Gone are the days of eating white bread. Many people are aware that whole-grain has more nutritional heft than white, fluffy, overly milled breads, but it’s not always easy to pick a good loaf when you’re at the grocery store.
Sometimes, a refined loaf of bread can masquerade as something more nutritious. Patrol the bread aisle and you’ll see terms like whole wheat, multigrain, seven-grain, 12-grain, all-natural, organic and enriched, to name a few. Who wouldn’t throw up their hands trying to decide what to buy?
Dietitian Laura Jeffers, MEd, RD, LD, helps break down which bread is healthier and what you should stay far away from.
Look for ‘100%’ on labels
When browsing the bread aisle at your grocery store, look for the term “100% whole-grain” or “100% whole-wheat” on the package.
“If you’re wondering which is better, either one works,” says Jeffers. “Whole wheat is a whole grain.”
Although different grains offer different benefits, many whole-grain breads are primarily made with wheat. If you’re looking for a nice mix of grains, check your ingredient label. Primary ingredients should be listed first in order of the amount within the loaf (wheat, oats, flax seeds, barley, buckwheat, etc.).
“Be cautious of terms like ‘wheat’ or ‘multigrain’ that don’t mention a percentage,” she warns. “They sound healthy, but they’re probably made with partially or mostly refined white flour. Wheat flour is 75% white flour and only 25% whole-wheat.”
“Enriched” is another clever term that means the maker of the bread has added nutrients to an otherwise nutrient-free white bread. When you see that word on a label, put it down and look for something else.
Unless you find that 100% on the package and whole-wheat listed as the first ingredient on the label, the bread is simply a refined loaf of bread with synthetic nutrients added to replenish those natural nutrients lost in the milling process.
Good bread makes your body happy
The benefits of eating 100% whole-wheat or whole-grain far surpass just the taste. Eating whole-grain foods within an overall healthy diet helps to lower your risk for many diseases, including:
Whole-grains are also rich in protein, fiber, B vitamins and many other nutrients that help to lower blood pressure, reduce gum disease, strengthen the immune system and help control weight. The Whole Grains Council reports that benefits are greatest with at least three servings per day, but every whole grain helps.
Say ‘no’ to substandard bread
Most other bread is made with grains that have been finely milled. The resulting flour is whiter and lighter — in more ways than one.
Not only does this refined flour look whiter and bake fluffier, but it also falls short of many of the nutrients essential to optimum health. Whole-grains begin as a whole grain kernel: bran, germ, endosperm.
The milling process mechanically removes the bran, which is the fiber-rich outer layer of the grain and contains B vitamins and other minerals. Milling also removes the second germ layer, which is rich in Vitamin E and essential fatty acids. In the end, what’s left is the starchy center, which is ground into flour for various baking purposes.
“Refined flour lacks all of those wonderful nutrients and high-starch foods like white bread can quickly raise your blood sugar levels, putting you at risk for diseases like diabetes,” she says. “That’s why you should consider nothing but the best: 100% whole wheat or whole-grain bread.”
Ever wondered about the benefits of a gluten-free diet? We give what is a popular trend for some and a necessity for others, an evidence-based overview
Wondering about the benefits of gluten-free foods? And whether you should make a fairly big change to your diet? Gluten-free options are becoming more and more mainstream in restaurants and supermarkets, which is great news for people with coeliac disease and for those diagnosed with another form of gluten intolerance. But can going gluten-free benefit the rest of us?
There are lots of different claims around the wellness community which state that giving up gluten reduces bloating, improves mood and even helps fight acne. But is there any real evidence to back up these claims and prove that it’s not just anecdotal? We’re not doctors, but we take a closer look…
SHOULD YOU GO GLUTEN-FREE?
In a word, maybe. To be more precise, even if you don’t have any diagnosed gluten intolerance, you may find that reducing your gluten intake (without necessarily going completely gluten-free) may help you with a whole range of health concerns.
The jury is still out on why exactly this may be, but the most likely explanation actually hasn’t got much to do with gluten itself and it’s more to do with the fact that high gluten intake typically goes hand-in-hand with a diet high in processed foods, sugar, and saturated fats.
Think of it this way: if excess weight, bloating, and fatigue are your concerns, then it’s likely that your gluten intake comes in the form of highly processed white bread high in sugar. People who go gluten-free tend to replace whole meals consisting of processed foods with healthier options high in vegetables and fibre, and that’s what contributes to weight loss and improves wellbeing.
