Are you still eating white bread? Think twice
Do you love white bread? Most of us like fluffy, ubiquitous soft slices, hamburger buns, Kaiser rolls, bagels, French and Italian bread, and pizza crust. Bread is an essential part of almost every pantry. However, eating white bread is bad for you! Yes, white bread is a root of many health issues. Many researches clearly indicate the adverse of consuming white bread regularly.
It’s an old saying that the whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead!”. It’s a fact that bread made from refined white flour is definitely bad for your health. Different scientific studies have shown that certain food items that are consumed regularly in todays busy, fast living life are harmful to our health and white bread is one of them.
White bread is made from refined white flour, which is low in essential nutrients, and fiber that are vital for a stable metabolism and a healthy digestive system. The whole wheat grain undergoes the refining process to remove all traces of the bran, husk and thus, all the goodness contained in the grain gets removed. This flour is then bleached with chemical bleaching agents. After this, it is dried in kilns at high temperature and that kills remaining beneficial elements. Gluten is then added to this bleached, bland, insipid and tasteless powder. Most people are allergic to gluten which is used to make a fluffy, air filled and more evenly risen loaf. Sugar is added to make the loaf rise and salt is also added to prevent the loaf from over-proving or rising too much.
Unwanted weight gain is a major adverse effect of eating white bread. White bread contains a large proportion of high GI (glycemic index) carbohydrates, which cause a fast release of sugars into the bloodstream. Due to this rapid rise in blood sugar levels, there rapid release of the body’s own sugar regulating hormone, insulin. Frequent consumption of high GI foods like white bread leaves you vulnerable to various diseases,including heart disease, diabetes and kidney stones.
White bread lacks vitamin E and fiber, which play a key role in lowering the low-density lipoprotein or bad cholesterol in your blood. This bad cholesterol actually stimulates free radicals or oxidants which settle in your blood and deposit fat layers in your blood vessels. Due to this, the blood vessels are narrowed down and thus, increase the risk of heart disease. Vitamin E is necessary to flush out the harmful free radicals from your blood. Lack of fiber can also give rise to bowel related problems. In addition to this, consuming white bread can increase the risk of gaining excessive weight, as the fats and proteins in white bread get accumulated in your body. The body’s metabolism is another adverse effect of consuming white bread. It can lead to reduced efficiency in digestion.
Whole grain bread can be a sensible option to breads made with refined grains. You can bake one for you with soaked and sprouted grains at home as well. Look for some options that are not quite bad. They contain more nutrients and fiber. But remember, whole grain bread is only a less bad option.
