The Truth About Bread

 

If you choose whole grain bread, it would be brown bread. When choosing the authentic whole grain, be sure the word “whole” appears before the name of the grain, whether it’s oats or rye. Labels are misleading and might say multi-grain, stone-ground, 100% wheat, cracked wheat or seven-grain. These are not usually whole grain.

Your bread will go stale faster by keeping it in the refrigerator. The grocery store bread will usually stay fresh for 2 to 4 days if it’s left on your counter. There are fewer preservatives in bakery bread, so it will keep 1 to 3 days. Put it in the freezer if you intend to keep it longer. Bread will stay fresh for 2 to 3 months this way.

Indulging in too much bread could raise the blood pressure. You are not just loading up on carbs by eating toast in the morning, a sandwich for lunch and a roll with dinner; you are also consuming a lot of salt. Most of us get too much salt, and bread and rolls are the #1 source, even before chips and other junk food. Eating just a single slice isn’t providing a lot of salt but eating bread and rolls several times a day is, and can raise your blood pressure. This can put you at risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Buying bread that is “enriched” just means that B vitamins and iron are added back after refining, but maybe not the fiber. Refining strips away the fiber, iron and many B vitamins. Your whole grain bread has fiber and is your better choice.

Bagels are boiled before they are baked, giving them their shiny, chewy crusts. Some are steamed rather than boiled, and are puffier and softer. However, bagels have a lot more calories than a slice of bread so be aware of how many you are eating.

Now what do you do when you find mold on a slice of bread? Toss out the entire loaf and not just the pieces with mold. That nasty mold may have spread to other parts of the loaf. The blue-gray-green fuzzy mold is the same fungus that can produce penicillin.

You can reduce cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease by replacing refined grains with whole grains. Those nutrients in whole grains will help your body form red blood cells and keep that immune system healthy

Bread is included in the list of foods that will raise blood pressure. Eating foods that have carbohydrates will cause your blood sugar levels to go up. The whole-grain pumpernickel is your best bet if you are worried about blood pressure. It causes the lowest and gentlest change in blood sugar.

White whole wheat bread is made with flour from white wheat. White wheat has lighter bran and a milder flavor. The gluten in breads is a protein that is found in wheat, barley and rye. White or brown rice flours are used to make up many of the gluten free breads and mixes. They also include starches such as arrowroot, potato and tapioca.

You can manage your weight by eating whole grain bread, as the fiber will make you feel full longer and help you control your weight. You still can’t eat as much bread as you want, though. You need to eat less, exercise more and eat healthy foods to lose that weight. Be sure to look for the 16 grams of whole grains in a serving when choosing bread. Bakery bread has no label so pick it up to see how heavy it is. The heavier the bread is the higher in whole grains. Each slice of whole-grain bread has at least 3 grams of fiber unless you buy double fiber bread that has 5 to 6 grams of fiber.

Just be sure that your bread is organic, whole grain and doesn’t have artificial sweeteners in it. Check those labels, exercise and eat healthy!!
-Dr Fredda Branyon