There is some evidence, however, that wheat is an unusual food that our bodies may not have quite evolved to process, despite humans consuming wheat for millennia. Gluten contains proteins that the human digestive tract cannot digest fully, lacking the enzymes to do so. Moreover, recent studies have found that gluten has such a complex biological structure that it’s very difficult to pinpoint which compound may be contributing to a sensitivity in an individual person.
If you have ongoing digestive issues, especially IBS, you may find it beneficial to cut out gluten at least for some time and see if there is an improvement. If you don’t want to cut out bread completely, try eating less of it and switching to sourdough. It’s not gluten free, but the way it’s made at least partially breaks down the gluten in the flour, making it low in gluten content. Many people report that switching to sourdough bread helps with digestive issues.
Finally, will going gluten-free help you get rid of acne? There is no reliable scientific link between the two; however, if your acne is due to an autoimmune health condition or is related to digestive problems (a telltale sign is if you get breakouts on your forehead), then you should again consider significantly reducing your gluten intake.
If you are fuzzy-headed after a sandwich, you may have gluten intolerance.
In my twenties, I once fell asleep at noon after eating a bagel, though there was no reason to be tired. I’d often be fuzzy-headed after a meal.
“Brain-fog” is a common sign of celiac, an auto-immune reaction, and of other kinds of sensitivity to gluten, a protein in wheat and rye.
Claire Baker, who now works for the advocacy group, Beyond Celiac, was afflicted with “brain fog” before she received her own celiac diagnosis. She was a program director at another major nonprofit and the fuzziness was affecting her productivity. “I thought there was something terribly wrong with me — couldn’t concentrate. I had no idea the problem was related to my diet, and no clue that it could be a symptom of an undiagnosed disease,” she told me.
In a new survey of patients with either celiac or gluten sensitivity, more than 70 percent said they had trouble concentrating after eating gluten. Nearly 60 percent of celiac patients (and nearly 70 percent of those with gluten sensitivity) said they became groggy. About a fifth said the symptoms showed up within a half-hour to an hour, but similar portions experienced the symptoms within the next four hours, or between one and two days later. The symptoms typically lasted a day or more.
So if you’re having trouble at work after your bagel or muffin breakfast and your sandwich at lunch, experiment with eating other foods that don’t contain gluten.
Food intolerances can also make you anxious and are linked to headaches and depression.
If you find that you can link your symptoms to gluten, don’t just go gluten-free on your own. You should get tested for celiac, a serious illness that requires monitoring. Even if you don’t have celiac, you may need help figuring out your diet. Many people get some improvement when they cut out gluten but find that other foods bother them as well. You might need to be extra careful with traditional “gassy” foods like beans and dairy.
If gluten triggers an inflammatory response, it can affect any system in your body — from your skin, to your nerves, to your brain.
One man I’ll call Tony had trouble with compulsive twitches and tics for years. The neurologists he saw couldn’t find a clear cause. One said, “This is the way God made you.”
He also was prone to becoming enraged at small irritations — for example, a dinner companion eating with her mouth open.
Both the tics and the irritability dropped dramatically when he cut gluten out of his diet.
Your primary care doctor may dismiss your interest in gluten — after all, it’s clear that “going gluten-free” has become fashionable.
Not everyone who goes gluten-free really needs to.
But you might.
Truly cutting gluten from your diet requires attention — you need to read labels on any packaged food and ask lots of questions in restaurants. Any Chinese restaurant meal with soy sauce contains gluten.
To motivate yourself, do your best to steer completely clear and then, perhaps on the weekend, you might try a portion of a bagel. (Bagels contain more gluten than other flour products). If you experience a clear reaction, it’s time to get checked for celiac and get more advice from a doctor who takes this complaint seriously.
Temma Ehrenfeld is a New York-based science writer, and former assistant editor at Newsweek.
In the quest for healthy eating, bread seems to be a food staple many struggle with.
And with so many choices lining the grocery store shelves, it can be difficult to know the nutritional difference each bread has to offer, and if the choice you are making is actually benefiting you in the way you hope.
Registered dietitian Andy De Santis breaks down each option and reveals which type of bread you should be reaching for if you want maximum health benefits.
Multigrain
Multigrain bread is often made from white flour and includes some added grains.
