Whether you are using flour to bake bread and cookies or using it as a coating for your favorite fried chicken, the variations in flour contribute to a variety of nutritional values.

Masa is a type of corn flour used to make the dough for tamales and empanadas. It is made by soaking the whole corn kernel in a calcium-rich lime water, which helps remove the outer skin, then drying and grounding the remainder.

Food that develops visible mold needs to thrown away to avoid food-borne illness. If you eat moldy bread, you may develop food poisoning and a headache. Food poisoning will make you feel sick to your stomach, causing diarrhea, vomiting and nausea.

Grains are essential in a healthy diet -- ChooseMyPlate guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommend 6 to 8 ounces daily for men and 5 to 6 ounces for women. Flatbread and wheat bread both contribute toward these intake goals.

Simply put, flours are finely ground grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables or legumes. While some flours, such as soy, oat and almond, provide valuable amounts of nutrients, the process used to create refined flour can remove the most nutritious parts of the plant.

There are several starch-based thickeners available to cooks and bakers, including arrowroot, potato starch, rice starch, tapioca, cornstarch and flour. The latter two are the most widely used in America, and both are versatile thickeners.

Bread crumbs provide a crispy coating for baked chicken and fish and they bind ingredients together in meatballs. But packaged bread crumbs often contain high levels of corn syrup and sodium as well as potential allergens, such as wheat and sunflower seeds.

Part of what makes whole wheat flour nutritious also makes it difficult to store. Within this whole grain product is wheat germ, which contains a healthy but perishable oil that time, temperature and exposure to air will eventually cause to become rancid.

A crusty baguette tastes best when eaten within a few hours of baking and goes stale quite quickly due to its small size. In addition to a lack of flavor, stale baguettes becomes rock hard and difficult to chew due to a process called retrogradation.

Indigestion can include feelings of bloating, gas, nausea, heartburn and other gastric distress after eating certain foods.

Choosing a flour for your favorite recipe can be confusing. Different types of baking flour, such as cake flour, pastry flour, bread flour and self-rising flour, each have distinct qualities that can vary performance in the kitchen.

The average American eats about 53 pounds of bread annually, according to Southern Utah University, and many supermarkets offer 50 or more types for purchase. At the same time, bread is one of the fastest-digesting – or highest glycemic – foods, which means you’ll be hungry again soon after eating.