Seven Reasons I Now Mill My Own Whole Grains

When the idea of milling my own whole grains was first presented to me, I didn’t see the need. Why I had greatly reduced grains in our diet due to inflammation and possible gluten sensitivity. And when I did make something with wheat flour, I got the store that sold me the wheat berries to grind it while I was there. Like many, I saw grains as the enemy and the best way to fight them was to eliminate them from my diet as much as possible.

Gone from my recipes were some of our family favorites which my sons and husband keep asking for. But no more. After eating freshly milled bread on a Viking River Cruise, I noticed no issues with the wheat. I met with the chef and he took me on a tour of his kitchen and told me that they make their breads from the original wheat berries. He also told me that people with gluten sensitivities don’t usually have issues with his homemade bread. Keep reading and you’ll understand why. But we’re not talking about those folks with true Celiac disease who can’t touch gluten at all.

So here are the seven reasons I now mill my own whole grains.

The wheat berries contain 40 out of 44 essential nutrients our bodies need to be healthy. It’s almost a complete food with only Vitamin A, B12, C, and the amino acid lysine being excluded. Yes, wheat berries contain vitamins, minerals, protein, carbs, and healthy fats. Our white flour today removes the most nutritious part of the wheat berry—the bran and the germ. The bran is loaded with insoluble fiber and nutrients and the germ offers vitamins especially B and E, minerals, protein, healthy fats, and some fiber. In fact, wheat berries provide the most vitamin E found in any food. The fiber in the bran and germ slow down the process of your body turning the endosperm into glucose. This limits the rise of blood sugar whereas white flour spikes blood sugar. The essential nutrients are concentrated in the bran and the germ. The endosperm contains the starch which on its own is hard to digest. When you mill the wheat berries and immediately use them in your breads, etc., all of these nutrients including digestive enzymes are at their full potency. Add some olive oil, cheese, and fruit to freshly milled bread and you’ve got a complete meal.

Convenience and purity. When I buy organic grains and freshly mill them, I avoid all the additives, preservatives, and most of the pesticides, and herbicides normally found in grains. And keep in mind that wheat is a highly-pesticided crop that is also dried or desiccated in glyphosate. Now you know why conventional processed wheat is such an irritant to our gut!

Freshly Milled Bread is inexpensive and almost a complete meal. Just look at the nutrient profile: protein, fats, carbs, minerals, vitamins, fiber, and enzymes are all contained within. You only need to add a fruit. olive oil, and cheese or other foods containing vitamins A, C, b12, and lysine to get the other four missing nutrients. When you buy whole organic grains in bulk, you save money. For the nutrients provided, it’s a great deal.

Whole grains provide a great prepper food. They can be stored for many years if stored properly. Whole intact grains are grains that still have their protective bran layer. Because of this added layer, the grains are better guarded against outside factors like moisture and temperature change and will last longer than ground grains. Storing grains in an airtight container in a cool, dry area will keep them from going bad. Look at Joseph, he stored whole grains for seven years saving up for a famine, then these same grains had to take Egypt through a seven-year famine. That’s 14 years! I now have large air-sealed buckets of the grains I use the most in my basement. You never know when the food supply might be interrupted, or the grocery store shelves empty due to a natural disaster. We’ve been through both during Covid-19 and Hurricane Helene.

Whole grains contain soluble and insoluble fiber for our gut health. These two types of fiber are needed to nourish our gut lining, and keep our digestive track running smoothly. We need both types of fiber for our body to work as God intended.

Processed flour causes many health issues. Many doctors and nutritionists are telling their patients to avoid wheat because highly-processed store-bought flour and store-bought breads by in large are inflammatory and an irritant to our important gut lining. And rightly so. But would these same things happen if we made our own bread and grains made from organic freshly milled grains? For most people, I believe, it would not. The one percent of folks with Celiac disease will always have to avoid any food containing gluten, but many folks with gluten sensitivity may be able to eat freshly milled grains. In addition, synthetic vitamins and additional gluten are added to many processed flours and products made with them. No wonder up to 50 percent of people today have gluten issues!

Jesus compared himself to bread. When Jesus says in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life.” He’s saying that we need him daily and he will supply all of our needs. Jesus used the most basic staple in their diet that provided their daily nutritional needs to make this analogy. Just as the basic staple of bread provided what their bodies needed each day to survive, He Himself would provide all their spiritual and emotional needs. Now that is a powerful analogy! He chose the one food that everyone in that culture ate that provided the most benefits for their body. Our lives would not be full and satisfying without partaking of him daily.

Today, I hope you’ve learned that wheat, a basic staple in the diet of many for thousands of years, when made from whole grains provides the basic nutrients our bodies need each day to survive and thrive. It only lacks a few nutrients. I also hope you’ve seen that the processing of our flour which includes bleaching, enriching including extra gluten, and addition of chemicals is what has made it such an irritant to so many people. What we’ve done to flour makes it fluffier and gives it a longer shelf life, but it also decreases many of the nutrients. Now you know why I now mill my whole grains daily right before I use them in a recipe. It’s easy to do when you have your own grain mill. And now I’m able to bring back some of my family’s favorite meals.

How many of you mill your own whole grains at home?

View this message on YouTube:

Seven Reasons I Now Mill My Own Whole Grains

Where to buy whole organic grains – Country Life Foods Use discount code “Ginny” for 10% off

Where to buy a grain mill – Nutrimill Use code UNLEASH to receive $20 off

***When you buy from the links above, this ministry may receive a small portion back to help cover expenses.

For Your Health,

Ginny

Ginny Dent Brant is a speaker and writer who grew up in the halls of power in Washington, DC. She has battled cancer, ministered around the world, and served on the front lines of American culture as a counselor, educator, wellness advocate, and adjunct professor. Brant’s award-winning book, Finding True Freedom: From the White House to the World, was endorsed by Chuck Colson and featured in many TV and media interviews. Unleash Your God-Given Healing: Eight Steps to Prevent and Survive Cancer was released in May 2020 after her journey with cancer and was recently awarded the First Place Golden Scrolls Award for Memoirs, a finalist in Serious Writers Book of the Decade, and Second Place in both Selah Awards for Memoirs and Director’s Choice Award for Nonfiction at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. It recently received the Christian Authors Network’s (CAN) Gold Award for Excellence in Marketing for reaching 62.5 million people with a message of cancer prevention and survival. It was written with commentary from an oncologist and was featured on CBN’s Healthy Living Show, Atlanta Live, and CTN’s Homekeepers along with over 75 media outlets. Learn more and cancer and wellness prevention blog and book information at www.ginnybrant.com. Ginny is on YouTube