By Ashley Dance
Most effective diets cut out bread completely. Generally, this is because the bread that is available to consumers today does not contain adequate nutrients and is so refined that it is not processed properly in the body. Specifically white bread or even other types of bread that are chiefly made with enriched flour are the culprits.
White bread is made by removing the bran and the germ of the wheat kernel, using only the endosperm. The germ and the bran are the parts that contain all the nutritious parts of wheat. Nearly 20 vitamins and minerals are lost by removing these from the flour. Don’t be fooled by “enriched” breads. Only five of those nutrients are added back in, and they are: thiamine, niacin, folic acid, riboflavin and iron. These were added back into the flour because of an emergence of vitamin deficiency diseases in our country like pellagra and megaloblastic anemia. However, these are a synthetic form of the vitamins and are not as easily absorbed by the body as the natural source. The fiber content of enriched flour is next to nothing. Your body reacts to it as if it were sugar because it is so quickly processed. Therefore it significantly raises blood sugar, which can be a serious problem for diabetics. Make sure you always read the ingredients on packaged breads because many labeled as “multi-grain” or “whole wheat” contain mostly enriched flour with only small portions of whole kernels. So what kind of bread can you eat? Sourdough and sprouted grain breads are best.
Sourdough bread is, first of all, delicious and it’s nutritious. Who knew? Sourdough bread is made from whole grain flour, wild yeast and water and is allowed to ferment for awhile. The yeast bacteria need food to grow and produce more of themselves, however, complex carbohydrates are not easy for them to digest. So they must produce enzymes to be able to digest the food source available to them. When all this is happening, carbon dioxide bubbles are released which causes the bread to expand and rise. This reaction creates lactic acid, acetic acid and ethanol (alcohol). Lactic acid contributes to better digestibility of the bread, just like with the bacteria in the beginning of the fermentation. Acetic acid adds flavor and is a natural preservative, lowering the pH level of the bread and retarding mold growth. So sourdough bread naturally has a longer shelf life than white bread without having to add in tons of chemical preservatives. When made with whole grain flour sourdough bread retains all the vitamins of the whole wheat kernel plus the added enzymes which help your body slowly digest the bread and receive all the nutrients.
So then what is sprouted grain bread? Essentially it is wheat that is allowed to germinate, or sprout, before it is ground up. The benefits of this are that enzymes are created, vitamin content is increased and anti-nutrients like phytic acid, which binds up minerals preventing your ability to fully absorb them, are neutralized. Sprouted wheat contains four times the amount of niacin and nearly twice the amount of vitamin B6 and folate as non-sprouted wheat. It also contains more protein and fewer starches than non-sprouted grain. Therefore, it does not raise the glycemic index as much making it better for those with blood sugar problems. Sprouted grains are not ground all the way into flour, so they are considered flourless, however the wheat berries do contain gluten. Sprouted grain breads are often made with several kinds of sprouts such as millet, barley, oat and even lentil and soy. A great brand of sprouted grain products is Food For Life‚Äôs Ezekiel 4:9 line. This bread was inspired by the scripture in the Bible, which says, ‚ÄúTake also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it…” So they did, and it‚Äôs so tasty! It is thick, hardy and grainy, but in a good way!
Knock useless white bread out of your diet and switch to grains that will actually help your body!
