Is “Healthy” Bread a Bunch of Fluff?

By Emily Shoemaker

With low-carb, Paleo, and gluten-free diets on the rise, bread (and grains in general) has fallen out of favor. Even in France, the birthplace of the baguette, they’ve had to resort to a “Got Milk” style ad campaign to stop sales from crumbling. However, the loaf isn’t dead yet.

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To combat the trend of falling bread consumption, commercial bread bakers have been looking to formulate and market a healthier bread. In that quest, they’re using bread buzzwords such as “stoneground,” “gluten-free,” and “whole wheat.”

Nearly everyone has heard the advice to choose whole-grain bread over white bread (for the health benefits of whole-grain flour), but there’s still much discussion about even whole-grain options Putting the whole grain puzzle together: Health benefits associated with whole grains. Jonnalagadda, S. S., Harnack, L., Hai Liu, R. et al. The Journal of Nutrition, 2011; 141:1011S-1022S.. And the advantages of other types of bread are less clear-cut. WTF does “sprouted grain bread” even mean, and are the health benefits enough to justify the extra two dollars a loaf?

Here are some common (and commonly misunderstood) bread buzzwords and what they really mean.

“Whole Wheat”

White vs. Whole-Wheat Bread

Time to flash back to biology class: Wheat, in its natural, fresh-off-the-plant form, contains three components: the germ, endosperm, and bran layer. The germ contains loads of vitamins and minerals, while the endosperm is packed with protein and carbohydrate. The bran layer (the rough stuff… think bran muffin) is full of fiber Putting the whole grain puzzle together: Health benefits associated with whole grains. Jonnalagadda, S. S., Harnack, L., Hai Liu, R. et al. The Journal of Nutrition, 2011; 141:1011S-1022S.. Whole-grain flours are made by grinding up intact wheat kernels; white flours have to be “stripped” of all the good stuff before they get sent to the grinder. To make white flour, manufacturers remove the germ and bran (along with 80 percent of the fiber and most of the nutrients), then send the stripped grains through the mill. White flours usually get a dose of B vitamins, folic acid, and iron during processing; this fortification process replaces up some of the lost nutrient content, but the flour is still missing many healthy compounds such as antioxidants and phytonutrients Putting the whole grain puzzle together: Health benefits associated with whole grains. Jonnalagadda, S. S., Harnack, L., Hai Liu, R. et al. The Journal of Nutrition, 2011; 141:1011S-1022S..

The Whole-Wheat Hang-Up

Think you’re all set buying 100-percent whole-wheat bread? Not …read more

Source:: Greatist