Extrusion a synonym for destruction of nutrients

People are becoming health conscious ; from non-organic to organic, white flour to oat flour, white rice to brown rice and much more. All this is good, but does one get enveloped in the big brands who claim to make better products to help you achieve better health but it’s pure marketing and a higher ROI for them?

Today, I was making food for my friend and I found some brown rice pasta.My first reaction was a smile and thought oh! healthy. Good change. Then , as I took a piece of the pasta and twirled it around , my next thought was it feels like plastic. How do they make pasta? Does it have plastic? And then I ended up reading how pasta is made. Extrusion is the process used to make pasta and similar products. It is a method used in food processing which involves passing mixed ingredients into a perforate plate with a specific design and is then cut down into the needed shape by blades.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE EXTRUDER?

• The dry mixed ingredients is passed into a pre-conditioned mix where additional products are added like dyes, color,sugar and fats.
• Then it is passed into an extruder, where steam is injected to start the cooking process
• Extruder produces a certain amount of heat and pressure (10-12 bar).
• The process involves high temperature in a short time.
• Once the cooking process is done, the finished product is pretty much uniform and huge quantities of food products are produced like brown rice pasta.

BAD EXTRUDER

• When the mixed ingredients is exposed to high temperature it leads to protein denaturation; the naturally found protein in brown rice is ripped off.
• The active enzymes are destroyed
• Loss of essential nutrients and amino acids.
• Increases the starch content and reduces protein amount.
• Inactivation of raw food enzymes

CONCLUSION

Pasta is an easy way to make meals.Brown rice pasta is a tease for people who really are making the effort to lead a healthy lifestyle.

I have stated this before, and I repeat it- you as an individual are completely responsible for what you put in your body, and only you can heal yourself. Big food corporations label products that have a healthy outlook but really have no nutritional benefit(They may have good intention,but the process is wrong). Not all food corporations are bad, but I encourage you to read about the product and do justice to other products which do stick to the motto of feeding people healthy food and also do justice to yourself, by feeding your body a high-nutrient meal.

Eat natural. Eat clean. Live!

Smriti