A Wheat Bran Lesson
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?
Tags: wheat bran
healthy ashley — April 7, 2009 @ 7:14 am
NO WAY! I just bought wheat bran on sale too. Now I’ve got to use it!
Happy Tuesday!
zestycook — April 7, 2009 @ 7:22 am
Happy Tuesday! I recently tried beet greens and now I love them!
Christina — April 7, 2009 @ 7:27 am
wow so much fiber! Definitely have to try it. I randomly tried flax and now have it every day.
VeggieGirl — April 7, 2009 @ 7:38 am
The food that I randomly tried and is now an important part of my diet = PUMPKIN SEED BUTTER!!! 10.5 GRAMS OF PROTEIN PER SERVING (which is 2 tablespoons)!!!
Tania — April 7, 2009 @ 7:53 am
What a coincidence! i just bought wheat bran for the first time this weekend, and made whole wheat- wheat bran raisin muffins last night, and they came out great! A very dense, but moist muffin.
Tanya — April 7, 2009 @ 8:00 am
I’ve been meaning to get some wheat bran as I’ve never really used it. Thanks for the lesson. The foods I randomly try – anything that catches my eye and has nutritional claims (for review on Iateapie.net
eliza — April 7, 2009 @ 8:03 am
must try wheat bran in my oats! looks great.
The food that I randomly tried and is now an important part of my diet = oat bran, i bought it not knowing if id like it or not, but now i eat it almost every morning!
Lauren — April 7, 2009 @ 8:04 am
Great wheat bran lesson – I’m adding it to my grocery shopping list!
Before seeing pumpkin puree splashed across the blogosphere, I never would have thought of using it for anything but pie. Now I use is almost every week! Wheat berries are another discovery that I use frequently.
lee (for the love of peanut butter) — April 7, 2009 @ 8:06 am
I think the most “experimental” i’ve been with food but now cannot live without-is canned pumpkin. I love baking with it, adding it to oats, and to yogurt! It’s so versatile and tasty!!
Nicole — April 7, 2009 @ 8:08 am
Oat bran! I love oat bran. I bought it randomly and I am obsessed.
coco — April 7, 2009 @ 8:09 am
I bought wheat bran because I saw many bloggers are adding it to the oats, but wasn’t sure the benefits of it. Thanks for the info.
Food that randomly try and loved it now? mm… greek yogurt in the first place, oat bran in the second place and PB , BB….. the list continues!
life coach jen — April 7, 2009 @ 8:27 am
I never really knew what wheat bran was, that was really interesting! I think I have phases where I randomly buy something, have it in my diet for a while, then forget about it. I once had this huge cabbage phase; I’d never really eaten it and then I was eating it almost every day, and then I just stopped again.
Betsy — April 7, 2009 @ 8:35 am
I was sent an assortment of Salba products – http://www.salba.com. It’s a seed, similar to flax but better. I have it every day!
rebecca (unintuitiveeating) — April 7, 2009 @ 8:36 am
i tried oat bran for the first time a couple months ago, and now i love it more than oats. i’ve never tried wheat bran, but it’s next to the oat bran in the bulk aisle of whole foods… so perhaps i’ll pick up a cup next time i go.
brandi — April 7, 2009 @ 8:38 am
ha, I baked something with wheat bran last night, too! I can’t wait to see yours
I am loving oatbran now. I still love my oats, but oatbran is so light yet so filling.
Mara @ What's For Dinner? — April 7, 2009 @ 8:39 am
YUM! i love wheat bran! My mom used to experiment with all sorts of grain hot cereals when I was little, and I loved how nutty wheat bran tasted.
Kara — April 7, 2009 @ 8:58 am
I think I randomly tried tofu. I’m not a vegetarian or anything, but I wanted to experiment with it. And now I just keep on going
Maria — April 7, 2009 @ 9:16 am
Great way to start the day!
K — April 7, 2009 @ 9:19 am
Thanks for the wheat bran lesson!! My random food – tofu! My mom always said it was horrible but after seeing it on the blogs, both her and I are converts! Happy Tuesday
Katrina — April 7, 2009 @ 9:36 am
Plain yogurt…. AND NOW IM ADDICTED! It’s bad my friend, bad, but oh so good!
Ellen — April 7, 2009 @ 9:52 am
millet– i saw it once in the bulk bins and bought a cup, and now it’s one of my favorite whole grains!
chickenfingersandfoisgras (AJ) — April 7, 2009 @ 9:53 am
nut butters for sure!
Since i don’t eat meat, they give me a ton of added protein
Pearl — April 7, 2009 @ 10:05 am
i tried kabocha and now i’m in love.
wheat bran sounds so cool!
Graze With Me — April 7, 2009 @ 10:10 am
Kombucha, love it!! Other purchases include: spelt bread, tofutti cream cheese, wasabi peas and Imagine brand soups.
Nicole (Sweetie Pie) — April 7, 2009 @ 10:19 am
I’m in the club with the people who tried oat bran and got hooked. I love the stuff! I’d also say that I have a strange love of roasted turnips, which I tried because there were turnips in my weekly produce box and didn’t know what else to do with them.
Jen — April 7, 2009 @ 10:20 am
hey tina! long time reader but i rarely comment… i love the wheat bran lesson this morning, i can’t wait to get some this weekend! quick question: how are you liking your garmin 305? i am really interested in getting one but want to know a little bit more about what it’s like to work out with one. is it bulky on your wrist? do you have to wear the chest strap to get your heart rate, and how often do you do this/how comfortable is it? thanks so much in advance!!
