Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1847-07-01
From Chambers Edinburgh Journal.
White and Brown Bread.


that the separation of the white from The brown
paris of wheat grain was likely TO be baneful
10 the health We proceeded upon theotetical
grounds, believing that Providence must have
contemplated our using the entire grain, and
not portion only, selected by means of nice.
y arranged machinery. II struck US forcibly,
hat TO go on for a long course of years, thus
using kind of food different from wha, nature
designed, could not fail 10 be attended with bad
consequences. We have since lea1ned that
our views have some recognized support in SCI
ence. The following paragraph from recent
pamphlet will al once serve to keep The subject
alive in the minds of our readers, and explain
the actual grounds on which the separation of
/ The flour is detrimental. The general belief"
says The writer, d" is, that bread made with the
/ finest -four is the best, and that whi,eness is
the proof of lis quality bul both these opinions
are popular errors. The whlleness NAV be and
generally is, communicated by alum to The in
! jury Of the consumer and ii is known by men
! Of science that the bread of unrefned flour will
sustain life, while that made with The refined
will not Keep man on brown bread and
aer, and he will live and enjoy good health !;
give him white bread and water only, and he
will sicken and die The meal Of which the
first is made, contains ell The ingredients neces-
sary to the composition of nourlshmenl 10 the
various structures composing our bodies Some
Of the ingredients are removed by The miller in
his efforts 10 please the public so that fine
-four, instead of being better than meal, is the
least nourishing and 10 make the case worse,
ii is also The mos, difficult Of digestion. The
loss is, therefore, in all respects, waste, and 1t
seems desirable that the admirers of white bread
but especially the poor, should be acquainted
with these truths, and brought to enquire wheih-
er they do no, purchase, at TOO dear rate. the
privilege Of indulging in the use of II. The
unwise preference given so universally to white
bread, leads 10 the pernicious practice of mix
ing alum with the flour, and this again TO all
SORTS of adul,erations and impositions; for 1t
enables bakers who are so disposed, by adding
more and more alum, TO make bread made from
The -four of an inferior grain look like the best
or mos, costly, and &c dispose of II accordingly
at once defrauding the purchaser and tamper-
/ ing with his health. Among The matters removed
/ by the miller are the large saline substances,
which are indispensable TO the growth OF the
bones and teeth, and are required. although In
less degree. for daily repair. Brown bread
should, therefore, be given TO nurses, and 10 the
young and to the growing, and should be pre-
! ferred by ALL of whatever age, whose bones show
tendency TO bend, or who have weak teeth.
! Ii is believed that brown bread will generally
be found the best by all persons having slug
gish bowels and slomachs, equal TO the dlges-
iion of The BRAN But with some it will disa-
gree, for il is too exciting 10 irilate bowels,
and is dissolved with difficulty in some stom-
achs.--When this happens, the bran should be
removed, either wholly or in part; and by such
means The bread may be adapted with the great
est ease, TO all habits and all constitutions.
! Mr.. Smith, in his late remarkable work on
fruits and farinacea as the food oil man, gives
some illustrations OF this doctrine. Bulk" he
says, {" is nearly necessary 10 the articles o
diet as the nulriment principle. They should
be so managed that one should be IN proportion
10 the other. Too highly nuriiive is probably
as fatal to the prolongatlon OF life and health
as that which contains an insufficient quantity
of nourishment" 1t is matter of common re-
mark among old whaIemen, that during long
VOYAGES the coarser their bread the better then
health. 9" have followed The seas for thirty
five years." said an intelligent sea-capain tc
Mr.. Graham, 9" and have been in almost every
part of The globe. have always found that
the coarsesl piIot-bread, which contains con
siderable portion OF bran, is decidedly The bes
for anv man" q am convinced, from my Owr
experience" says another captain, +" that bread
made of The unbolted wheat meal is far more
wholesome than that made from The best super
fine -four, the latter always tending to produce
constipation"
Capt. Dexter of the ship Isis. belonging tc
Providence, arrived from China, in Decembe
i 1904. He had been about one hundred and
ninety days on the passage. The sea-oread
which constituted the principal article OF foot
for his men, was made Of the bes. superfint
-four He had not been long at sea before his
men began to complain of languor, loss of ap
petite and debility These difficulties contln
ued to increase the " hole voyage. and severa
of the hands died on the passage of debility and
insnition. The ship was obliged 10 come 10
anchor thirty miles below Pfosid idence such
was the debility OF the men on board, that they
were no, able 10 get The ship under weigh again
and the owners were under The necessity o.
sending men down from Providence When
she arrived the owners asked Cap. Dexte'
wha, was the cause of the sickness Of his men
He replied iha, " The bread was too good"