Why Are They Taken Out Of The Flour?

"The bran is bolted out because it is unpalatable, and the phosphates are unavoidably taken out because they adhere to it. The gluten also adheres to the bran, but is mainly found in the heart of the grain - the part that grows. It does not pulverize so readily as the starch, and is also bolted out with the bran and known as middlings. There is another reason why middlings from a commercial standpoint is not desirable in flour - it makes the bread darker, but more yellowish than dark."

"Doctor, you haven't explained in what way the bran and phosphates increase the nutritive value of flour."

"I am coming to that. The bran has no food value, or rather nourishment for man. It is, in fact, indigestible cellulose,"

"Then, I don't see any use in eating indigestible food."

"I'll tell you why. Man no doubt originally ate much coarser food than he does now, and it is probable that his tendency is toward concentrated food; but, even if we grant that, it will still be several thousand years, if at all, before he can live on concentrated food exclusively."

Then He Needs Indigestible Cellulose In Some Form, As A Sort Of Filling, For The Same Reason That A Horse Needs Hay?

"Exactly. If there is not sufficient waste material, there is nothing to stimulate the action of the bowels, and constipation results, with all its attendant ills."

Why Wouldn't Coarse Vegetables Answer As Well?

"But many people don't eat coarse vegetables, besides the waste matter can be too coarse. Many vegetables are stringy, and if hastily swallowed, which is a very com mon practice, they may really act as an obstruction rather than a stimulant to the bowels."

"But many people are troubled with diarrhoea rather than constipation."

"That's true; but most of those same people have constipation first, and the diarrhœa is only nature's way of getting rid of accumulated matter, and not a few persons have found that they lost their good health when their occasional diarrhoea ceased."

"There must be other causes for diarrhoea besides constipation."

"Yes. They will be discussed under the proper head. I merely mentioned it to emphasize the value of bran for all people who have a tendency toward constipation."

Is Bran In Bread Of Use To Everybody?

"Not by any means. If it greatly irritates the bowels, it should be avoided."

"Then, according to your statement, wheat bran is the best waste material found in any of our foods."

"I can hardly say that. The bran of other grains might be equally good. More depends upon its fineness than its name."

What Part Of Wheat Is The Richest?

"That depends on what you mean by richest. A pound of wheat germs (wheat gluten) is more than equal to two and one-half pounds of lean beef, as flesh formers."

Is The Wheat Gluten Us Easily Digested As Meat?

"For a good many people, it is easier. Many persons tolerate it better than anything else, and it furnishes a good food at any period of life, and for almost any condition."

As I Understand It, The Starch Of Wheat Makes The Fat; * Is A Force Producer; The Gluten Is The Flesh Former; The Bran Furnishes The Waste Material. Now, Is That All The Good Things You Can Say About Wheat?

"No; the phosphates make the bones and furnish mineral matter for the system."

"Then, as a food, wheat seems absolutely perfect."

"It is said to be the only perfect food, and it probably is more nearly so than any other food; but for all that, it has too small a per cent of fat and too little lime. Pigeons fed on wheat and distilled water only lived a few weeks, but when water containing a small per cent of lime was furnished, instead of distilled water, there was apparently nothing lacking, and the pigeons grew fat."

What Would You Suggest To Add To It?

"Well, I will talk of that when I discuss the different kinds of bread and diet suitable to meet different conditions."

"1 infer from what you say that Graham flour or bread made from it is much to be preferred to the ordinary tine flour bread."

"That is not the idea. Graham flour is supposed to be made of the whole grain, bran and all. Recently a process has been invented which saves all the valuable parts of the wheat without the objectionable and unpalatable bran in Graham flour. Wheat has three coats or envelopes, and it is advisable to remove the first two, which still leaves enough cellulose for a healthful diet, without being in the least unpalatable. Being sweeter, many people prefer bread made of entire wheat flour."

"Then, there is no general dislike to the new process common to brown or Graham bread,"

"No; the dislike to brown bread results mainly from the unpleasant sensation produced in the mouth by the coarse bran, and if it could be reduced to the fineness of flour, there would be no objectionable taste. This has led to the late method of removing the coarsest part of the bran and the name 'entire wheat flour' substituted for Graham flour. It is not so white as bolted flour, but is really more palatable. Goodfellow gives the composition of fine flour and entire wheat flour as follows:

"It will be seen, on comparison, that the entire wheat flour is richer in mineral matter, tissue forming elements and cellulose or waste matter."

How Would You Sum Up The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Entire Wheat Flour?

"1st. Better for growing children, especially if there be constipation or tendency to rickets. 2d. The sedentary or corpulent. 3d. Vegetarians, or people who eat but little meat. 4th. People who suffer from constipation. 5th. Mothers during maternity, or while nursing children. 6th. Those who have a tendency to decay of teeth. No kind of bread should be given children under ten months old."

Then, Fine White Bread Is Not So Wholesome As The Other?

"That is not a fair way to put it. Much depends on individual peculiarities and what other food is used with it. Generally speaking, the entire wheat flour is much superior to fine flour. If exercise be such as to cause great peristaltic action of the bowels with looseness or diarrhoea, the fine flour bread is preferable."