What bread is best?

[She Eats Cheese]

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the correct forum so please let me know. White bread has always been my favorite since I was a little girl and that is also what my kids like. Of late all the health experts have said that multi grain or whole wheat is better. My kids will only eat white but I will sometimes alternate between multigrain and whole wheat even though I don't really care for either one for sandwiches. Just the other day I saw online this dietician who was saying to avoid whole wheat and multigrain bread because your body converts it to sugar. Now I don't know what to believe. Should I give up bread all together or just go back to white?

 

[kadesma]

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the correct forum so please let me know. White bread has always been my favorite since I was a little girl and that is also what my kids like. Of late all the health experts have said that multi grain or whole wheat is better. My kids will only eat white but I will sometimes alternate between multigrain and whole wheat even though I don't really care for either one for sandwiches. Just the other day I saw online this dietician who was saying to avoid whole wheat and multigrain bread because your body converts it to sugar. Now I don't know what to believe. Should I give up bread all together or just go back to white?

I'll just say this to you. I'm diabetic and my endo and dietitian both prefer I use wheat bread or any dark bread to white. Reason being wheat doesn't cause such a fast rise in blood glucose as does white. Can you guess my favorite bread with butter? Yes that's right wheat or multigrain with nuts.Use white now and then it's not going to do you in just not as good for you but a must at certain times.
kades

 

[She Eats Cheese]

I now use wheat bread for toast but I still prefer white bread for sandwiches so I think I'm gonna alternate between them when I pack my lunch!

 

[Addie]

When making your lunch, use one slice of white and the other on a grain one that you like. Eventually you will find yourself making your lunch with the grain of your choice. Kadesma is right. There are fewer calories in the grain bread and less sugar. I too am a diabetic. I find that after I eat a grain bread, it takes a while for my sugar levels to increase. And often if I eat a protein with the grain, my sugar levels stay the same or even go down occasionally. Last month I bought a small loaf of white bread at the beginning of the month. By the end of the month, I had used only two slices and tossed the rest to the birds. I now prefer the variety of the tastes between the grain and other foods that I eat with it. I also have found that I have lost a few pounds by making this choice. A benefit I hadn't thought of.

 

[kadesma]

When making your lunch, use one slice of white and the other on a grain one that you like. Eventually you will find yourself making your lunch with the grain of your choice. Kadesma is right. There are fewer calories in the grain bread and less sugar. I too am a diabetic. I find that after I eat a grain bread, it takes a while for my sugar levels to increase. And often if I eat a protein with the grain, my sugar levels stay the same or even go down occasionally. Last month I bought a small loaf of white bread at the beginning of the month. By the end of the month, I had used only two slices and tossed the rest to the birds. I now prefer the variety of the tastes between the grain and other foods that I eat with it. I also have found that I have lost a few pounds by making this choice. A benefit I hadn't thought of.

Great post Addie. I have to agree the darker the bread the tastier the sammie. I love all dark breads and have found my blood glucose rises much more slowly after eating them and protein or things like deviled eggs with a touch of mayo and Dijon I digress thanks for the great post once again.
kades

 

[TATTRAT]

Moderation.

Bread is one of the oldest foods known to man(some 9000years BC). Man kind wasn't bleaching flour and adding preservatives until relatively recently(in the grand scheme of bread). If you like white bread, eat it. . .in moderation. I am not gonna lie, I think that the loaf of $.99 Loaf of Wonder Bread makes THE best Bologna sandwich, and white bread is an American staple. But, with whole grain/wheat/wheatberry/7grain, all of that stuff has a place in the culinary world, always has and always will. It does a body good. . .BUT, so does good ol white bread.

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

But shirley Tatters mate the world (in all its glory) is not that old.
For no particular reason I have not been making yeast bread for about a month, I have been messing with Irish soda and Serbian Proja (corn bread).

My tip for Soda bread breakfast muffin makers, mixs lots of the dry ingredients in a poly bag and each morning take some and mix with the liquids and berries.I love a good muffin.

