14 Feb
Whole Grain

Baking with freshly ground whole grain flour

If you have little kids at home you must definitely be loving to bake some delights for them.  Baking is better with freshly stone grounded whole grain flour both in terms of taste, aroma and nutrition.

Previously, consumption of baked goodies was considered unhealthy owing to higher carbs and calories in them. However this has changed now a days with people opting out of refined flour and sugar and choosing healthier alternatives like, whole wheat flour and jaggery as nutritious and tastier options.   

Now you can choose to freshly stone grind the grains of your choice with Hawos Flour mills right on your own kitchen slab and have an unending supply of healthy and unadulterated flour at your fingertips. Turning baking into a tastier and more importantly, a healthier indulgence

Now since you are aware of the enhanced taste, healthier option and prudence of freshly milled flour, let’s talk about how baking with freshly milled flour performs better than packed or stored flour.

  1. Stored flour get compacted and dense over time, while freshly milled flour is light and fluffy. All what you need is an adjustment in measurements depending on what are you baking. 
  2. With Hawos Flour mill you have the flexibility of adjusting the coarseness of the flour.
  3. One can grind exactly how much is required, for example if one needs 200gm of fresh flour, 200 gm of whole wheat berries can be milled. The weight remains constant while converting the grain to flour, but volume will change. In this way, one can be more informed about the measurements of ingredients accurately. Using fresh ingredient will consequently make baked goods fresh every time and conveniently at that.
  4. Wholesome nutrients in the freshly milled flour help in the proliferation of yeast, which make the fermentation faster.
  5. Freshly stone ground flour absorbs considerably more amount of water, which undoubtedly leads to addition its nutrition value.
  1. When baking a loaf the bread, it will have tighter crumb.

The stone ground method of milling can be used for all of baking needs with different grains. Choosing the particle size of the flour is one more convenience that comes with these mills.   

In a nutshell: Give a treat to your taste buds with delicious home baked cakes, breads and more in a healthify way with stone grinding Hawos Flour mills”.

“Eat Fresh, Live Longer”

20 Dec
Whole Grain

WHOLE GRAINS PLAY MAIN ROLE IN TOP 10 OVERALL DIETS

Opinions about the ‘best’ way to fuel your body for optimal health and longevity will always exist. Conflicting advice about what you should, and what you shouldn’t, eat is hard to avoid. With a new dietary villain around every corner and new panacea behind every door – it’s easy to get exhausted and feel lost in the chaos!

For many, the term ‘diet’ conjures up the type of eating pattern encouraged by this narrative – one of exclusion, extremes, and restrictive, rigid plans. However, the top 10 overall diets of 2019, as ranked by The US News and World report, highlight a different attitude toward the idea of a diet. Though distinct in purpose and direction, they each offer approachable guidelines towards a healthy lifestyle, focusing on the advice you have probably heard before. Though these diets vary, they share commonalities and themes which shine a light on trends in our current health and nutrition landscape at large, emphasizing: whole foods, the energy quality of our food, and chronic disease prevention. We are proud to report – though we can’t say we’re surprised – that whole grains play an active role in the top 10 diets on this list by supporting these larger themes.

More Whole, Plant-Based Foods

These diets echo each other, despite the fact that their end goals range from weight loss to brain health. They emphasize increased consumption of whole, minimally-processed foods. We have all heard it before (probably from Mom), but these diets encourage us to put more vegetables, whole grains, and fruits on our plates. Limited consumption of poultry and low-fat meat is part of the majority of these diets, with the Mediterranean Diet promoting seafood consumption and the Nordic Diet encouraging high-quality meat in the limited instances meat is consumed. The popularity of the Flexitarian Diet exemplifies the success of this light-on-meat attitude – while mostly vegetarian, it makes room for animal protein when the mood strikes.

Energy Quality

Energy quality is a slightly different way to categorize the food we consume. Highly-refined and fatty foods contain a concentrated punch of energy in a small package – meeting a large portion of your daily energy requirements with just a few bites. This can restrict the diversity and volume of higher-quality foods consumed over the course of the day, and can easily lead to an overconsumption of energy.

The Volumetric and the Mayo Clinic diets use energy density as the scaffolding for their recommendations. The energy density of a food is its energy content per unit of weight. Plant-based foods tend to exhibit low energy density, with high fiber and water content. Fatty and refined foods, on the other hand, are energy-dense, containing high-calorie counts per unit of weight. As US News and World Report points out, “for about the same amount of calories you could have a quarter of a Snickers bar or about 2 cups of broccoli.” By recommending foods with a lower energy density (like broccoli), these diets limit your energy consumption without reducing the total amount of food you eat.

