Yes, you read it right! Increasing number of people are switching to healthier alternatives of bread instead of white breads. Numerous sources advocate them that brown breads are healthier. To capture this market manufacturers, big and small, are selling brown breads. But, how are brown breads healthy? Start off by taking a look at the ingredient label of white bread. Did you notice “Refined Wheat Flour”? Let us first understand this
What is refined wheat flour?
White breads are made out of refined wheat flour (a fancy word for Maida/All purpose flour). Maida is made by separating the bran and husk from the whole wheat flour. To put it simply, if the outer layers of a wheat grain are separated leaving the inner portion (Endosperm) of the grain. Endosperm is typically white in colour hence refined wheat flour is relatively whiter than Maida. Refined wheat flour is also bleached sometimes to make it whiter. Also many brown breads may also have brown colour added to them.
But How does removing something from Whole wheat make it unhealthy?
You have been told all your life that Maida is unhealthy, which is true. Husk and Bran have majority of the vitamins, minerals and fiber. Maida has, 225% less Iron, 352% less fibre, 442% less Manganese and a staggering 533% less vitamin K than whole wheat flour. These values have been taken from www.nutritiondata.self.com and the images below clearly show that the majority of the Vitamins and Minerals are lost in the process of refining. That still doesn’t explain the unhealthy aspect of it.
Removing the majority of micronutrients, along with fibre increases the Glycemic Index(GI) of the remaining product. Which means Maida gets digested much faster than whole wheat flour due to relatively lower levels of fibre in it. After we eat, carbohydrates get broken down into simple sugars. Insulin in our body removes these sugars to use them as a source of energy and then converts the excess amount of it into fat. This is the primary reason why one puts on weight. Also, quick flow of glucose into the blood releases a lot of insulin which drops the blood sugar levels below a minimum level which makes us feel hungry and eat again.
As whole wheat flour has some fibre, it gets digested gradually keeping the blood sugar levels in check leaving little or no room for fluctuating blood sugar levels.
How does removing fibre from Whole Wheat Flour makes it digest faster?
To answer this we need to understand the role of fibre in our diets. Soluble fibres reduce bad Cholesterol (Yes there is good Cholesterol too!). Insoluble fibres cannot be digested by human bodies. They add some weight to the food and help in bowel movements preventing constipation. As they cannot be digested, they slow down the process of digestion which regulate the release of sugars into the bloodstream.
You probably know that brown breads are healthier and now you are also enlightened about why brown breads are healthier. Take a look at the ingredient label on the bread..If it has “Refined wheat flour” written on it, then your purpose of eating brown bread for a cleaner diet is defeated.
I usually buy Britannia’s whole wheat bread, but when I saw a packet of Britannia Bread labelled “Brown Bread” placed right next to the whole wheat bread it triggered me to investigate further, what is the difference between them? So I looked at the ingredients label and found both Refined Wheat Flour and Wheat Flour in it. Below is the side by side comparison of the nutrient labels.
Notice that the Britannia Brown Bread has both Whole Wheat Flour and Refined Wheat Flour in it. One reputed retail chain in India has taken the gimmick to another level. When I purchased a “Multigrain” bread, I was flabbergasted to see different types of grains sprinkled on white bread!
So next time you visit a grocery store you know what you are buying and always read the ingredient and nutrient labels before buying!
