Is flour, even from healthy and whole grain sources (quinoa or chick pea), still unhealthy?!
Answers:
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It is the "processing" process that makes things unhealthy by taking out major sources of nutrients like the hulls, fibrous parts, etc. of a product. Any product that goes through this refinement process in less healthy than the raw unprocessed product. So to answer your question, you would need to look at how much processing occurs to determine how much nutritive value a product, including quinoa flour has.
Flour in and of itself isn't unhealthy, but we've become accustomed to soft, bland, white bread, which is made with white wheat flour. The reason it's unhealthy is because there's no fiber in it and all the nutrients have been milled away.
If you use flours that are really just ground up grains, with nothing removed, it does become a little easier for our bodies to digest, but it still contains all the fiber and nutrients of the original grains, so they're not that bad. There's a few natural or organic brands that are good. I like Red Mills, myself.
The only thing wrong with flour is that it's a processed grain. Some flour from any source is not necessarily bad for you. Too many processed grains can be bad for your health.
A recent study from China directly ties unhealthy weight gain among the Chinese to wheat:
http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/12/15/new-chi…
We know the health of the Innuit crashed when they went from their traditional meat based diet to a diet that included a lot of processed grains.
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/20…
More and more researchers are starting to look at the amount of processed grains being consumed in this country and obesity. I mean, our prehistoric ancestors didn't eat grains. Many health conscious people are turning to what they call the "paleo diet." I think it's a bit extreme, but whatever rocks your boat.
http://www.beyondveg.com/cordain-l/grain…
These types of flours are in no way unhealthy. When the grains are ground they do loss nutrients much faster but they are not in the slightest bit unhealthy. Grinding can make it easier to digest for people and animals. Whole quinoa will still have more nutrients than ground quinoa but that does not mean it is unhealthy.
By the way, if you haven't heard of kamut wheat I would recommend you look into it. Its supposed to be one of the most healthiest grains and also the healthiest wheat used for flour.
I don't understand why regular flour would be unhealthy unless you have an allergy to wheat.