The Goodness of Bread?
For years American’s have been warned to limit eating bread and other products made from refined wheat flour. These high carbohydrate, high glycemic index foods have been proven to cause blood glucose spikes which can lead to overeating by causing the desire to eat even if you’ve eaten enough calories to satisfy your needs until your next meal.
Bread manufacture’s are aware of this and have amassed a marketing army to convince consumers products made with mostly refined grains are healthy.
I recently bought a loaf of store brand wheat sandwich bread. Actually, it was free thanks to a loyalty coupon. “Wheat” means darker color and the package was labeled “Made with Whole Grain.” The whole grain part was prominent. The Nutrition Facts label and list of ingredients told another story. Each slice has less than 1 gram of fiber and the first ingredient was enrich wheat flour followed by enriched barley flour. Stone ground whole wheat flour was listed third followed by high fructose corn syrup.
On the back of the package is a symbol by grainpower.org of a person reaching for the sky with grain on both sides. Above the symbol reads, “Grains For Life”. Below the symbol it states bread is essential. That “healthy, active lifestyles depend on diets that include delicious and nutritious Whole Grain based foods, such as Breads, Buns and Rolls.” Interestingly, their is no website for grainpower.org as of this date.
Whole grain breads, buns and rolls are healthier than products made from highly refined grains. But this product isn’t one of them. There are healthier alternatives made from whole grains and provide 2 to 4 grams of fiber.
It is also good knowing this product contains 2 percent or less of:
calcium sulfate
monocalcium phosphate
ammonium sulfate
carmel color
mono and diglycerides
sodium stearoyl
lactylate
calcium peroxide
azodicarbonamide
enzemes
calcium propionate (preservative)
No pantry should be without these items.
Manufactured bread, rolls, buns and biscuits have a dubious distinction of being high sodium products. Some examples:
Sliced bread: 120 – 160 mg/slice
Dinner Rolls: 220 – 600 mg/roll
Buns: 240 – 400 mg/bun
Flour Tortillas 210 – 660 mg/tortilla (8 to 12 inch diameter)