Why White Bread is Bad for You
97"The whiter the bread, the quicker you’re dead!" – old saying.
Bread made from refined white flour is certainly not good for your health, its true. There is a little known fact that numerous scientific studies have proved time and time again that certain food items that are commonly consumed in our modern, fast living diets that are detrimental to our health. One of these is white bread, a main stay of most people’s diets. Believe it or not, eating white bread is bad for you!
This may be something you won’t be too pleased to hear, but if you want to improve your health, lose some weight and avoid the possibility of ending up with type II diabetes, then white bread will have to go. This hub page takes a look at why this is and why, if you want to enjoy good health you really do need to avoid white bread or even exclude it completely from your diet.
Why You Should Exclude White Bread From Your Diet
White bread is made from refined white flour containing several unwholesome constituents and very little in the way of nutrients and dietary fibre, essential for a healthy digestive system and a stable metabolism. This is why:
Refined white flour is produced from the whole wheat grain which is then subjected to the refining process which removes all traces of the husk, or bran and along with it all the goodness contained in the grain. It is then bleached using chemical bleaching agents which contain chlorine and dried in kilns at high temperature to kill any remaining beneficial constituents. This insipid, bland, tasteless powder then has gluten added, which is a product that an increasing number of people are becoming allergic to, which helps to produce a more evenly risen and air filled loaf. A standard while loaf of bread also has sugar added to enable the baker’s yeast to prove the dough and make it rise. Salt is also added to check the progress of the yeast and prevent the loaf from rising too much, or over-proving.
Eating mass produced white bread can be somewhat likened to eating cardboard, such is its blandness and lack of any useful dietary benefit whatsoever. Small bakery bread and home made loaves usually taste a little better but because refined white flour is used in their production, there is still no health benefit.
Negative Health Aspects of Consuming White Bread
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So what are the negative health aspects of eating white bread?
To begin with, as with white pasta and other products made from refined white flour, white bread contains a large proportion of high GI (glycemic index) carbohydrates. These carbohydrates cause sugars to be released quickly into the bloodstream. This causes a rapid rise in blood sugar levels which triggers a similarly rapid release of the body’s own sugar regulating hormone, insulin. This hormone is secreted in the pancreas and is responsible for regulating blood sugar levels. Insulin is what people suffering with type 1 diabetes have to inject to regulate their blood sugar levels because their body does not produce sufficient naturally. Type II diabetes is a rapidly spreading disease brought on by too frequent imbalances in blood sugar levels causing insulin production to become overworked, which eventually leads to the problem and all the negative health aspects associated with it.
Other negative health aspects come in the form of raised levels of bad LDL cholesterol in your bloodstream. This can lead to problems such as heart disease related to the narrowing of the arteries. When levels of LDL cholesterol become too high artery walls thicken and blockages can occur, leading to thrombosis (blood clots) as well as high blood pressure.
Another negative effect of eating white bread is on the body’s metabolism. This is retarded causing reduced efficiency in digestion and greater fat storage, which is more often than not accumulated around the belly. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why weight loss is so difficult for people who continue to eat white bread. Not only that, but it makes you feel more sluggish and less inclined to want to exercise. The lack of dietary fibre is a big problem for your digestible tract especially the intestines that finish the job and allow waste to leave the body. When there is little or no dietary fibre present in your diet, your colon will suffer and be unable to effectively remove all waste products from the body. This leads to such diseases as Crohn’s, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and can lead to cancer of the colon.
But all is not lost! While eating white bread is bad for your health, bad for your weight and bad for your digestive system, there is a nutritious, healthy alternative!
The Alternative to White Bread
You don’t have to give up bread from your diet, just white bread. The viable alternative is of course brown bread, otherwise known as wholemeal or wholegrain bread. This is produced from wholemeal flour which is not refined in the same way as white flour. Wholemeal flour retains the husk of the wheat, or bran which is where all the nutrients and dietary fibre exist. There is no bleaching either and gluten levels are generally lower than in white bread, although you should always check the label for this information first.
Wholemeal flour contains much lower levels of high GI carbohydrates than white flour and also higher levels of low GI carbohydrates, which work in the opposite way to high GI carbohydrates, as the low GI carbohydrates contained in wholemeal bread produce the slow release of sugars into the bloodstream. The upshot of this is that insulin is only slowly released into the bloodstream and in far lower amounts. The metabolism is stimulated rather than inhibited, meaning that your digestive system gets a boost in efficiency and less fat gets stored. This is good news for slimmers and anyone concerned about their weight.
Wholemeal flour products like brown bread contain high levels of dietary fibre. This is essential for the functioning of the colon and the complete digestion of food and waste elimination. They also contain lower levels of bad LDL cholesterol with higher levels of good HDL cholesterol. This means healthy arteries and a better normalised blood pressure, bringing with it better health and less concern over the negative effects of white bread.
To finish things off, brown or wholemeal bread tastes good and doesn’t have that cloying, pasty texture that massed produced white bread tends to suffer from. Make the switch to wholemeal bread and you’ll quickly grow accustomed to its taste and texture. Soon you’ll find yourself preferring its superior taste along with all the health benefits and goodness that come with it as part of a healthy, tasty diet.
