Start Here: Fresh Milled Flour -- why it matters

A few weeks ago, one of my friends from work began telling me about her fresh milled flour (FMF) journey. She shared the bread tasted great, and explained why she was doing it, the benfits it has for your body, and referred me to check out Bread Beckers. I love bread and am all about going back to basics, educating myself on what we are really putting in our bodies, and I was generally curious about this healthy bread, so I went down the rabbit hole.

And here I am milling my own flour now.

To save you time from googling, you can follow the same "learning path" I took -- go ahead and suscribe to Bread Beckers on YouTube and then watch or listen to the following videos:

1. Only Real Bread - This video is just over three hours. I listened to it on the road, and wish I had been able to take notes. This explains it ALL. The benefits, the why, the science behind this and how Sue Becker got started on her FMF journey and is on a mission to change lives.
   

2. Basic List of Items to get Started - A great resource on what you need to get started on your own FMF journey. Soon I will share my own Getting Started blog post with a linked Amazon list and downloaded shopping list, too.

Here's the TL/DR version of why FMF matters:

What we eat and where it comes from matters.

Bread is called the staff of life because it has more nutrients per weight than fruit, vegetables, meat, milk, and potatoes -- but the bread that is the "staff of life" is made with FMF, not the flour you buy at the store.

The enriched flour you are buying from the store is enriched because the original vitamins and minerals have been stripped to help the flour be shelf stable for longer and allow bread to have a finer texture. It is also commonly bleached to be whiter. Sidenote: our friends in Australia and the European Union have banned bleached flour.

When large producers started bleaching and stripping flour, 19 vitamins and minerals were removed. Over time, five have been added back with the enriching process (using chemicals). Those added back are: Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Thiamin (Vitamin B-1), Iron and Folate. In fact, folic acid was the last nutirent added back in the late 1990's because the CDC was seeing an increase in brain and spine birth defects.

So what's still missing from our flour at the store?

In addition to removing the bran, germ and endosperm from the whole wheat, here's what's still missing: Cobalt, Vitamin E, Manganese, Magnesium, Sodium, Zinc, Potassium, Vitamin B6, Phosphorus, Copper, Calcium, Panthothenic Acid, Molybdenum, Chromium and Selenium.

What are the benefits of using FMF?

For starters, using FMF means you are consuming actual whole grains that contain essential vitamins and nutirents your body needs, that are naturally produced and not chemically altered (or stripped). In fact, you will get 40 or the 44 nutirents your body needs just by eating foods made with FMF.

Once you start consuming foods made with FMF, you may see other health benefits, too. I would encourage you to listen to the first video linked to hear about stories of healing. It's amazing what happens when your body get the vitamins and nutrients it's meant to have! One of the biggest AHA moments for me was when Sue Becker shared since eating bread made from FMF, she had not taken allergy meds since 1992 (and she lives in the South) and, all of her children born after eating FMF bread came out of the womb able to control their head movement unlike other newborns. She also had a child with warts (an outward manifstation of an internal virus) that wouldn't go away and they were gone after eating the FMF bread.

Bread, rolls and pizza doughs made with FMF taste better, richer and BONUS are actually good for you. Carbs and gluten are not the enemy.

FMF is less refined than commercial flour, so it has a less fine texture. In baked goods, that means a softer crumb.

Can you buy freshly milled flour?

You can, but think about it like fruit -- if you cut fruit and eat it right away, that's when it's freshest and has the most ntritional benefits (and tastes the best). As it's stored, it begins to age and you lose some of the nutritional value.

FMF that is purchased and stored is still better than commercially produced flour but if you're using it 24 hours or more after it's milled, the nutritional value will begin to diminish over time. If you go this route, keep it in air tight storage and don't let it sit for weeks.

We are currently looking into ways to share FMF with others through our Open Food Network CSA.

Can I buy products made with FMF?

Probably, but don't expect to find them at your local bakery. We are looking into adding FMF products to our Open Food Network CSA. More to come!

Intrigued? Ready to start milling your own grains and feeding your family real whole grains?

Yay! The more the merrier! Learn how we make our bread and check back as we add more FMF recipes soon.