Courtesy of The Fresh Loaf
Over the past decade a ton of controversy has circulated around bread. Is it making us fat? Are carbs really the enemy?
Well, you first need to take into consideration that:
- Italians, French, and many other cultures eat bread with every single meal and they are far healthier than Americans.
- A majority of us buy bread from supermarket chains already prepackaged and ready for longevity on the shelf.
I want you to go into your pantry right now and pick up that loaf of bread. Likely your eyes will divert to the amount of calories and carbs in the bread. That’s how you buy it, right? You find the loaf with the lowest amount of carbs and one that is low in calories.
Hmmmm…. maybe you don’t even have one because you fear it will make you fat. But, you love it, don’t you? You really want to eat it.
What if I told you that bread isn’t the culprit, but the bread you buy is…
Bread has been a nutritional standard for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians created hundreds of depictions of bread making and eating on the walls of their pyramids. They even made beer from bread.
The ancient Greeks and Romans ate bread daily, and even cavemen baked solid cakes made of crushed wheat and barley. Why does a food with such rich history have a bad reputation in our society?
It’s because of what we’ve turned it into. Okay, back to that bread package. Forget the carbs and calories for a minutes. Those should really be the last thing you worry about when you buy bread from the grocer.
Here is the list of ingredients found in Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread. This is what I grew up eating:
STONE GROUND WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, BROWN SUGAR, YEAST, WHEAT GLUTEN, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: SALT, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN OIL OR CANOLA OIL), DOUGH, CONDITIONERS (SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM, STEAROYL-2-LACTYLATE, MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM IODATE, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, DATEM), CULTURED WHEAT FLOUR, VINEGAR, CALCIUM SULFATE, MONOCALCIUM, PHOSPHATE, YEAST FOOD (AMMONIUM SULFATE), SOY LECITHIN.
I want you to really focus on what Nature’s Own refers to as “conditioners.” These are nothing more than food emulsifiers and other additives that increase kinetic stability and preserve freshness.
Now, let’s take a look at a basic homemade loaf of bread:
FLOUR, WATER, YEAST, SALT.
Wow, so store bought bread takes something with 4 natural ingredients and turns it into a product with 24. No wonder bread is making us fat! The industry has turned it into a monster.
This year I am on a journey to give my family’s food back to nature as much as possible. I am learning that a lot of what is called “organic” or “sustained” in the store is actually “industrialized organic” and not even close to nature at all.
So, along this journey I will be baking bread. It’s not complicated at all. Really, it’s quite simple.
So easy even a caveman can do it.
Not only is it easy, but also ultra cheap. What are you paying for a loaf of bread now? $2, $3, $4? You can likely make 10-15 loaves of bread for that price.
What do you think? Is something that has 4 ingredients really going to make you fat? Likely not considering Italians and French eat it all day long. They eat the real stuff. The kind found in bakeries or fresh out of the oven.
I encourage you to try baking your own bread. To learn more, check out this amazing site called The Fresh Loaf. It’s got everything you could ever want to know about baking bread. From your first loaf, to more complex recipes, this site gives you what you need. You can even read about what others are testing in their kitchen.
If I can encourage you to do anything this year, it’s to take your food back from the industry. This isn’t some anti-establishment movement or anything political. But, really take a look at what’s going on your plate and ask if the company who made it had your health in their best interests. You will likely discover through a little research that you were the last thing on their mind when they created your food.
Love,
Kellie
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It’s funny, for Christmas my mom always brings me homemade bread. She’s being doing it since I went away to college as a poor athlete looking for a way to gain some muscle and avoid the $$$… Needless to say when I was in the best shape and performing at my best in college was also around the time that I was relying on her bread. Great post.
Brandon, that is such an interesting observation. Thank you for sharing. This will motivate us to get those loaves in the over faster. I appreciate you adding to the conversation.
This reminds me of the story my grandpa always tells me. There were 10 kids in his family, his mom had to make 12 loaves a day to keep up with the sandwich making requirements of growing, hard working kids. On Saturdays, his mom would make 24 loaves so that she could rest and go to church on Sundays. Thats a LOT of bread. … and not one of the 10 children were overweight.
Wow, what a great story. Your great-grandma was a busy lady. Thanks for sharing, Kristine.
How about Ezekiel breads or millet and flax if u can’t bake ur own? are these better?
When searching for bread in the store, look for ones that have the least amount of ingredients, and ingredients as close to nature as possible. Yes, your organic breads are far better than the standard industrial ones, just pay careful attention to what is listed on the packaging. If you feel comfortable with the ingredients, then go for it. However, if it is loads of words you cannot pronounce or have to look up in a chemistry book, then it is best to select something else.
Great question, Amy! Thanks for adding to the conversation.