Additional Info:
Thanks to a comment made by someone who decided to include a comparison of the two types of bread, I've had to add this paragraph with more accurate nutritional information so that people don't get put off by in your face figures like that - a trick used by advertisers to get you to want something. So here it is:
Analysis Of Bran
....................................Payen.. Millon... Kuhn.. Grandeau.. Warington.. Wolff.
Water ........................ 13.90 ... 13.90 . 13.40 .... 12.80 ....... 14.0 ........ 13.6
Nitrogenous matter ....18.77 ... 14.90 . 14.00 ..... 13.82 ...... .14.2 ....... 13.6
Fatty matter ................4 00 ...... 3.60 ... 3.80 ....... 3.59 ......... 4.2 ......... 3.4
Carbohydrates............ 48.26 .. 51.00 . 45.00 ..... 55.91 ....... 50.4 ....... 54.9
Cellulose..................... 8.78 .... 10.49 . 18.30 ....... 8.65 ....... 11.1 ......... 8.9
Salts ........................... 6.29 ..... 5.70 .... 6.19 ....... 5.23 .......... 6.1 ........ 5.6
The above results are analyses produced by different authorities. They show certain variations in the levels of nitrogenous matter, cellulose, and carbohydrates. However they all agree closely enough to show that chemically speaking, bran contains all the requisites for nutrition.
The nitrogenous ratio varies from 1: 2.8 to 1: 4.3. Among the total salts represented are potash, lime, magnesia, soda, phosphoric acid and silica.
There is a full nutritional composition chart of wheat bran available for your information if you want to know exactly what is in the bran that is included in bread made from wholewheat flour that is missing from white bread. The chart is too complex to re-create here, so to view it, please follow this link: www.fineli.fi/food.php?foodid=116&lang=en
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For those with allergies to yeast, there is an Irish recipe for soda bread which is made using bicarbonate of soda as the rising agent. The popular recipe uses white flour, but it works just as well using wholemeal flour (and tastes much better too!)
Bread makers use food coloring, brown wrappers and healthful-sounding words like "multi-grain", "stone-ground," and "cracked-wheat" to make their breads sound more nutritious than they really are! Many people don't understand about bread - they think because it has a brown color it's better, and they just don't understand what to look for.
Quite right, far too many people are taken in by the industry and the advertisers that promote their stuff. This is the kind of thing that should be taught to kids in school so they can educate their parents!
wow! thanks for the information i did not know that white bread is bad for you but now i know this will really help me and others too! Thank you very much!
You're welcome! Switching to wholemeal bread is definitely the way to go.
Great information - now please give tips on how to get kids to eat anything but white. Now mine are older they have whole grains or nothing and teenagers get hungry enough to even eat good stuff when no alternative. But wish I had taught them the habit long ago.
You just answered your own question in a way... You have to start them really early or they get used to white and then its difficult to get them to switch. A bit like getting them to like Brussels sprouts lol!!
The filling in a sandwich can make a slight difference. Make it one they really love and they might be tempted...
Hi Janice White,
Funny, your last name is white and you speak about white bread. Thanks for the information. I have heard over the years white bread is not good for you but never sat down to read about it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us hubbers.
mailxpress
Ha! So not everything white is bad lol!
You're welcome, mailxpress. I intend to write some more hubs soon as this is a great way to get my knowledge down on paper, so to speak!
Wow, I just ate white bread this Morning ! This hub has been such an eye opener as white bread has been my main breakfast diet. Time to go buy my wholegrain bread now !
Thanks Janice for this info :)
You're welcome Aj. Its easy to make the switch to wholemeal bread and once you've done it, you won't ever want to go back to white bread!
Good Advise & Very Informative. Wholemeal is more healthier.
Glad you liked it probyte2u!
I didn't know that was an old saying! But, I like it :)
Well, maybe its not such an old saying, but my mother always used to say it and she's quite old LOL!
I found out a long time ago that white bread is pretty much sugary fill. Whole grains are the only way to go!
Love the white bread rhymn above. I never heard that before. Glad to have learn something new, by your bread.
Hi Ashley, Whole grains are definitely the answer to a lot of health problems that we probably don't even know about!
Newsworthy, its a catchy rhyme and it brings home the truth that older generations must have always known. Maybe they tried to share it with us but not enough people (or the right kind of people, ie the big bread companies) listened!
Very true! I switched a long time ago to eating only whole wheat or brown or varities of other non-white breads and now I cannot stand the taste of white, even though it was mostly what I preferred originally. I think kids like white bread if they are given the option, but kids always like what is bad for them. :)
Excellent information about white bread (although I do like the occasional 2 pieces of Wonder white toast with peanutbutter). :)
Thanks Woody, I feel the same way. I find white bread tastes pasty and bland. Probably why kids prefer it - they like bland!
Hi Lisa, when I made the change I always wondered if I'd ever be able to give up toast made with white bread. There was just something about it that seemed like it would be a really tough decision to make. Well I did and I'm glad I did... and why did you have to mention peanut butter..? I like it too much LOL!!