Whole grains not only have low energy density, but intact whole grains have a low Glycemic Index as well – a measurement which rates how quickly carbohydrates are converted into glucose/energy. Your body breaks down whole grains more slowly than it does refined grains, making whole grains a more sustained energy source for your body. You can learn more about whole grain energy quality here.

Chronic disease

The rising rates of chronic diseases worldwide has reached epidemic proportions, so it is no surprise that these diets focus on the prevention of one or more chronic diseases. The Mediterranean and Ornish Diets focus on heart health, and the MIND Diet, true to its name, aims to promote a healthy brain. Managing hypertension and cholesterol is a common goal for almost all of these diets. It’s no surprise, then, to see whole grain recommendations showing up again and again, given the strong role they play in preventing many of the most common chronic diseases including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.

No matter which way you spin it, whole grains are an important part of a healthful diet. The common themes of this year’s best overall diets show exclusion and extremes are not promoting, and individuals are looking elsewhere. Whether it be for brain health or heart health, there is  to be found centering around eating a diverse array of wholesome foods. (Abby)

17 Dec
Uncategorized, Whole Grain

WHOLE GRAINS AND PLANT-BASED DIETS: 19TH-CENTURY EDITION

According to a NCHS brief released this month, whole grain intake as part of total grain consumption is slowly but steadily increasing among adults aged 20 and older in the United States. Though we still have work to do to get closer to making half of our grains whole and meeting the Dietary Guidelines recommendations, this is heartening news. Keep up the whole grain choices! As scientific understanding of the health benefits of whole grains has increased, more people have begun seeking whole grain products. In fact, 86% of respondents to our 2018 survey indicated health as a main driver in choosing whole grains. Companies are responding to mounting scientific evidence and consumer demand as well. To date, nearly 13,000 products have been registered to carry the Whole Grain Stamp, which requires products contain a minimum of half a serving of whole grains (8g) per labeled serving in order to qualify!

The eating patterns of past generations were equally influenced by advancements in knowledge. America was rapidly changing in the mid-19th and 20th centuries, and a trip down memory lane reveals some surprising influences, who not only impacted what people ate then, but continue to influence what people eat today.

19th Century Nutrition
Nutrition science was still very young in 19th century America. Though the idea that food choice had an impact on health was largely accepted, the specifics of how and why this was true were a matter of speculation. Meat, thought to be more easily digested than vegetables, was often prescribed for ailments along with healthy doses of wine. One man saw a different, plant-based path to health. Sylvester Graham’s thoughts on nutrition were largely influenced by his observations on the impact the increasingly industrialized and urban world had on health. He believed, and promoted, avoidance of all “stimulating” foods and habits and encouraged eating food as close to its natural state as possible. He was an early proponent of a vegetarian diet, and his teachings highlighted the importance of whole grain consumption. Though considered one of the founders of vegetarianism in America, he is perhaps even better known for his whole grain advocacy. 

Graham proselytized grinding grain at home, creating a minimally-processed flour for baking. When Graham’s popularity skyrocketed in the mid-1800s, many shop owners started selling products using coarsely-ground whole grain flour marketed with his name—graham flour, graham bread, and a bit later, the graham cracker. Advancements in the milling process in the late 20th century drastically changed flour production, and what was once ground either at home or by huge stones at the local grist mill was now being crushed in factories by huge porcelain and cast-iron rollers. This roller technology, invented in Hungary in the early 19th century, enabled more of the grain’s endosperm to be extracted from its bran and germ, making the milling process more efficient and the refining process more effective. Refined flour had historically been more expensive, and therefore desirable, due to the extra labor involved in sifting, but now roller mills made this sought-after refined flour cheap and accessible. Despite the boom of refined grain products that followed, Graham’s ideas about the importance of whole grains remained in circulation and continued to influence the next generation of Americans.

Modern Impact
John Kellogg, influenced by Graham’s teachings, created his own health and wellness sanatorium in the late 19th and early 20th century. His method was based around the promotion of health through diet, for which whole grains played an important role. He is perhaps best-known for inventing the corn flake, originally served as a health food at his sanatorium. The resulting rave reviews helped launch the popularization of the breakfast cereal. Charles Post, a patient in Kellogg’s sanatorium and a believer in his methods, soon became his competitor and created his own cereals made with the whole grain flour Graham so strongly believed in.

The health sciences have come far since the 19th and 20th centuries, but the ideas and technology from that era still live on in our current food culture. Roller milling is still used, now efficiently processing both whole and refined grains. Kellogg Company and Post Consumer Brands continue to produce breakfast cereals, including many that carry the Whole Grain Stamp. Graham flour, to this day, is defined by the USDA as a coarsely-ground whole grain wheat flour. While graham flour is defined as a whole grain, graham crackers are not, so make sure you check for the Whole Grain Stamp on your favorite fireside snack, or in an homage to Graham himself, make your own! Have a favorite historic food influencer? Share with us below! (Abby)