Back when I set out to improve my family's eating habits, I tried substituting whole wheat flour in place of white flour. I used whole wheat flour to make quick breads, muffins, and pancakes (at least, I tried). Ask someone who has done this, and they will usually admit they were not thrilled with the results — tough, heavy foods with a strong wheat flavor that not everybody enjoys.

So the tendency is to mix whole wheat flour with white flour to lighten up the texture of the finished product. The problem, of course, is that you are halfway back to where you started nutritionally — you're using white flour again!

Of course, some people find regular whole wheat flour fine and dandy just the way it is. This discussion will seem silly to them. This is for those of you who are used to cooking with white flour and are having problems getting used to whole wheat flour.

You could try mixing several types of wholegrain flours, such as whole wheat, millet, oat, corn, and others. This can work in many cases. But sometimes the texture will be wrong. If you are making cookies or brownies or muffins, the finished product may not stick together properly. When you want a preponderance of wheat in a recipe, what can you do?

Keep in mind that in ingredient label lingo, at least in the United States, "wheat flour", "enriched wheat flour", "unbleached enriched wheat flour" and similar terms all refer to white flour. "Self-rising flour" and "all-purpose flour" are white flours. Ingredient labels that include the term "whole wheat" must contain some whole wheat, but not necessarily a lot. To be sure you are getting a whole-grain wheat product, the ingredient list must say "100% whole wheat" or "100% whole wheat flour".

An excellent solution to this problem is White Whole Wheat Flour. This flour is made from hard white spring wheat, a variety that is lighter in color and flavor than regular wheat. This can be used in place of white flour in many (not all) recipes, and can certainly be used in place of regular whole wheat flour in any recipe. For those of us who want to eat more whole grain products but are having a conflict between taste and nutrition, this great product can go a long way to solving the problem.

White whole wheat flour can sometimes be found in local supermarkets and health food stores. Or you can order it online. One source is King Arthur Flour.