Wheat - Nutritional Analysis

Wheat is a worldwide cultivated grass from many centuries. Studies found that wheat is being cultivated worldwide in many countries in the East well before 9000 B.C. It is the most produced and consumed cereal in the recent times after maize and rice. Wheat is the most important cereal crop in the world and ubiquitous in the food culture of North America and many other regions of the world. Bread, pasta, bagels, crackers, cakes, and muffins just begin to describe the list of foods made with this grain.

Wheat, in its natural unrefined state, features a host of important nutrients. Therefore, to receive benefit from the wholesomeness of wheat it is important to choose wheat products made from whole wheat flour rather than those that are refined and stripped of their natural goodness.

Wheat is a staple food in many parts of North - West India. Unlike South, wheat is consumed more in the Northern parts of India. People in the states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra make Roti or Phulka or Chapati - an unleavened flatbread made of whole wheat flour. Rotis are served as breakfast; lunch and dinner with vide range of curries. They hardly eat any rice in their diet. Roti made of wheat flour is rich in nutrition and has very low in calories. That is the reason why people from Northern part of India are found slim and healthy when compared to the people from South. In the southern states of India like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka a single individual consumes approximately 1 kg of Rice a day (2400 calories approximately only through rice). Where as you can approximately make 60 Rotis from 1 Kg of wheat flour. More importantly a person hardly consumes 25 Rotis maximum in a day (1000 calories approximately). This is the reason why it keeps you fit and slim. Eating polished white Rice in large quantities is always harmful. It increases the size of your luggage in the body. Rice is the major matter of concern for the people here in the south. Because eating excess of Rice leads to obesity and many diseases associated with obesity. Obesity is becoming a major cause for many stringent diseases like Diabetes, Excess Cholesterol, Liver Cirrhosis, Thyroid deficiency, Heart Attacks etc. As the proverb goes “Less Luggage……more comfort….!” Low weight is always healthy and comfortable. This goes well for big people. People who are big in size do really understand what that means to them. They know how it feels to be big. Therefore people who desire to burn their calories and cut their weight; need to say good bye to Rice and hello to Rotis. One more important point! People who want to lose weight should consume plain Rotis or Phulkas without Oil, Butter and Ghee. I would like to add another important point here. People these days, especially in the cities have started using super refined wheat flour and semolina (Sooji or Rava). According to Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju, these polished and super refined flours are like white poisons. They are the main source of diabetes and many other diseases in the long run. The moment man started to refine things he started to dig his own graveyard inviting all kind problems for his health. We need to learn a lot from our ancestors who lived healthy and survived longer by eating natural and unprocessed food.

Let us try to analyze the nutritional value of Phulkas made with 1 cup of wheat flour which is equal to 182 grams or 4 to 5 Phulkas or Rotis approximately.

Eating 4 to 5 phulkas gives you 151.06 calories which is quite low when compared to Rice. This many phulkas are well enough to fill your stomach. You might not ask more phulkas than this. Even if you do there is no harm in eating another two or three. But 1 cup of Rice might add 400-500 calories and makes you heavy and tight.

The Rotis contain very low fat content of 0.44gms, 123.73 mgs of Potassium and many other minerals and vitamins. More importantly it is a very rich source of fiber which stands around 16.38gms. As we discussed earlier, fiber plays a vital role in cleaning our body. It acts as a brush that cleans the waste within our body. For more nutritional details go through the table enlisted below.

I hope you find the information useful. In my next update I will try to bring the health benefits of eating whole wheat in more detail. Till then keep watching the space for updates….

