What’s the deal with bread?

Killing you?

Stop eating processed garbage carbs.

I hate to be the one to tell you if you this, but bread is not a health food.

Back in the day, say 150 years ago, bread used to always be a great, healthy, nutrient-dense food. There wasn’t white and wheat bread; there was just bread.  It was unprocessed and made from whole grains.  More on our unprocessed past from Mark Bittman.

Why is processing stupid? Let’s think about what happens during processing.

First they remove the shell of the grain, stripping it of fiber.

This also exposes all of the vitamins and nutrients Like with juice, this process destroys the vitamin and nutrient content because these things don’t last very long when exposed to air.

Many flours are so nutrient and vitamin depleted that they violate FDA regulations; this is why in the worst of the worst foods you will see “enriched flour.”  This is when there are so little vitamins, they have to add vitamins BACK into the flour–in a way that humans can’t process anyway.  Enriched flour is a sham.

So let’s review.  Processing bread takes out all the redeeming qualities of our grains to make them last longer on the shelf.  Great.

What else is involved in processing?  Check out any grocery store brand loaf of bread.  Consistently within the top three or four ingredients is sugar or high fructose corn syrup.  We don’t need this extra sweetness in our diet.

But just for kicks, let’s reiterate the negative effects of this extra sugar.  Sugar suppresses your immune system, feeds fungus and parasites, causes ADHD in children, leads to diabetes, and causes many other problems.  I discussed all this here.  Adding all this sugar to our bread is a food corporation’s way of saying “I do not give a crap about your health.”

Sugar, in combination with the processed carbs, are also causing weight gain and putting your blood sugar levels on a roller coaster that makes you feel terrible all day.

Let’s also remember that carbohydrates ARE sugar.  That is, simple carbohydrates, such as white flour, convert to glucose as soon as you digest them, and effect your blood sugar levels the same as sugar.

White bread is the nutrient-depleted bastard child of what it was meant to be, and the supposedly whole wheat bread in your grocery store usually isn’t any better. They last longer and taste sweeter, but they are not health foods and in fact are bad for our health.

With all this in mind, it should be very clear that the food pyramid is total bull.  Clearly, our bodies do not need all these processed garbage carbs.  I argue that processed carbs underpin many of the health problems in Western society, including cardiovascular disease.  I will be discussing this in the future, but there are is an emerging consensus that low carb diets can lead to better cholesterol profiles.  People, put down the processed bread.

If you want to find real bread, find something heavy.  It should feel solid.  Sprouted grain breads might be the best, but really you’re not going to find any healthy breads unless you look at a health or whole foods store.  Don’t trust anything that says “whole grain,” “low fat,” “low carb,” etc.  Most importantly, read your labels.  You want to look for whole grains and short list of sugar-free, pronounceable ingredients.

Whole grains are complex carbohydrates and are good for you.  The vitamins, nutrients, enzymes, and fiber are preserved and they are digested more slowly, meaning your blood sugar levels won’t go crazy and cause weight gain and fatigue.

Bottom line: eat bread, but make sure it’s good bread and part of a balanced meal. You’ll feel better and get healthier.

That’s it everybody.  Avoid processed flour like the devil.