Do you recommend making bread with whole-wheat flour, or plain white flour? I know white flour is considered an “empty carb/calorie” but it sure does taste good
Well, when you first start out, plain ol’ white flour is best. It’s easiest to use until you get the hang of the process. Once you make a few good loaves, or if you perfect your first loaf, then you can move onto bigger and better breads. TheFreshLoaf.com offers great lessons that take you from super beginner to bread expert in no time.
Homemade bread is the best- it even tastes better! Recently I tried some english muffins that were at my parents house and they were sort of gross and fake tasting!
I can’t wait to make my own English muffins. Did you parents have store-bought ones, or homemade?
They were store bought (why they tasted weird)- but I’d love to learn how to make them by myself!
I began my sourdough starter last night. Once it’s set, sourdough English muffins are on my list. I will let you know how they turn out.
Totally going to try this out! Thanks!
You are welcome! As I told Becky, TheFreshLoaf.com has great tutorials that take you through the steps from your very first loaf.
Thanks for the eye-opener! I’ll have to break out the bread maker!
You are so lucky to have a bread maker, Den. Let me know what you turn out.
Whew! One more thing to add to the list. I, like you, have been exploring food options and taking a closer look at what my family eats. Hadn’t thought as much about bread yet, was focused more on “really” processed crap but your post gives me great reason to put the bread at the top of the list as well. Thanks, great info as always Kellie!
You are very welcome, Randi. I made my first loaf this morning and it turned out spectacular. And nothing more went into it other than flour, water, yeast, and salt. Who knew it could be so easy? Thanks for adding to the conversation!
Thought you might find some history of bread production interesting and relevant:
If you look at bread recipes from the 1700’s, you’ll see that the typical recipe called for two pounds of flour and half a pound of butter. The fat from the butter lowers the glycemic index of the bread so that it doesn’t cause insulin spikes. In such a bread, one third of the calories came from fat, so it was much more balanced at the macro-nutrient level. Today bread is basically just a source of carbs.
In the 1880’s steel rollers were invented. This allowed the grain to be ground finer, and as a result, absorbed much faster by the body (producing a higher glycemic index). Modern bread is more akin to cotton candy than to historic bread.
In the late 1920’s the advent of the motorized combine meant that wheat stocks were no longer left in the field to dry. When left on the field, morning dew or rain would cause the wheat to sprout. In the spouting process enzymes would break down the phytates (which are anti-nutrients) and gluten, thus helping to reduce a lot of the negative affects of wheat.
The invention of vegetable oils in the early 1900′s, and their subsequent hydrogenation and use in the production of bread, means that modern bread is extremely heart unhealthy.
During the Second World War, Fleischmann’s developed granulated active dry yeast for the US army. Before this, all bread was sourdough bread. The fermentation process used in making sourdough also contributed to deactivating the harmful components of wheat.
Alloxan, a toxin use in labs to make rats diabetic, is formed when the bleach used to make white flower reacts with protein, which is in the flour in the form of gluten.
In the last 50 years, the gluten content of wheat has increased by 50%.
In the last 50 years, the use of synthetic fertilizer has increased 20-fold. Synthetic fertilizer contains only four nutrients, versus dozens from organic fertilizer. As a result, soil has become nutrient deficient and the wheat grown on these soils are themselves deficient.
Pesticide use has increased 50-fold since 1950 and 2.3 million tonnes of industrial pesticides are now used each year. Wheat is the most pesticide intensive crop.
Since the late 70’s, high fructose corn syrup has been used to replace sugar in the production of bread. The higher fructose content leads to leptin insensitivity, which causes an inability to regulate hunger. Also, the HFCS production process uses hexane (a harmful petroleum product) and half of all HFCS produced in the USA also uses a process involving mercury.
If you want a healthy bread, you should do the following:
0. First check that you’re not gluten intolerant: http://www.cyrexlabs.com/
1. Start with a heritage breed whole wheat berry, not ground (spelt maybe), which has been grown on organic soil without pesticides.
2. Sprout the berries.
3. Grind just before use, but only to the consistency which would be produced by a stone mill.
4. Do not use yeast, but instead use a sourdough starter.
5. Use one part raw organic pastured butter from antibiotic and hormone free cattle, for every four parts flour.
6. Don’t eat the crusts because they contain high levels of acrylamides, a known carcinogen (or else make steamed buns instead of baked bread, like the Chinese do).
Wow, Kevin. Thanks so much! I made my first sourdough starter and it turned out great. I sincerely appreciate your information. Thanks for being a part of our community.
I’d like to second the part about fat going with bread in traditional diets. I’d also like to point out the sugar in the bread ingredients list. Traditional bread never contained fructose. Unfortunately the total avoidance of bread, at least for a time, may be necessary for those who have already developed insulin resistance. See the lectures of Dr. Robert Lustig and Gary Taubes for more information.