In order for a bread to be labelled “multigrain,” it must contain at least two different grains that each represent at least two per cent of the total product, De Santis says.
Grains can include barley, oats, wheat and flax, among others.
Multigrain is also low in fat, introduces more fibre into our diet, and includes 26 per cent of the daily recommended intake of manganese, Livestrong reveals. It also provides 12 per cent of your daily selenium intake, which is nutritionally essential for humans, the National Institute of Health says.
Whole-grain
This type of bread is made with whole-grain flour.
“Technically speaking, whole-grain flour must include all parts of the original seed (bran, germ, endosperm) and be very minimally refined.
Make sure to look for the term “100 per cent whole-grain” on the label, the Cleveland Clinic warns, or “100 per cent whole wheat.”
Be cautious, however, of terms such as “wheat” and “multigrain” that don’t list a percentage on the package. This, the clinic says, often means the bread is made with partially, or mostly refined, white flour.
Eating whole-grains has been found to reduce inflammation in the body, which can help fight type 2 diabetes, a 2017 study out of the Technical University of Denmark found.
People have also been found to eat less when they consume whole-grains because it causes satiety and can help in weight loss, the same study found.
Sourdough
Any type of bread that is made through fermentation using yeast and lactobacilli (naturally occurring bacteria) is a sourdough bread. That naturally occurring bacteria is what actually gives the bread its taste.
The nutrition found within the bread depends on the type of flour that was used to make it, Healthline explains – wholegrain versus refined.
On average, however, its benefits resemble that of many other breads. But because of the fermentation process, the bread is considered to come with additional benefits.
For example, it makes it easier for your body to absorb the good amount of minerals like potassium, phosphate, magnesium and zinc – four nutrients often hindered by the presence of phytic acid in other breads (which is minimally present in sourdough bread), Healthline says.
Wholemeal
Wholemeal is the British version of saying whole wheat, De Santis says.
Whole wheat, however, does not mean whole-grain. In Canada, whole wheat flour has some of the germ and bran removed (which contains nutrients and fibre), he adds.
According to the Telegraph, one slice of wholemeal bread provides about 15 per cent of an adult’s daily recommended fibre intake.
Rye
A product that is labelled “rye bread” contains at last 20 per cent rye flour, which may or may not consisted of the whole rye grain, De Santis says.
Eating rye bread can make you feel more full, which is great if you’re looking to lose weight, Livestrong says. It can also help with managing blood sugar.
Low GI
This is not an official designation used on Canadian food packages, De Santis says.
“GI is short for Glycemic index, a measure of how much and how rapidly a given food increases your blood sugar after you eat it,” he says. “Less refined usually means lower GI.”
And the winner is… According to De Santis, the healthiest option is whole-grain bread.
“Because whole-grains have been very minimally refined and have not had any healthy components of the seed removed, they are the best for us,” he says. “If we look at the scientific research, we understand that those of us who eat whole-grains tend to be at a lower risk of a variety of chronic diseases.”
Whole-grains are high in B vitamins like niacin and thiamin, minerals like zinc and iron, protein and antioxidants like phytic acid and sulfur compounds, Healthline says.
This type of bread can also lower your risk of heart disease between 22 per cent and 47 per cent, depending on the amount you eat, according to several studies. Whole-grains also lowers the risk of stroke and helps with digestion.
Breads to avoid
If you want the maximum health benefit from your bread, stay clear of breads that have had much of the original grain removed during processing, De Santis says.
This includes white bread, which is considered the least useful to us.
“Although they have some nutrients added back after process (i.e. enriched), they are still lower in fibre, nutrients and other healthy compounds that are contained within the whole-grain,” he says.
And despite the negative reputation bread has in general, De Santis says he fails to see a “downside” to any type of bread.
“The only real drawback I can see of eating too much bread is eating too many calories in total – if you happen to be a bread lover – and missing out on the benefits of enjoying other healthy whole-grain foods like oats.”
By Dani-Elle Dubé National Online Journalist, Smart Living Global News January 22, 2018
Everyone seems to “know” what is right, most often based on zero evidence.
Here are the top 11 most common nutrition mistakes that people keep repeating.
1. Drinking Fruit Juice
Fruit juice isn’t always what it seems to be.
It is often little more than water mixed with sugar and some kind of fruit concentrate.
