This question is the result of the internet and so called medical experts reading a small amount of medical research, thinking they know everything and writing about it. So what’s the answer – it depends what it’s made from.
Whether its white or brown bread is not really the question that is important. It’s very easy to taken a loaf of white bread, dye it and thus make it look like brown bread even though it does not have the nutrients that brown bread comes with.
What Should You Be Eating
When your choosing a loaf of bread, you need to focus on what the bread is actually made from and not the colour of the bread. The best type of bread contains the words “WholeGrain” Or “Whole Wheat” where the outer husk of the flower seed has no been removed. With this process, the bread will contain the highest concentration of finite, protein, vitamins, folic acid and biotin.
White Bread
The process of making white bread is very similar to brown bread with the key difference being that the wheat flour is dyed white using potassium bromate, benzoyl peroxide and often chlorine gasses. Whilst white bread often contains more calcium, the chemical used to dye the wheat flower from brown to white are very dangerous in large doses. Whilst bread makers do not use large quantities medical research does not show the side effects of eating white bread over time. There is still question mark over whether the build up of these toxins over would time has an effect on the body or whether the kidneys remove these toxins from the body.
The other key problem with eating white bread is that you’re eating refined carbohydrates. The body needs to produce insulin to absorb the sugars out of the blood stream which are in turn converted into glycogen and then triglycerides which are stored in your bodies fat cells and is the cause of weight gain.
Brown Bread
So what you’re trying to say is that white bread is very bad for you and therefore we should be eating brown bread? Well this is partly true, however just because your bread is brown does not means that it’s 100% made out of whole wheat bread. Research has shown that bread manufactures have simply altered the why they produce bread and rather bleach the cheaply made wheat flow to produce white bread, the process is exactly the same with the only difference being that they colour the bread with caramel to create the brown bread that you buy on the supermarket shelf.
The other process bread manufactures like use is the “Enriched” process where rather than making brown WholeMeal Bread from scratch, they simply add back into the mix a selection synthetically manufactured vitamins and nutrients that the body will struggle to absorb and digest.
Brown Vs. White Bead
It really does not matter what colour the bread is. What’s important is what is made from. Look at the ingredients on the back on the bread and make sure the first ingredient is either Whole Wheat or Whole Meal Flour.
To make whole wheat or whole meal flour bread, the wheat germ and the bran and grounded down together to make the wheat flower. This bread making process means that the nutrients and vitamins remain in the bread and the fibre content helps to slow down the digestion process which gives the blood a greater chance to take out the healthy nutrients that it needs.
Better Still Don’t Eat Wheat Bread
If you enjoy eating bread, but are worried about the side effects there are a few options that you can consider that are better for you than wheat bread.
Rye Bread – is less refined, contains a much high concentration of fibre and due to it being digested slower will satisfy your hunger and has a lower effect on your blood sugar level. Patients with diabetes often eat rye bread rather than wheat bread because its so much easier to digest and at the same time keep blood sugar levels in the optimum scale.
Spelt Bread – is very similar to wheat bread in terms of texture and taste, but also contains a better range of nutrients. Like rye bread above, spelt bread is high in fibre, but also high in a range of minerals from Manganese to phosphorus and vitamins such as thiamine and folate.