It has become clear to scientists at the University of California that the main deficiency of white bread made from refined white flour is its lack of vitamin E, carotenoids, and other nutrients. According to Health News, researchers evaluated white bread based on laboratory analyses and the levels of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, iron, molybdenum, zinc, vitamin E, and carotenoids in the flour used to make three types of bread. They assessed the composition of whole grain flour (produced by grinding grains), whole grain flour milled using rollers, and refined white flour (produced by roller milling and then removing the bran and germ).
Researchers found that refined flour and the bread made from it contain 72% and 64% less of the mentioned mineral elements, respectively, compared to whole wheat grains. They noted that the content of important nutrients for health in both types of whole flour is higher and does not differ much. According to the researchers, bread made from the three types of flour retains less than five percent of the total amount of vitamin E originally present in the raw material (wheat grains). Additionally, the concentration of vitamin E in flour decreases with the increase in the degree of refinement.