In many cases, there isn’t any actual fruit in there, just chemicals that taste like fruit.
But even IF you’re drinking real, 100% fruit juice, it is still a bad idea.
That’s because fruit juices like orange juice have just about the same amount of sugar as Coca Cola and Pepsi!
Fruit juice is like fruit, except with all the good stuff removed.
There is no fiber, no chewing resistance and nothing to stop you from downing massive amounts of sugar.
While whole fruits take a long time to eat and digest, it is easy to consume large amounts of fruit juice in a short amount of time. One glass of orange juice can contain the sugar equivalent of several whole oranges.
If you’re healthy, lean and active or you just ran a marathon, then you can probably tolerate fruit juice and other sources of sugar without problems.
However, the majority of people would do best minimizing all rapidly digested sugars, which can lead to insulin resistance and all sorts of serious diseases down the line.
So… eat your fruit (unless if you’re on a low-carb diet, which may require moderating them) but avoid fruit juice like the plague.
Bottom Line: Most fruit juices contain as much sugar as sugar-sweetened beverages. It is best to avoid them and choose whole fruits instead.
2. Not Reading Labels
Many of the marketers at the junk food companies are shameless liars.
They tend to put highly misleading labels on foods… convincing health conscious people to buy unhealthy junk foods for themselves and their children.
Because most people don’t know much about nutrition, they repeatedly fall for labels like “includes whole grains,” “low-fat” or “contains Omega-3s.”
Adding small amounts of healthy ingredients to an unhealthy, highly processed food does not make it healthy.
For example, tiny amounts of Omega-3s are not going to make up for the fact that a food contains large amounts of sugar.
So… it is important to read labels. Even health foods can contain sugar, refined wheat and other very harmful ingredients.
This also applies to children’s foods that are marketed as healthy… do NOT trust the food manufacturers, READ the label.
Bottom Line: It is important to read labels, even “health foods” can contain nasty ingredients like added sugar.
3. Eating Whole Wheat
Awareness of the harmful effects of refined wheat has increased dramatically in the past few decades.
However, whole wheat is often mistakenly assumed to be healthy.
The problem is that whole wheat usually isn’t “whole” … the grains have been pulverized into very fine flour.
This makes the grain rapidly digestible and it can spike blood sugar just as fast as its refined counterpart.
Wheat also contains large amounts of gluten, a protein that many people are sensitive to and can contribute to various adverse effects like digestive issues, pain, fatigue and stool inconsistency.
There are also multiple studies linking wheat consumption to serious diseases, including schizophrenia, autism and cerebellar ataxia. One study shows a dramatic increase in cholesterol for people eating whole wheat.
Saying that whole wheat is better than refined wheat is like saying that filtered cigarettes are better than unfiltered cigarettes.
Using that same logic, everyone should be smoking filtered cigarettes for the health benefits. It doesn’t make sense.
Bottom Line: Whole wheat is often mistakenly assumed to be healthy, but studies show that it can contribute to various symptoms and health issues.
4. Not Focusing on Real, Unprocessed Foods
When it comes to optimal health, people tend to get lost in the details. They miss the forest for the trees.
Even though “nutrition” as an academic discipline can be incredibly complicated, eating healthy can and should be simple!
Keep in mind that humans and pre-humans have managed to survive and be healthy for millions of years.
Yet, we only learned about calories, vitamins, macronutrients and all that stuff very recently. Knowing about this stuff has NOT made us healthier.
What healthy, non-industrial societies that maintain excellent health all have in common is that they eat real, unprocessed foods that resemble what they looked like in nature.
Multiple studies have examined such societies and noted almost a complete absence of Western, lifestyle-related diseases like obesity, type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
If it looks like it was made in a factory, don’t eat it!
Bottom Line: It is most important to simply eat real, unprocessed foods. Avoid stuff that looks like it was made in a factory.
5. Not Eating Enough Protein
The health authorities advocate a relatively low protein intake.
They say that we should aim for about 56 grams per day for men and 46 grams per day for women.
However, even though this meager intake may be enough to prevent downright deficiency, it is not enough for optimal health.
Studies show that a higher protein intake can be beneficial for body composition, especially in people who are physically active.
Protein is also by far the most satiating macronutrient and your body expends quite a few calories metabolizing it. For this reason, adding protein to your diet can help you lose weight without even trying.
