Good morning, blog friends! 
Are you ready for Tuesday?!
Over the weekend, I purchased a package of Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Bran at the grocery store. Initially, a sale sign caught my attention, but once I read the wheat bran’s nutritional information, I knew it would be a great addition to my diet, particularly my morning bowl of oats!
In the mix:
- 1/3 cup dry oats
- 1/4 cup wheat berries
- 1/4 cup wheat bran
- 1/2 cup vanilla hemp milk
- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
- Raisins
- 2 scoops of Teddie PB
Wheat Bran is an excellent source of natural food fiber with 6g per 1/4 cup (30 calories, 2g protein, 0.5g naturally occurring polyunsaturated fat). The addition of wheat bran to my oats this morning gave them a full-bodied and hearty texture.
Wheat bran also works well in baked goods, which you will see later today with my recent baking creation.
Wheat Bran
From wisegeek.com
What is Wheat Bran?
Most grains, like wheat and oats, have a hard outer layer. When they are processed, this layer becomes a byproduct, and is called bran. In the case of processing wheat to make wheat flour, one gets miller’s or wheat bran. Wheat bran is packed with nutrition, and offers many dietary benefits.
Health Benefits
Wheat bran is beneficial toward providing digestive regularity and ending constipation because it is very high in dietary fiber. Some also claim that foods containing wheat bran provide a feeling of fullness. This claim may be true, since wheat bran tends to absorb water and expand in the digestive system.
Nutritional Information
One cup of wheat bran contains 99% of the US recommended daily allowance (RDA) of fiber, nine grams of protein, and 34% of the RDA for iron. Wheat bran is also high in protein, magnesium, manganese, niacin, phosphorus, zinc and vitamin B6, and is low in fat, with no cholesterol, and no sugar or sodium.
How to Add Wheat Bran to Your Diet
One can purchase wheat bran in bulk, which makes it quite easy to add to cereals like granola or to baked goods. Wheat bran muffins are a natural choice, but adding wheat bran to pancakes, biscuits, waffles, or even cookies is a great way to bulk up the nutritional value of a food. Some people even take wheat bran in powdered form as a way of getting their needed dietary fiber each day. A small amount of wheat bran can be added to smoothies, especially when it is finely powdered.
Taste and Texture
Wheat bran has a sweet taste, but not all find it appealing. Its texture is dry and flaky, but provides a full-bodied texture when added to foods.
Storage
Wheat bran cannot be stored like regular wheat flour. It tends to get rancid and is best stored in the refrigerator, especially if one plans to store it for long. Alternately, it may be stored in a vacuum-sealed canister at a moderate temperature. If you note that the wheat bran tastes bitter, it is probably rancid, and should be discarded.
Question of the Day
What new food did you randomly try, but now is an important part of your diet?
