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Wheat

Wheat! The food we love to hate or hate to love. We are so used to finding wheat in so many unhealthy foods, that a lot of people often think of wheat as unhealthy by association. However, whole wheat can be quite beneficial for most of us.

See, whole wheat is a fantastic source of protein, fiber, thiamine, niacin, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc! That’s a lot of nutrition! The problem is that wheat is typically stripped off of its bran to make soft white flour, and when this is done, we lose most of these nutrients. Not to mention that this refined flour is often mixed with other unhealthy ingredients like oils, eggs, dairy, salt and refined sugar, or paired with unhealthy foods like processed meats and other sources of saturated fats.

When we adopt a whole-food, plant-based diet, we can typically enjoy wheat and take advantage of its nutrients. As with all grains, the less processed they are, the more benefits we get, so avoid refined flour, limit your whole wheat flour intake, and strive to add whole wheat berries, the bran, or the germ to your recipes whenever possible.

Are you or someone you love wheat intolerant? This could be caused by Celiac disease or a gluten or wheat sensitivity. Talk to your doctor to get the proper tests, and look for other grain alternatives that also provide fantastic nutrition, like oats.

Scroll down to try our personalized wheat nutrition calculator below to see how much nutrition you can get from wheat and its most common byproducts.

Nutrition Calculator: Wheat

Use our personalized nutrition calculator to discover the percentage of daily nutrition needs you and your family can get from eating wheat in its most popular forms.

Nutrition needs vary according to age, sex, and whether women of reproductive age are pregnant or breastfeeding. Fill out the form below for yourself and for your family members to get personalized results.*

* Calculated as a percentage of the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) as established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Based on nutritional information provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an average of multiple wheat samples.

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