Bottom Line: Most people aren’t getting enough protein in their diet. Increased protein can enhance fat burning, reduce appetite and improve health in various ways.
6. Being Afraid of Eating Fat
Back in the 60s and 70s, many scientists believed that saturated fat was a leading cause of heart disease.
This idea formed the foundation of the low-fat, high-carb diet… which has been recommended to all Americans since the year 1977.
Since then, multiple studies have shown that the low-fat diet simply does not work. It doesn’t lead to weight loss or a lower risk of heart disease or cancer.
In the past few decades, many studies have examined the health effects of saturated fats.
They consistently show that these fats are harmless. They raise HDL (the “good”) cholesterol and change LDL (the “bad”) to a benign subtype. Saturated fat does NOT raise your risk of cardiovascular disease.
The fats to avoid are man-made trans fats and refined vegetable oils like corn, soybean and others.
There is no reason to avoid foods that are naturally high in saturated fat. This includes butter, coconut oil, eggs and red meat… these foods are perfectly healthy!
Bottom Line: Studies show that saturated fat is harmless and that the low-fat diet pushed by the mainstream nutrition organizations doesn’t work.
7. Throwing Away The Egg Yolks
“When life gives you eggs, you eat the damn yolks.”
– Mark Shields.
Nutrition professionals have an excellent track record of demonizing perfectly healthy foods.
Probably the worst example of that is eggs… which happen to contain a large amount of cholesterol.
Because of the cholesterol, people have been advised to reduce their consumption of eggs.
However, studies show that cholesterol in the diet doesn’t really raise cholesterol in the blood and that eggs do NOT increase your risk of heart disease.
What we’re left with is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. Eggs are loaded with vitamins, minerals, quality protein, healthy fats and various nutrients that are important for the eyes and brain.
Keep in mind that this applies to whole eggs only. The yolk is where almost all the nutrients reside, the white contains nothing but protein!
Throwing away the yolks and eating only the whites is just about the worst thing you could do.
Bottom Line: Eggs are incredibly nutritious, but most of the nutrients are found in the yolk. Despite being high in cholesterol, eggs do not raise the bad cholesterol in the blood or your risk of heart disease.
8. Thinking That All That Matters is Calories
There is a large misconception that all that matters for weight (and health for that matter) is calories.
Even though calories (the energy we take in and expend) are important, they are far from being the only thing that matters.
The truth is that different foods and macronutrients go through different metabolic pathways and can affect hunger and hormones in different ways.
Even though simple calorie counting and portion control work for a lot of people, many others fail using these methods.
For some people, it is much better to focus on the right foods and macronutrients to optimize your hunger and hormones to make your body want to lose weight.
Eating less sugar and carbohydrates with more protein and fat can help you lose weight without counting a single calorie.
Bottom Line: Weight loss and health are about much more than just calories. Different foods affect hunger, hormones and health in vastly different ways.
9. Cutting Back on Sodium
The nutrition organizations consistently tell us to reduce sodium in the diet.
This is supposed to lower blood pressure and reduce our risk of heart disease.
However, this doesn’t actually work.
Even though sodium restriction can cause mild reductions in blood pressure, studies show that this doesn’t lower the risk of heart disease, stroke or death.
Restricting sodium too much can even lead to adverse effects such as insulin resistance, as well as elevated cholesterol and triglycerides.
The biggest source of sodium in the diet is processed food. If you’re already avoiding highly processed foods, then there’s no reason not to add some salt to your foods to make them palatable.
If the “experts” had their way… we’d all be eating bland, tasteless foods with zero evidence that it would actually lead to health benefits.
Bottom Line: Despite being able to mildly reduce blood pressure, sodium restriction doesn’t lead to improved health outcomes. Avoiding salt is completely unnecessary for most people.
10. Eating Too Many Meals
Many people seem to think that it is best to eat 5-6 small meals per day.
They say that you need breakfast in the morning to “jump start metabolism” and then eat regularly throughout the day to “stoke the metabolic flame.”
It is true that eating can raise your metabolic rate slightly while you’re digesting and metabolizing the food
However, it is the total amount of food you eat that matters, NOT the number of meals.
This myth has actually been tested and refuted repeatedly. Controlled trials where one group eats many, smaller meals and the other fewer, larger meals find no difference between groups.
The thing is… it’s not natural for the human body to be constantly in the “fed” state.