 

[Addie]

If you are trying to adjust to the difference in taste to grain bread, I would suggest you start out with a light rye bread. It has the mildest flavor of all the grain breads.

 

[no mayonnaise]

There's always another expert around the corner, brand new study in hand, with a new opinion that contradicts the previous theory.
When it comes down to it, no one knows their head from their behind. Eat what you like in reasonable portions and enjoy it. There's no reason to worry about what they say causes some ailment when you know in a couple years they are just going to change their mind again. It's as bad as the weather forecast with this stuff.
So which bread is best? The one that works the best for what you're doing.

 

[spork]

One difference is that white bread is made from just the endosperm of the grain where all the energy from starch is concentrated for the plant to grow a shoot and root. Whole grain grounds the outer husk of the seed, too, which has a more complex chemical composition, including minerals, vitamins and amino acids not present in refined white flour. (I prefer white bread, too.)

 

[jabbur]

There are multigrain and whole wheat breads out there that are mild tasting and soft. When we wanted to switch from white to wheat, I found this one Stroehmann Dutch Country Bread, 100% Whole Wheat | Wegmans

It fit the bill for us. It is mild in flavor and soft. You might try it.

 

[ChefJune]

and yes, there are healthy (or at least healthIER) white breads out there. If you choose one made from organic, unbleached flour that has not had the nutrients stripped away and replaced with chemical tablets that supposedly put the vitamins back.

You might try making healthy white bread with your kids. Funny how kids often take more kindly to new foods when they've had a hand in creating them!

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

White bread is the least healthy bread you can buy. It is also mushy and tastless. Wheat bread is white bread with molasses added to make it tan coloured. Still the same mushiness, lack of flavour, and lack of nutrients.

What you need to look for is WHOLE GRAIN bread, or WHOLE WHEAT bread. Oroweat makes a Country 100% whole whet bread that's as soft as white bread. I believe it's called Country whole wheat because they put bumpkin in it!

If you insist the bread be white, I suggest sourdough, which has two organisms, wild yeast and bacteria, in symbiosis. Together they transform the grain to make it more healthful and more digestible than Weber's, Sunbeam, or Wonder bread.

 

[Addie]

Has anyone ever tried to grow their own yeast? Not hard to do. Depending on what you may want your bread to taste like, take any fruit or veggie that is normally covered in wild yeast. Blueberries, grapes, come to mind instantly. It is that white stuff seen on the outside. Sprinkle some flour and toss with the fruit and place in a large opaque jar without a cover. Add a small amount of water. Just enough to make the flour damp. Sprinkle some sugar on that mess. (Not pretty looking) The wild yeast needs something to eat while it is growing ansd sugar is ideal. At least once a day, check to add about a tablespoon or more of flour and more sugar. Soon you will see bubbles forming. You now have your own yeast starter. Time to increase the daily feed of flour. But don't add too much or you will smother the starter. When you have enough starter to form a golf size ball, you can now pinch off some and allow to grow on its own for you homemade bread. This is an excellent science project to teach to your children or girl scouts, or boy scouts, or any group of kids with a curious mind.

 

[Al Pine]

Change can be hard to accept. But don't give in to bad health
choices.
As others have said try switching to Sourdough or to a Light
Rye Bread, such as a Jewish or Russian Rye. Don't give up; your
family is depending on you to feed them nutritious food; even
though they may not know it.

In a worse case situation, you can do what I do...I even do it
with Whole Grain breads just so I can be sure to get enough
fiber.
When making a sandwich, spread the Mayo or Mustard, or
whatever type of spread you prefer. Then sprinkle some
"Rolled Oats" also called "Old Fashioned Oats" onto the
Mayonnaise, Mustard etc. The Oats have no real flavor to them
so your family probably wont even notice them. If you think they
will see the Oats...you can run them (the Oats...not your family)
through a food processor to grind them into smaller pieces that
will not be seen. Sometimes I will also sprinkle some ground
Flax Seed Meal on the sandwich as well....for more Fiber and
nutrition.