I thought i heard something about it being bad for you. Thanks for clearing that up!
diabetes .... serious problem all over the world .....
Bredavies, you're welcome. The more people that know about why white bread is bad for you, the better!
Sexy jonty, I agree that diabetes is a major problem and its so sad that in so many cases it really can be prevented by being aware of what we're eating.
Great hub! My family has been eating whole grain and/or whole wheat bread for over a year now. I also purchase whole grain pasta as well. The kids don't miss the white bread at all and can't tell the difference between the pasta either. So many choices out there now to choose from.
Thumbs up!
very informative. will leave the white bread behind now. it will not be in my meal list anymore. thanks for the info.
This is fantastic, I always new that white flour was bad for you but I never took the time to research why.
@Chloe, that's great and yes, wholemeal pasta is every bit as tasty as the refined stuff (I have a hub page on why white pasta is bad for you too!)
@peminatautomotive - you're welcome. I'm glad my message is reaching people and you're taking action!
@lilmom0413 - its always worth it to make the change and see a difference in your health and knowing why you do something makes it all the more worthwhile
I knew white bread wasn't good, but I didn't know how bad until now! I think I really should start eating more brown. And you're right - it only takes a little while before you'll get accustomed to the new taste.
deepestwisdom, when I was younger, I used to laugh at people who ate wholemeal bread like they were some sort of crackpot army. Well I was so wrong! I suppose most of us think we know it all when we're young, so its a kind of growing up when things finally dawn on us!
Hey Janice! Good informative hub. I was wondering what is your fave brown or wholemeal bread? Hard to find a good one (soft and yummy) that my kids like. ; GPAGE
Hi GPAGE, I prefer to buy fresh bread from my local bakers, the kind of wholemeal loaf you cut yourself as I think they have the best taste of all. If I have to buy a supermarket cut loaf, then Kingsmill wholemeal is my personal choice. I don't know if you can get that outside the UK, though.
This imformation is very factual, and im glad someone clarifies why white bread is so bad for you. Im happy im not the only who goes natural.
nightlymistress, I'm sure there's a whole army of us who go the natural road - maybe enough to frighten the food industry into sitting up and listening that they must stop producing all the unhealthy garbage they sell to people - if we only had a big enough voice!
thanks i'll stop eating white bread from now on
Hi I love your Hub. I am new to Hub pages. How did you get the bread pic within the text?
@harveersingh, you're welcome and good for you! You'll notice a difference quite soon.
@mecheshier, thanks! To get a pic in the text, upload one from your computer to a picture module and then set it as half width. Then double click it in the layout section to make it half size and it will nest with one of the text modules.
Very usefull post! thanks
home cinemas, you're welcome!
Great hub. I've always thought that brown bread was better for you but great to get more info on it. Thanks!
thanks a lot for this information !gr8 post :)
I agree, but be careful some backers use color to make white bread little bit black, its same bread and you will pay more because you will think its healthful but its not.
@ jbullet You're welcome
@ rajan1311 You're welcome too!
@ arcadegamer yes, I've heard about that. The Food Standards Agency says bakers have to label their bread as "wholemeal" and if they don't, then its not the real deal.
Good thing I switched to wheat! This is news to me.
thats terrific Janice, just buy the "wholemeal" then and i need not bother with anything else. hence "the whole meal". ho ho just kidding.
I like this post very much..
My family is trying out best to stick to wholemeal now. The white bread is tasty, but too bad..
@Chris Crow - as long as its good news, eh!
@pylos26 - h1! When you say it like that, I can just imagine someone sitting there with a few slices of wholemeal bread and nothing else wondering what the big deal is!
@hubpageswriter - after a while you'll really get used to wholemeal bread and then the white bread will lose its appeal. If I get some in a restaurant and there's no alternative, I'll eat a mouthful but then stop because not only do I not really enjoy its pasty flavour, I also know what its doing to my insides!
Weight Watchers fan here -- - into darker breads :) GOod hub!
Ambition398 thanks! I'm not so much of a weight watcher as I'm about the right weight and I don't really think about it. But I do like to keep myself healthy from the inside out!
Good hub Janice!
I agree with the white bread thing! It's loaded with yeast!
I hate the foam like breads! The best bread are the one without baking powder or yeast, but difficult to find!
ALB21467 thanks. As to bread without a raising agent (yeast or bicarbonate of soda) you must be talking about unleavened bread such as the pitta bread from Greece or Turkey, or chapati from India. Chapatis are usually made from gram flour but can also be made with wholemeal flour. They are really easy to make yourself at home.
Just mix flour and water to make a stiff dough, roll it out into "rounds", splatter a little water each side and place in a very hot cast iron or other heavy bottomed frying pan (dry) for a minute each side.
Viola, instant chapatis! You can spice them up by adding crushed black pepper, or chili powder, or crushed coriander seeds, or in fact any spice you like! They taste great with Indian meals.
Thanks Janice - wonderful article!!
Shil1978 you're welcome!
what about hovis best of both? :-)
Interesting hub. I had no idea how bad white bread is. I didn't know my parents were trying to kill me all of those years by feeding me this stuff.