Wheat Cooked (Note: "--" indicates data is unavailable)
amount	1.00 cup
total weight	182.00 g
Basic Components
nutrient	amount	%DV
calories	151.06	8.39
calories from fat	3.93
calories from saturated fat	0.69
protein	5.61 g	11.22
carbohydrates	33.82 g	11.27
dietary fiber	8.19 g	32.76
soluble fiber	1.38 g
insoluble fiber	6.81 g
sugar - total	0.36 g
monosaccharides	-- g
disaccharides	0.83 g
other carbs	25.26 g
fat - total	0.44 g	0.68
saturated fat	0.08 g	0.40
mono fat	0.06 g	0.25
poly fat	0.18 g	0.75
trans fatty acids	-- g
cholesterol	0.00 mg	0.00
water	141.52 g
ash	0.62 g
Vitamins
nutrient	amount	%DV
vitamin A IU	0.00 IU	0.00
vitamin A RE	0.00 RE
A - carotenoid	0.00 RE	0.00
A - retinol	0.00 RE
A - beta carotene	0.00 mcg
thiamin - B1	0.10 mg	6.67
riboflavin - B2	0.05 mg	2.94
niacin - B3	1.82 mg	9.10
niacin equiv	3.28 mg
vitamin B6	0.15 mg	7.50
vitamin B12	0.00 mcg	0.00
biotin	-- mcg	--
vitamin C	0.00 mg	0.00
vitamin D IU	0.00 IU	0.00
vitamin D mcg	0.00 mcg
vitamin E alpha equiv	0.05 mg	0.25
vitamin E IU	0.08 IU
vitamin E mg	0.55 mg
folate	32.76 mcg	8.19
vitamin K	0.91 mcg	1.14
pantothenic acid	0.63 mg	6.30
Minerals
nutrient	amount	%DV
boron	-- mcg
calcium	18.20 mg	1.82
chloride	-- mg
chromium	-- mcg	--
copper	0.14 mg	7.00
fluoride	-- mg	--
iodine	-- mcg	--
iron	1.75 mg	9.72
magnesium	58.24 mg	14.56
manganese	1.11 mg	55.50
molybdenum	-- mcg	--
phosphorus	72.80 mg	7.28
potassium	123.76 mg	3.54
selenium	1.09 mcg	1.56
sodium	9.10 mg	0.38
zinc	1.04 mg	6.93
Saturated Fats
nutrient	amount	%DV
4:0 butyric	0.00 g
6:0 caproic	0.00 g
8:0 caprylic	0.00 g
10:0 capric	0.00 g
12:0 lauric	0.00 g
14:0 myristic	0.00 g
15:0 pentadecanoic	-- g
16:0 palmitic	0.07 g
17:0 margaric	-- g
18:0 stearic	0.00 g
20:0 arachidic	-- g
22:0 behenate	-- g
24:0 lignoceric	-- g
Mono Fats
nutrient	amount	%DV
14:1 myristol	0.00 g
15:1 pentadecenoic	0.00 g
16:1 palmitol	0.00 g
17:1 heptadecenoic	0.00 g
18:1 oleic	0.05 g
20:1 eicosen	0.00 g
22:1 erucic	0.00 g
24:1 nervonic	0.00 g
Poly Fats
nutrient	amount	%DV
18:2 linoleic	0.17 g
18:3 linolenic	0.01 g
18:4 stearidon	0.00 g
20:3 eicosatrienoic	0.00 g
20:4 arachidon	0.00 g
20:5 EPA	0.00 g
22:5 DPA	0.00 g
22:6 DHA	0.00 g
Other Fats
nutrient	amount	%DV
omega 3 fatty acids	0.01 g	0.42
omega 6 fatty acids	0.17 g
Amino Acids
nutrient	amount	%DV
alanine	0.20 g
arginine	0.26 g
aspartate	0.29 g
cystine	0.13 g	31.71
glutamate	1.77 g
glycine	0.23 g
histidine	0.13 g	10.08
isoleucine	0.21 g	18.26
leucine	0.38 g	15.02
lysine	0.15 g	6.38
methionine	0.09 g	12.16
phenylalanine	0.26 g	21.85
proline	0.58 g
serine	0.26 g
threonine	0.16 g	12.90
tryptophan	0.09 g	28.13
tyrosine	0.16 g	16.49
valine	0.25 g	17.01
Other
nutrient	amount	%DV
alcohol	0.00 g
caffeine	0.00 mg
artif sweetener total	-- mg
aspartame	-- mg
saccharin	-- mg
sugar alcohol	-- g
glycerol	-- g
inositol	-- g
mannitol	-- g
sorbitol	-- g
xylitol	-- g
organic acids	-- mg
acetic acid	-- mg
citric acid	-- mg
lactic acid	-- mg
malic acid	-- mg
choline	-- mg	--
taurine	-- mg