On another note....when making Beef Stew; I also use the
Rolled Oats to thicken up the stew; instead of flour. And.....
I also will brew some White Tea (or Green if that's what you
have) and add that to soups and stews; instead of just water.
That way I am getting some Antioxidants from the Tea, in an
effort to try and eat healthier while still enjoying some foods
that may not be very high up on the "Healthy Scale".

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

White bread is the least healthy bread you can buy. It is also mushy and tastless.

I may agree with texture and taste but in the UK the government brought in a law after WW2 whilst rationing applied to add certain minerals like calcium to all white flour. These additions eradicated for instance rickets.The law still applies.
The Chorley Wood method was a crime against bread, you are lucky that it is not used much in the US.

 

[kezlehan]

Hovis Nimble wholemeal. Full of fibre, hardly any fat, and 48 calories a slice. And it's delicious.
Hovis - Wholemeal

 

[Constance]

Sara Lee and Wonder both make a white bread that is "made with whole wheat." That means that part of the flour is whole wheat. People who prefer white bread seem to like it quite well.
Everything we eat, even protein, will turn to sugar if the body needs it for energy, but unless we are starving, we have enough carbs and fats for energy.

 

[taxlady]

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the correct forum so please let me know. White bread has always been my favorite since I was a little girl and that is also what my kids like. Of late all the health experts have said that multi grain or whole wheat is better. My kids will only eat white but I will sometimes alternate between multigrain and whole wheat even though I don't really care for either one for sandwiches. Just the other day I saw online this dietician who was saying to avoid whole wheat and multigrain bread because your body converts it to sugar. Now I don't know what to believe. Should I give up bread all together or just go back to white?

That's misleading.

Your body converts the carbohydrates in bread into sugar. Whole grain bread has more fibre, which doesn't convert into sugar. Yes, whole grains will be converted to sugar, but not as fast or as much as white flour products.

As to taste, I personally much prefer the whole grain versions of bread and pasta and never buy the white versions.

I make two exceptions: croissants and bagels. I really enjoy croissants and I can't get whole grain croissants anywhere nearby. I think whole grain bagels should be yummy, but none of the places that make bagels seem to have any bagel makers who believe that, so their whole grain bagels are awful. I don't buy bagels or croissants very often.

Have you considered trying the new white whole wheat?

 

[Steve Kroll]

I really despise some of these companies that make highly processed, nutritionally lacking foods and then try to slap a healthy label on it. It's nothing but pure deception. If it's white bread, just label it white bread. There is no shame in doing so. The Sara Lee and Wonder whole grain white breads are perfect examples of these sorts of misleading labeling practices.

Great article on the Sara Lee bread: Sara Lee Accused of Whole Grain Whitewash ~ Newsroom ~ News from CSPI ~ Center for Science in the Public Interest

As for the Wonder Whole Grain White, here is the list of ingredients:
Wheat flour, water, whole-wheat flour, yeast, brown rice flour, high-fructose corn syrup or sugar, wheat gluten, soy fiber, calcium sulfate. Contains 2 percent or less of: soybean oil, honey, salt, barley malt, datem, vinegar, mono- and diglycerides, calcium propionate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, monocalcium phosphate, yeast nutrients (ammonium chloride, ammonium sulfate), ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, enzymes, yeast extract, wheat starch, azodicarbonamide, B vitamins [thiamine mononitrate (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), folic acid, vitamin B12], vitamin E acetate, zinc oxide, soy lecithin, ferrous sulfate (iron), calcium dioxide, soy flour, whey, vitamin D3.

That's quite a laundry list. Does it sound appetizing to anyone?

My own take on bread is that even the (real) whole grain stuff is still a lot of fluff. It doesn't have much nutrition for the amount of calories it packs. I think bread is something that should be more of a once-in-a while treat than an every day staple.

Having said that, I love bread. A lot. But I don't buy it very often because it's very easy to make from scratch for about $1 a loaf. As an added bonus, it tastes better, has more nutrition, and doesn't contain chemical junk that you don't need.

Sorry, I didn't mean to go off on a rant, but deceptive marketing is one of those things that just makes me a little bit crazy.