I agree with you, but I have to add a qualifier. If you suffer from IBS, wheat breads are hard on your digestive system and can bring on an attack. For breads, it is recommended that you eat a quality white bread like sourdough, or french bread. wheats and other insoluble fibers should be added gradually and in small amounts to your diet if you have irritable bowel syndrome.
@Love Marmalade - Hovis is known as wheatmeal bread, a mix of white and wholemeal flours. Its better than straight white of course as it contains some fibre which is good.
@Always Frugal - your parents probably wouldn't have known about the health downside of white bread, so they weren't trying to kill you, believe me LOL!
@DianeD - you probably have me there. I'm no expert on IBS, although my friend suffered with it for several years before changing her diet to include more fibre rich foods such as wholemeal bread, porridge, fresh fruit and veg etc and it cleared up quite quickly for her.
"It is then bleached using chemical bleaching agents which contain chlorine and dried in kilns at high temperature to kill any remaining beneficial constituents. This insipid, bland, tasteless powder then has gluten added, which is a product that an increasing number of people are becoming allergic to, which helps to produce a more evenly risen and air filled loaf."
This sounds horrible but not all white bread is done this way. Especially the part about bleaching, would anyone bleach the white flour.. I think it's crazy.
Michele Arrvinte sorry to burst your safe cozy bubble, but refined white flour is bleached and that's a fact. It's part of the refining process. Otherwise it would have a dull yellowish colour that people would not find so clean looking and hence would not be so attracted to it. And white bread is made with refined white flour.
But you're right about one thing, it is certainly crazy!
Do you really think eating white bread is a bad thing? Id argue that shooting black tar heroine is bad.
Nonetheless, anything refined is bad.
Aaron :)
Excellent health article. Making your own breads is the way to go: whole wheat, whole rye,etc. They smell great while baking and taste wonderful, plus they are good for you.
@flobie99 - No I think eating white bread is a good thing and I wrote this hub page as a joke. Only kidding...
It depends on your perspective. If you think drinking soda and eating pizza is good for you health, then there's no way you'll be convinced that white bread is bad for you. But not everyone is fooled by the clever ads for soda and pizza.
"You can fool some of the people some of the time..."
@Deltachord - thanks and yes you're right about baking your own. I make my own bread from time to time as well.
I love the smell as its baking and once its out of the oven I can never resist breaking a piece off while its still hot and eating it. Lovely...!
Man... I love white break with a slab of cheese.
@needful things - each to his own...
This hub is really an eye opener for my family too. I have tried many times to remove white bread from our shopping list but my wife ticks on it every time I do that. I will take a print out of this hub today and show it to my wife to tell her the detrimental effects of consuming white bread and I am damn sure she will not only remove it but will never look at it after reading this hub. Thanks for sharing this really really valuable information friend plus some nice points you have added.
That is why I bought a bread maker too I love the smell.
Nice hub- I think it is the gluten= and all white breads are not made the same. Nice hub - interesting subject...
That's nice. I do not like Bread anyway.
soni2006 - I'm glad it helps. I know that to change can sometimes be tough, especially when you've grown up on the stuff like I did, but it can happen when the argument for doing it hits the right spot and makes complete sense!
White bread is definitely evil! We stopped eating it a while back and I have been lucky enough to find a bakery that does Spelt bread which is SO much better for you. We also switched our pasta over to corn pasta, which is amazing - all the taste but none of the bloated, stuffed feeling after eating it. I admit I do miss the occaisional doughy cheese and pickle sandwich, but when I remember just how deadly white bread is I loose the urge pretty quickly!
@Tiara designs - bread makers are a great way to make you r own without all the work!
@Anamika S - good for you!
@HWP - I've never see corn pasta before, it sounds interesting. I'll have to keep an eye out for it next time I shop if its available here in the UK.
White bread being bad for us, well that depends on how much of it you eat. The problem for white bread is the bleaching agents that are used, get absorbed by the flour, then the bread that is baked.
When governments and health ministers decide to stop adding, all chemicals to the farming industry the healthier the crops will become.
Making produce better for us.
Of course, the bleaching agents are one thing, but don't forget the high GI carbs, total lack of dietary fibre etc (I don't want to write it all out again, its all in the article). White bread really is bad for you for lots of reasons. Whatever governments or industry leaders do or say, you don't have to eat it if you don't want to.
Just like a TV show you don't like, no one is forcing you to watch it, simply change channels!
Great hub and quite informative. Thanks for sharing with us
Good Advise
jayb23 & fastquitsmoking - you're welcome, thanks for commenting!
Janice White, in the old days the white flour was left for 3 months on air to dry and oxidize. This was the bleaching process and in some parts this procedure is still used. Now as I understood a gas is used to make the oxidation process much faster and the resulting flour is the same as it was.
So you are just telling scary stories here. I have eaten white bread my entire life and I am healthy. The thing is to eat a variate diet. Because white bread indeed lack some vitamins and minerals.
In the end white bread is much better then nothing at all.
