipping the how to say it part because apparently it’s in old english or something . . ./ v.  free from impurities or defects; make or become more elegant or cultured.

The Little Oxford Dictionary
© Oxford University Press 1969, 1980, 1986 – wow first published in 1930 – needless to say Blog is not in this dictionary

Man . . . I need to hand it to our “forefathers,” they really knew how to market something to the Classes and to the masses.  Our flour is not refined because it’s free from impurities . . . in some ways white flour is the impurity.  It’s refined because the upper classes could afford to pay someone (or simply order someone) to pick out all the good stuff.  The germ and the bran.

In other words white flour is refined because of the people that could originally afford it not because it was made healthier.  It was made “better” in rich peoples eyes.  They, of course, were “refined individuals” so needless to say it was refined to use white flour.  Some snake oil salesman most likely picked up on this and went hey . . . refined flour, now you can afford it too and be just like your betters etc., etc.

For a little history lesson check out the link on the left.

Anyhoo . . . this page is all about the other aspect of this Sugar Addiction issue.  The refined white flour products and foods, like powdered mashed potatoes etc., that we eat way too much of.

Might as well be sugar (you’re body processes it that way anyhow):

• refined flour
• white flour
• bleached flour
• all-purpose flour
• cake and pastry flour
• unbleached flour
• gluten flour - mostly gluten (with the rest being white flour) which is a protein that helps make the chewy, fluffy bread we all love but can bother  many peoples intestinal tracts . . . like lactose
• enriched flour – why take the stuff out that’s already nutritious and replace it with nutrients that we’re still not sure if the body can absorb?
• Spelt flour - spelt is yummy but as with everything else . . . make sure it’s whole grain.  It’s a type of wheat that is a little harder to work with but I personally find has more flavour
• Rye flour, Oatmeal flour - look for whole grain varieties . . . often mixed with white flour for it’s gluten content as these two don’t have any
• whole wheat flour – big pet peeve here!  This is not whole grain . . . I repeat NOT whole grain.  The government allows whole wheat flour to have some of the germ removed.  Again it’s the part that spoils fastest but has the most nutrients.   So basically it’s like thinking brown sugar is better for you than white . . . when all it is is white sugar with molasses.  Whole wheat flour has been refined and some of the germ and the bran have been added back in.   *Sigh*
• Graham flour – bit of an odd duck here . . . it’s a whole grain flour in a sense but the three parts of the grain (bran, germ and endosperm (endosperm – the part ground for white flour)) are ground separately, then mixed together.  Two things to think about here . . . often Graham products are full of sugar because the bran and germ of the wheat in this flour are coarse and their flavour is stronger and it’s been processed a little further by grinding the endosperm very fine and separately.  This one’s up to you . . . Just don’t forget . . . there’s often a massive load of sugar in Graham Crackers, that’s why they work so well with s’mores
• Potatoes without the skin . . . my Mom used to use the line that the skin was where all the nutrients are . . . that’s why you have to eat it.  It’s also where all the fibre is.  I think she also tried to use that for bread crust too . . . mostly so she wouldn’t have to cut off the crusts (and waste food, we weren’t poor but we were frugal . . . I’m talking powdered skim milk frugal) . . . there was also that lovely old adage – but it’s only available in the United States . . . My Mom and Dad got out of years of expensive and frankly often annoyingly beepy Christmas and birthday presents with that one   So potatoes . . . leave the skin on . . . even when mashing . . . it’s good for you and you don’t even notice.  Honestly, I think I started mashing them with the skins on out of shear laziness.  Plus if they’re funky coloured potatoes they look cool that way.  If it’s a baked potato make sure you scrub the skin enough to eat it . . . ever heard of potato skins?  Big chain restaurants have made millions off of the lowly skin o’ the potato.
• Pasta – use the whole grain stuff.  It’s a no-brainer.  Personally I don’t think it tastes any different.  Use it as an excuse for a little more cheese or sauce for the next little while as you get used to the taste.  Pasta is also basically just flour and eggs so really you want all the bang you can get for your buck, nutritionally speaking that is.  Again remember whole wheat does not equal whole grain!
• Powdered versions of any food except milk (just read the label carefully) . . . these are very refined and have an enormous number of chemicals in them.  Often they don’t even have the actual original version of the food product in them!
• White Rice – there are so many different types of yummy, cool and interesting brown rice out there that it seems like a huge waste to eat the plain white stuff . . . never mind that white rice has a pretty high GI number (Glycemic Index – the effect foods have on our blood sugar levels – the higher the number the worse it bumps up our blood glucose – think sugar rush – thus allowing for a big sugar crash.  It’s very bad for diabetics to have their blood glucose shoot up and crash (diabetic coma and insulin shock).  Consistently high blood sugar levels are also considered one of the ways that people end up with type two diabetes – because it forces the body to create high levels of insulin in order to deal with it.  This allows the body to become resistant to insulin and then you’ll have to start injecting more insulin into your body in order for it to process the sugar in your blood stream.  Needless to say this whole blood sugar roller-coaster can shorten your life . . . dramatically.  Thus also why I’m trying to get off/stay off the stuff!  For more information see The Canadian Diabetes Association’s Website)

Sources of all this info . . . much from my own head and learning over the years as my family went through issues with diabetes and high cholesterol, good old wikipedia to help confirm my guesses (I know not hugely reliable but this is stuff I knew but had to remind myself I knew . . . whatever . . . you get my drift!) and surprisingly enough the Metro website.  They just took over the A&P, Dominion, Food Basics grocery store chain.  They had a simple list of different types of flour with basic info.

This is getting rather long but I’ll add to it as I think of other things in which to avoid . . . that come under this category at least