Rose — April 7, 2009 @ 10:22 am
I love wheat bran! I’m glad you’re bringing it back in style
I live for flaxseeds now!
Mel — April 7, 2009 @ 10:46 am
i randomly tried wheat berries and now i can’t get enough of them! i like them in both sweet and savory dishes (in salads and mixed into my oats with dried fruit)!
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats — April 7, 2009 @ 10:51 am
Hmmm I’ve been very curious about wheat bran lately…maybe I’ll give it a shot??
Beadie @ What I Ate Yesterday — April 7, 2009 @ 11:02 am
I saw wheat bran in whole foods last week and was unsure about whether or not to buy it. Maybe i will give it a go.
Seems like my answer to these questions are always the same. Greek yogurt!
Kelly — April 7, 2009 @ 11:16 am
This is going to sound mundane, but the answer to your question is mushrooms. I was convinced I hated them but gave them a try a year or so ago when I was losing weight. Now I love them and could eat them with every meal.
I also love wheat bran. I love to make bran muffins. Mmmm.
Julie — April 7, 2009 @ 11:34 am
Peanut butter. Growing up I always thought I hated it, then one last year I decided to try some of my sisters. Turns out I love it and now have it every day!
Run Sarah — April 7, 2009 @ 11:36 am
Tofu…I used to hate it, but now i have it at least weekly. I’m definitely going to try wheatbran – it sounds great!
Susan — April 7, 2009 @ 11:51 am
Wow, that’s all I need to hear. I gotta get me some wheat bran! I bought dates a few months back as an experimental buy, and now they are my favourite snack. I used to be a chocoholic, but now I eat a couple dates a day and it totally curbs my sweet tooth!
Katrina (gluten free gidget) — April 7, 2009 @ 12:04 pm
It’s me again! I know how you love trying new and healthy foods. Well, I just posted my very first giveaway on my gluten free gidget blog! Check it out and good luck!
Danielle — April 7, 2009 @ 12:12 pm
Dates… and I tried them because of you, hehe, they’re delicious.
Tina — April 7, 2009 @ 12:31 pm
@Jen: My Garmin is great! It takes for-ever to find satellites in my area, but other than that, I like it a lot. It is somewhat bulky on my wrist– it just takes some getting used to. I don’t currently wear the chest strap for the heart rate monitor– mostly because I can’t wear it comfortably, but maybe I will try to wear it again.
Kori (All Things B.) — April 7, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
My favorite food find was greek yogurt- the texture scared me, but then I started using it for things other than the traditional yogurt bfast and I was a convert!
Kudret — April 7, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
I totally put wheat bran in most of my baking goods. I think it works the best in breads like pumpkin bread and banana bread. I also sprinkle some oats and WB on the top with some cinammon to give a nice texture to the crust.
I love the expression on Mal’s face in the picture of him eating Wendy’s. IF only my boyfriend felt guilty about eating fast food–but it’s one of his staples and what can I say. It gives me a reason to steal a few fries every now and then–satisfies my craving without me having to eat a whole meal.
Shannon — April 7, 2009 @ 12:47 pm
Tina, I don’t think you should copy and paste information like this from other websites, especially word for word like you do here without crediting the source (wisegeek, in this case). I’ve noticed you do this a lot, and as your site grows, you’re more and more likely to get caught. I don’t think you want that to happen! I’m a writer, and people work hard to write original content like this – stealing them without credit just isn’t fair or ethical.
Elina (Healthy and Sane) — April 7, 2009 @ 12:49 pm
I need to start doing stuff like that – adding things to bulk up nutritionals. I have wheat bran in my fridge for baking (when the recipe calls for it) but I’ve never thought of randomly adding it to oats or yogurt (like I do with ground flaxseed). Good idea!
Shannon (The Daily Balance) — April 7, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
What a great start to the day! I’ve been wanting to try Wheat Bran — looks great!
I now CRAVE REAL eggs — after avoiding them FOREVER! I finally realized the amazing nutritional benefits of eating REAL, organic, cage-free eggs.
Kate — April 7, 2009 @ 1:00 pm
I love wheatbran!! I wish I did take more time to make it more often. Plus I had no idea it was so high in iron! wa-hoo!
rebecca — April 7, 2009 @ 1:22 pm
Hummas, I put it on my sandwich everday, much better than mustard or mayo
Shelby — April 7, 2009 @ 1:41 pm
I randomly tried oatmeal (this was obv. a while back) and still can’t get enought of it =)
Andrea — April 7, 2009 @ 5:54 pm
My boyfriend is a chef and made the most amazing salmon dish with sauteed spinach and quinoa. Quinoa is one of my most favorite grains! I’ll add it to salads or just eat it out of the tupperware!
Meg — April 7, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
Oatmeal I suppose. I mean I ate it as a kid with brown sugar. But that’s it. It wasn’t until I grew up that I discovered the wonderful world of add-ins!!!
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Erin — April 7, 2009 @ 7:07 pm
I love the info. I just purchased some wheat bran and haven’t been quite sure what to do with it as I got it out of the bulk bins!
Caroline — April 8, 2009 @ 12:11 am
wheat germ! I didn’t even know what it was when I first bought it–now I can’t get enough of it:)
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