But if you have problems because of over-eating in general that's a totally different story. Switching from white bread to something else will not help much, with the exception when that something else is so unpalatable that you will start eating less. :)
Michele Arrvinte - thanks for your insights. My stories aren't exactly scary, but simple truths. You can take them or leave them as is your choice. It is what it is.
Its a good thing and only today i came to see this hub and its rely informative, most of the people doesn't care about the type of food they eat... Thanks a lot for this share.
finsofts - you're welcome and I'm glad you got something from it.
Wow! Time to start shopping at Whole Foods!
GETTING KIDS TO EAT RIGHT, PERIOD!
Someone above asks the question of how to get kids to eat the right kind of bread. Well, you do that the same way that you get a kid to do whatever you want them to do. You train them.
So many of us protect our kids to death, literally. And that has to stop.
You have to allow your children to learn while they are small that there are forces/businesses in this world that will sell them garbage that will wreck their health and leave them vegetables later in life if they do not make smart choices today.
It's kinda' tough...but it can be done. It MUST be done.
SolarGoddess
Lynne Gordon
Ambition398 - I think that's pretty much the consensus here!
SolarGoddesss - thanks for that, kids are easily shown the right way when you do it in a way that makes sense to them and don't try to force it.
PS: I think its frowned upon if you add your link in comments and lots of Hubbers will mark them as spam.
Potato bread is amazing ;D
I talking about the " Arabic bread", Lebanese baker is the best I have ever tasted. As you said they mix only with water and I think some salt. You can roll a variety of fillings cooked minced meat or vegetable. Not the chapati!
The only way I can lose weight is to cut white bread out of my diet completely. As soon as I even just add one slice a day, I start to pack on the pound. It is hard for me not to eat it because I crave it. My doctor said that I have a food allergy to it. Yes, I'm finding out that white bread is not good at all for me!
Thanks for posting this hub!
Thanks for good informative article.
Great Hub!!
the whiter your bread the sooner your dead! ha ha, i no that old saying, i was gonna post it b4 u had but- oh well already did!
@Skane - sound interesting, I'll have to try it
@ALB21467 - aha, that's similar to pitta bread and yes, it tastes wonderful
@BetsyIckes - you're welcome. That's rotten luck having an allergy to it and worse when you crave it. Hope things work out for you
@Debbie Gee - you're welcome
@sophwall97 - haha, never mind, people are always getting things like that before me, so its nice to get one in for myself this time around!
Nice information on bread. We Indians use rice much
Quite right. White bread is quickly metabolized by the body into sugar, causing a spike in your blood sugar levels. Whole Wheat bread isn't such a bad alternative, either. ;-)
I always knew that white bread is not healthy but now I have a written proof. Thank you very much.
Really very nice information
I would like to eat brown bread
sylvester carter
Thank you for the article. I have heard people talking about it, but no real informations on it till reading this.
@Mac Mission - rice sounds like an interesting alternative
@RYPcontent - you got it! Remember most biscuits are also made of refined white flour, just to make your day!
@valuk - you're welcome
@sylvester0212 - if you want to, then do it!
@viviknows - you're welcome, I'm sure there'll be plenty of copycat articles winging their way through cyberspace before too long.
Really good information ! Thanks...
Great Hub, Good Information.
Read the ingredients on the wrapper of any common grocery store bread white or not and you are likely to come across words you don't even understand. Preservatives, dough conditioners, colorings, etc. You can't single out a bread by it's color, you have to look at what it contains. A lot of "Wheat" breads are not any better than "White" bread. Bread is actually a very simple thing to make from REAL ingredients.
Nice hub I am a diabetic and remember my dad telling me about not eating white bread. I sick with brown everything including wheat bread, noodles, and rice.
Thanks :)
@siuingme - you're welcome
@Gift Experts - you're welcome
@MikeNV - while most things you buy in supermarkets are full of additives, not all breads are the same. You seem to have missed the point about why bread made with refined white four is bad for you - I wasn't talking so much about the additives, but what's left out, ie the bran which is part of wholemeal bread. Don't confuse wholemeal with wholewheat, they are not necessarily the same.
@mattd365 - thanks. As a diabetic you'd be more keenly aware of just how bad white bread is for you, and that goes for everyone, not just diabetics.
Great article and I so agree. What we are calling bread is mass produced garbage.
And why bread, this prepackaged product, anyway? When I lived in Korea breads in general were not part of a healthy diet - fresh is always best. Instead you would take a fresh green leaf - I like the sesame leaves - and wrap your food (other veggies, seafood, meat) in small portions, dunk it in a nice healthy spicy sauce and eat.
We eat such garbage here in the West. Why? Because someone maufactures it and sells it to us. And our health is suffering.
Glad to see hubbers sharing so much healthy info.
Thanks again!
I so agree. We eat such dreadful food and mostly because advertisers have brainwashed us into believing we want it!
We certainly don't need half what we eat in the West and the typical UK diet is absolutely terrible when you sit down and really think about it.
Ok Guys, I just shocked my girlfriend with a quick per slice comparison:
Calories: 86
Sugars: 1.6g
Fat: 1.1g
Saturates: 0.3g
Salt: 0.4g
Fibre: 2.7g
Calories: 85
Sugars: 1.4g
Fat: 0.7g
Saturates: 0.2g
Salt: 0.35g
Fibre: 2.0g
The Latter is best of both and the first is wholemeal.
