Monday, June 16, 2008
Bread 101
As I sit here eating my bagel I have to contemplate my love of bread. I do indeed love bread - no question about it. Rye, pumpernickel, Italian, heck I even love Texas Toast. The only kind of bread I don’t love is Whole Grain - exactly the type I should be eating. So I went on a search to see what I can find out about the other types of breads I eat, how healthy they are and what specifically I should be looking for when I grab a loaf off the shelf. There are so many types that it would literally take me hours to list them all, so instead I’ll go with the important varieties.
White and Whole Grain Bread
Whole grain is a basic form but by grinding the grains, adding water and heating it up you get whole grain flatbread. Whole grain bread is similar to flatbread except you add yeast to make it rise. White bread starts out the same way but instead of adding “whole” grain the grain is processed. The hard outer portion of the grain is stripped which takes away all the important fiber and the many vitamins that it offers as well as minerals and healthy fats that are natural to the bread. The remaining portion is then ground to a fine powder and then “enriched” with genetic vitamins and minerals. Then you bake it. Huh - white bread - not very appetizing for sure. Whole grain is much better, but lets face it, it doesn’t taste very good to a lot of people.
Sourdough
A popular type of bread because of its consistency, they are simply wheat bread with no sweetener added. If the people baking it add a sweetener - which is nothing more than high fructose corn syrup in some cases, and brown sugar, honey or molasses in other cases - it becomes the bread that you buy in the store. True sourdough is much better for you. It has cultures of lactobacilli bacteria and yeasts that are used to leaven the bread. The culture is merely a starter until they add flour and water which gives it the sour or tangy flavor.
Sprouted Grain
Technically it is just a traditional bread made from ground flour from the hardened kernel of the grain. Gaining in popularity over the past few years, it may use the best part of the grain but it is ground which takes away many of the vitamins that you need but the “sprouting” in the bread allows the enzymes in the grain to convert some of the carbohydrates and fats to vitamins, minerals and amino acids but not nearly as much as whole grain gives you. Still a much better alternative to white bread though, and tastes pretty darn good. It is higher in protein though as well as fiber than traditional breads which makes it excellent for diabetics who want the breads but can’t control their blood sugar when they eat regular white bread.
Refined and Enriched Breads
Many breads now say enriched or refined in them but really it is an oxymoron of sorts. Sure they are “enriched” - enriched with less standards of vitamins and minerals because the original nutrients have all been stripped out. Many companies try to add grains to the outside to make it look better but if it says “enriched” you should avoid it at all costs.
Then of course you have the oat, rye, barley, millet and kamut breads which really are nothing more than variations using different grains other than traditional wheat bread. Sometimes seeds or spices are added which give the different varieties more taste like onion bread but basically they just use different grains.
Picking Out a Healthy Bread
The first thing to look at when purchasing breads is the ingredients list.
Look for breads where the very first ingredient is “whole grain” or “stone ground” rather than “enriched” (even if whole grains follow the enriched flour ingredient).
Look for natural sweeteners like molasses or honey over high fructose corn syrup. Preferably, the sweetener and salt should be last on the ingredients list.
If you consume high quantities of bread or keep the bread refrigerated, it will last longer and you can purchase fresher varieties that do not contain additives or preservatives.
Basic Ingredients List
The most basic ingredients list will look like this: whole-wheat flour, water, salt. There should be a few grams of protein and fiber per slice – low protein and/or low fiber is a sign of excessive processing that has stripped these nutrients, and implies that the other nutrients will be missing as well.
Rye bread typically contains moderate portions of protein and fiber per slice. A 100-calorie slice will contain a few grams of protein, a few grams of fiber, around 20 grams of carbohydrate, and decent amounts of calcium and iron. The addition of flaxseed increases protein and fiber (for the same 100 calorie slice) but also adds trace amounts of healthy, unsaturated fats. Again, this makes it better than white bread for sure if you just aren’t the kind of person who eats a lot of whole grain bread.
The moral of this bread story is that before you start eliminating bread from your diet, consider the many types of bread that are available and decide if there is one that suits your needs. You may find that you can find a perfectly good stone ground or whole grain bread that doesn’t necessarily taste like the bark of a tree - or you know, whatever you think it tastes like 
Personally, I think it tastes like the bark of a tree, and no I have never eaten bark off a tree… I’m just sayin’
Bread can increase your protein intake, add fiber to your diet, refill you muscles by supplying quality carbohydrates in addition to healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals, so make sure you do it right and you can actually gain a lot from that one or two pieces of bread.
I will repeat right now....ALL ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE ON THIS WEBSITE.