Quite a shock, so apart from fibre, best of both is clearly healthier!
Thank you MrJ2000 for your comparison of those aspects of bread.
But what people need to understand is that depending upon the manufacturer of course those figures would differ from baker to baker.
Unfortunately, the info you're giving us is really just the constituents of wheat minus the husk.
Also, you mentioned a per slice comparison. You didn't give the exact weight of each slice. A slice of wholemeal bread again depending upon the baker, can typically be heavier than a similar looking slice of white bread. Which would skew your comparison enough to make it invalid.
You didn't mention the comparison between high GI carbs and low GI carbs, which are very different between the two and a major constituent of the way the body stores fat.
Wholewheat bread contains far more nutrients because of the inclusion of bran (which is missing from white bread). Didn't you get that point?
I've added a paragraph at the end of the main article with more information on the constituents of bran so you can see where this is coming from.
Thanks for your eye opening details about the white bread. I have not learnt about these facts so far. Very informative hub.
You're welcome Nisha
Janice,
what an informative hub.Thanks for sharing this info.I didnt realise white bread was so"naughty"!Good saying your mum used to wheel out!
You're welcome willymckay! It's one of those sayings that sticks in your mind, for sure!
Eating whole grains has changed my life. I started a few months back eating only whole grains, no sugars or artificial sweetners, etc and have lost 13 pounds. My dh has lost 20. We've simply started to eat correctly. No more dieting. Great post!
That's really brilliant Tanya. It just shows you don't need to make huge changes to diet, just cut down the worst offenders and the weight starts to drop off!
I read a long time ago in a Chinese medicine book that white rice and white bread or anything processed like white sugar etc. is all bad for you. I eat brown bread and brown rice. Excellent hub.
Thanks explorer9360, in fact most of the illnesses that have only appeared since the middle of the 20th century can fairly certainly be attributed in some part to the food industry's love affair with processed food.
The rise in the levels of pesticides and other chemicals sprayed onto crops is probably the other mitigating factor, but that's a topic for another batch of hubs, perhaps.
I already knew in general it wasn't good for the body but thanks for the break down. Great hub page Janice! No more white bread for my son ;-)
fat burning food, thanks... its a sensible choice to make!
I'm trying to find out if white bread is really bad for you. I wonder if there is a study with statistics that shows that people who only eat white bread die younger than people that only eat the healthiest type of brown bread?
LOL, that's probably something you're going to struggle to find, in a similar way as you'll struggle to find scientific studies into a lot of health related issues that are quite real, but haven't yet been subjected to statistician's rules.
Not all things can be absolutely quantified by studies and statistics. Science hasn't reached a state of perfection yet, and neither has humankind, so more often than not you simply have to go on anecdotal evidence and what you can see with your own eyes, especially when such evidence is strong.
We know what white bread does to the body and how it degrades it, while brown bread does so far less. Anyone with enough intelligence can work out from what is observable and fill in the blanks for themselves. Its how we learn and grow!
I've been trying for years myself to limit my white bread intake. Thanks.
You're welcome, Marty
It's funny that as you get use to the flavor of the whole grains and realize that it is full of much more flavor.
It is! And it really doesn't take much before you get used to it, either.
When I got used to wholewheat bread, I appreciated it more when I tried to shift back to white bread because white bread felt heavy in the tummy. Whole wheat bread is twice as expensive but all worth it.
Thanks Janice.
You're welcome Mama! Here in the UK, wholemeal bread is not much dearer than the white equivalent, so there's really no excuse for us Brits not to make the switch.
hi, I love honey wheat or whole grain bread. I totally agree with your hub. Happy post new year to all.
Thanks Nikki
We have eaten whole wheat bread for years now, that we make ourselves with King Arthur Flour. It is great! good hub.
Ah, drat! Well, I can't claim ignorance any more. I guess one consolation is maybe I can use more rye/pumpernickel? That's an amazing bread. It's so good, you'll probably tell me it's bad too. (??)
you are absolutely right on this topic. any refined food and processed should be shown the door.
Ahhh, I love white bread but it is true that it will kill your waist line faster than just about anything else out there.
GojiJuiceGoodness - King Arthur Flour sounds like a regal way to get healthy!
SamAntone - I think rye/pumpernickel is a much better alternative to white, but I haven't researched these grains so I'm not sure about them.
bihar - thanks, its all about how healthy you want to be
lender3212000 - LOL nice word play on my opening line!
great hub
Going to switch over to rye sourdough bread myself. I have been eating way to much weight bread and after reading this hub I have know realized it is not healthy
And what exactly did white bread do to you to deserve this slander?!
A fair and very true point though...I actually really enjoy white bread but due to the truth (and good job posting the facts, it's very important) I've had to cut down on it and now only have white bread as a treat...maybe some tiger bread occasionally...
If there are any white bread eaters reading that hate wholemeal...you'll learn to love it! it grows on you and after a whil you'll forget you even ate white bread. And Janice White says, the health benefits are endless.
Thank you Janice, keep up the informative advice!
Absolutely right on this.
Wow ... white bread likened to cardboard! Although I've made several attempts to stop / cut short on white bread, I end up eating it all the same. This hub sure set me straight! Thanks.
I hate to disappoint all of you but wholemeal, brown, wholegrain, multigrain, seeded breads are all as bad for you as white bread, manufacturers have just tried to make them better for us to eat while still using the same process in making their product. I discovered the following on another website:
Bread is everywhere! We can’t escape it, it creeps into our diets daily. However, I try to keep it to a minimum. Here’s why:
A lot of us may already know that white bread is unhealthy. Some of us may reason that as long as we are buying whole grain bread, we are making a healthy choice.
If you ask me (which you did, right?) I’ll tell you that most “Whole Wheat Bread” is poison too! I’m talking about commercial processed breads – most of which (among other undesirable ingredients) – include bromide (more on this evil chemical soon). Oftentimes, sadly enough, if its a typical highly processed commercial bread, the fact that it is whole wheat doesn’t make it much better than choosing its white brother.
So…Why is bread bad for you?
There are different schools of thought at work here. Some say that even whole wheat commercial bread is better because it is loaded with fiber and its glycemic index is lower. However, what I’m concerned about in processed bread is a pretty nasty ingredient- bromide- and the fact that all the naturally occurring nutrients have been stripped out in the factory process.
I don’t buy the argument that commercial/processed whole wheat bread is still healthy because all the vitamins and minerals (calcium, iron, vitamin E, etc) are added back to the flour as part of the process. Its still no match for the naturally occurring nutrients that were there in the first place! Also, the companies are using them in their synthetic form, which are not able to properly adapt to our bodies.
Processed bread is treated with a variety of chemicals from the ground to production in order to “bleach” the flour and prevent it from sticking- such as:
•insecticides
•fungicides
•benzoyl peroxide or chlorine dioxide (known to cause cancer)
•methyl bromide
•nitrogen trichloride
•alum
•ammonium carbonate
•nitrogen peroxide
Yuck!
These “hidden ingredients” can cause:
•allergies that manifest as bloating, diarrhoea, eczema, asthma, headache or general malaise or lack of energy
•leaky gut syndrome
•growth of unfriendly toxin generating bacteria in the gut
•slowing of bowel transit time, so toxic substances are in contact with the bowel for longer
It sure makes me crazy that someone would buy a refined, processed “whole wheat plus fiber” bread at their grocery store, hoping it is what they need to support the gastrointestinal tract and help flush out toxins. When they are getting the opposite!
So…What’s Bromide?
Bromide is a dough conditioner found in most flours as potassium bromate. It came into use in the 1960’s as an “improvement” on potassium iodate.
I’ll cut to the chase: Bromides disrupts the endocrine system and slow down the metabolism. Because bromide is also a halide (Any organic compound that contains a halogen atom can be considered a halide) it competes for the same receptors that are used in the thyroid gland (among other places) to capture iodine. This will inhibit thyroid hormone production, resulting in a low thyroid state. This throws your metabolism out of whack.
Why on earth do they use it, then?
Some commercial bakers claim they use bromated flour because it yields dependable results, and it makes more elastic dough which can stand up to bread hooks and other commercial baking tools.
The UK banned bromate in bread in 1990. ?Canada banned bromate in bread in 1994.
Back in 1999, the Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the FDA to prohibit the use of potassium bromate, charging that the FDA had known for years that bromate causes cancer in lab animals, but had failed to ban it.
Who’s not using it?
I prefer non baked breads, known as “live bread”. Not only are the enzymes, minerals and vitamins (all the “goodies”) in it, but no bromide is added and it is more filling, energizing and nourishing.
There are many brands of live bread, my personal favorite being Ezekial Sprouted Bread. I’ve also heard that some manufacturers are starting to advertise their bread as “Bromide FREE.” Look for these!
The healthiest option, though, is to look for “Sprouted Bread”. This is bread that hasn’t been baked but still retains a very bread-like state. It’s packed with all the naturally occurring nutrients and enzymes that processed bread strips out. Other healthier options is to make your own bread from grains such as spelt, quinoa, rice, etc.. (You can easily make your own at home with a Vitamix blender)
Cast thy bread upon the waters, friends. Let it drown.
So, think again before you eat your next sandwich. One more thing, breads as stated at the beginning of this comment are also full of sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Thanks for the long and insightful comment farmersboy. You could have made that into a hub page of your own!
Incidentally, I live in the UK, so that makes my shop bought bread rather less unhealthy than the "poison" still sold in the US.
Of course, the best course of action of you really want to ensure that your health is not compromosed by any edible products is to grow your own vegetables, go vegetarian and bake your own bread from wheat that you grow, harvest and mill yourself. That is probably the only way to ensure you get untainted food.
For most of us, that is really not an option, so we have to rely on what the food industry serves us up in shops and supermarkets. Shame, but nothing will change unless consumers can petition the industry en masse and that is never going to happen. People just can't get organised because they can rarely agree on anything.
I don't know what to say after reading this nice post. You don't know what kind of response you get," Wow."
I'm all about wheat bread now a days, I will only use white bread for french toast, I just can't do it any other way.
Great Hub! No wonder I started losing weight when I gave up white bread.
I used to hate wholemeal bread, but I'm slowly coming round to it. Toasted brown bread with margering and peanut butter = Amazing.
You can even get peanut butter that isn't made from hydrogenated vegetable oil like most brands (I can feel another hub coming on...LOL)
A friend brought some back from Canada ages ago but I can't remember the name of it. It was literally made from peanuts and nothing else - and it tasted wonderful!
Hey, I understand everything you stated. I personally have ate wholemeal for about a year now and I'll be honist I don't feel any different.
What I do like about wholemeal is the natural taste, white is not natural and if you havn't ate it for a while you can taste the massive difference. Even the texture of brown bread is much better quality. Not just the taste.
Although interesting to read what the difference between white and wholemeal flours as prepared in industry, a few questionable statements are raised. The aetiology of type II diabetes is not entirely understood and has not been proven to be due to frequent imbalances (although you could say the consequence of T2DM is a persistant imbalance) of sugar levels, the closest research paper I think so far critically accepted being a diet high in fructose. The greatest association known presently is simply being overweight due to a disparity between burnt calories and those taken in. Also Crohn's disease and Irritable bowel syndrome are not caused by lack of dietary fibre, although the symptoms of IBS can be ameliorated by increased fibre intake. Crohn's disease is an autoimmune disease potentially affecting the entire body (although the gut is severely affected) and is of unknown cause, with the best aetiological explanations so far being genetic links and a whole host of moderately associating environmental factors such as animal and milk proteins. IBS is also of unknown cause but generally thought to be a problem affecting the communication between the gut's own nerve plexus and the central nervous system, and is not due to an simple environmental factor such as eating white bread.
james elrond - thank you for your enlightened comment. I notice you just joined Hub Pages a few minutes before writing this comment. Did you join just to do that? Most people write a few of their own hubs first before commenting on other Hubs, out of a sense of courtesy by making a contribution to the community first. But it takes all sorts.
I know that fresh brad is not healthy at all! But I can't prove it to my friend. Your article helped me to convince him to stop eating white brad... Please, help me about the fresh one!
Our bodies can no longer process GMO grains. This leads to obestiy and diabetes in over 700 Million people worldwide annually!
My goodness Janet, what a popular hub. Even after 2 years it still gets people amazed. The thing about white bread is that it is very much like religion really. I make all my own bread..hmmm.
Bytchy
Many people who hears "white bread is bad" for the first time have a hard time believing. But it is true. Bad mainly because it turns quickly into sugar and sugar is really bad -- causing metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and obesity.
I started avoiding bread a while back, but I wish I had learned this much earlier.
just bake your own bread using unbleached flour and u know how much sugar and salt you put in it. Its impractical to make your own flour these days.Make your own choice!!
Janice, this is a great hub! The sugar in the white bread is another way for the food manufacturers to gain from people's sugar addiction. It is crazy but luckily people are starting to see the dangers of unhealthy food. Your hub is certainly a good addition to the useful information which is needed.
This is a terrific article. I gave up white foods when I turned 17 as I became very health concious. Everyone around me thinks I'm nuts! If only they knew. Maybe I'll just have to direct them to this article to knock some sense into them :P Thank you !
great article Janice. My chum at work knows that white bread isn't good for you but he thinks that it isn't actually bad either. Is it ok to show him your article to help to change his mind and demonstrate that i care in a platonic way?
Hi, I live in the US and am kind of confused now. Is wholemeal the same as whole wheat? I have never seen wholemeal bread or flour here. But an above poster said they " trick" you by putting multi grain or stone ground--If it says 100% wheat is that good? And I also thought stone ground wheat was good for you? I have whole wheat flour at home I'd like to make bread with is that healthy & is that what you're talking about?? Thanks!
Hi ralydic, wholemeal is just the UK term for wholewheat.
while I respect your wanting everyone to live a healthier life style and don't agree with bleaching or other artificial ingredients, I find this don't eat white bread thing a little bothersome. I think many people (including myself at one point) dont fully get this whole bread debacle. The fact is that most whole wheat bread has the same GI as white because flour is mostly the endosperm (the only part of the wheat kernel that white bread is made of) no matter what kind of wheat based bread you buy. That fact is that you can buy white bread and flour that has not been bleached and also the only way for whole wheat flour to REALLY be nutritious is if the add extra bran or maybe other grains which makes bread taste terrible! Truly people should enjoy their white bread but know that bread in general is not the best source of nutrition and if people would eat whole foods like vegetables, fruits and BEANS like we are all supposed to, the amount of fiber and vitamins we consume would blow wheat bread right out of the water! Also, pasta is not high GI unless it is cooked until its mush and most people do not like it like that.
We all have our own opinions on food and they won't always agree. Life would be boring if we did all agree on everything.
Too bad you found all this so bothersome. Congrats on being the first.
great info, now can you tell us about cake and cookies??
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Eleanor Candy 2 years ago
very interesting hub.I have just started eating rye sourdough bread as I am on a candida diet.