The human body is well equipped to handle short periods of famine and there are studies showing that a cellular repair process called autophagy starts to occur when we fast for a short while.
Bottom Line: Eating so frequently is completely unnecessary and highly inconvenient. There is no evidence that it leads to improved outcomes.
11. Eating Too Many “Health Foods”
Every passing year, more and more people are becoming “health conscious.”
For this reason… the market for so-called “health foods” has grown rapidly in the past few decades.
The marketers have taken notice and brought all sorts of foods that are supposed to be healthy to the market. On these foods, you will find labels like “organic” and “gluten-free.”
The problem with many of these foods is that they usually aren’t healthy at all. Organic sugar is still sugar and gluten-free junk food is still junk food.
It is best to avoid processed, packaged foods… even if they are found in the “health food” aisle.
If the packaging of a food tells you that it is healthy, then it probably isn’t.
Jose Aguayo, Database Analyst, and Nneka Leiba, Deputy Director of Research
Was your bread baked with flour containing a possible cancer-causing additive?
Few foods evoke an image of wholesomeness like fresh-baked bread. But the flour used in many commercial baked goods may include an additive that’s been linked to cancer.
The additive is called potassium bromate, which is added to flour to strengthen the dough, allow it to rise higher and give the finished bread an appealing white color.1
EWG’s Food Scores, an online tool to help consumers eat healthier, lists potassium bromate as an ingredient in at least 86 baked goods and other food products* found on supermarket shelves, including well-known brands and products such as Hormel Foods breakfast sandwiches, Weis Kaiser rolls and French toast, and Goya turnover pastry dough.
Regulators in the United States and abroad have reached troubling conclusions about the risks of potassium bromate that you probably don’t know about, but should. In 1999 the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined that potassium bromate is a possible human carcinogen. 6 It is not allowed for use or is banned as a food additive in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and the European Union.2,3,4,5 The state of California requires food with potassium bromate to carry a warning label.
In tests on lab animals, exposure to potassium bromate increased the incidence of both benign and malignant tumors in the thyroid and peritoneum – the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity.7 Later research confirmed and expanded these findings, concluding that ingesting potassium bromate resulted in significant increases in cancer of the animals’ kidneys, thyroid and other organs.8
Potassium bromate also has the potential to disrupt the genetic material within cells.9 Upon entering the body, potassium bromate can be transformed into molecules called oxides and radicals.10 These highly reactive molecules can damage DNA and may play a role in the development of cancer. Scientists have observed such damage in human liver and intestine cells, where exposure to potassium bromate resulted in breaks in DNA strands and chromosomal damage.11
Researchers also saw significant damage to the cell membranes of lysosomes – the small intracellular bodies responsible for important cell functions such as cellular digestion – ironically, the process by which food is broken down into components useful to our cells. Models of the relationship between DNA damage and potassium bromate show a consistent low-dose linear response, which means that the amount of DNA damage observed is proportional to the amount of potassium bromate consumed.12
Despite the significant evidence of potassium bromate’s harmful health effects, the food industry has long argued that it is of no concern in baked products.13 The industry claims potassium bromate is theoretically fully converted into potassium bromide, a similar yet non-carcinogenic chemical, during baking. But testing in the United Kingdom revealed that potassium bromate remains detectable after baking, with six out of six unwrapped breads and seven out of 22 packaged breads containing measurable levels.14
California is the only state to have taken any measures to warn residents of the dangers associated with this chemical, placing potassium bromate on its Proposition 65 list,13 which means that products that contain it must carry a cancer warning on their labels. However, no other regulatory agency has taken any action to regulate or remove this dangerous chemical from American grocery store shelves. Our nation’s food additive review system fails in its mandate to keep Americans safe. Congress must overhaul this broken process in order to truly protect us from potentially cancer-causing chemicals such as potassium bromate.
In light of the evidence that suggests potassium bromate has the potential to be genotoxic and carcinogenic, and the decisions by numerous regulatory authorities based on this evidence, EWG recommends a precautionary approach to consumers: You should avoid food products that contain this chemical. Manufacturers should look to safer alternative methods and ingredients to produce their baked goods.
References
1. Kujore A & Serret JM. The analysis of potassium bromate in bakery products. Food Engineering & Ingredients. Special Issue June 2010: p 22-24.
4. Presidência da República Casa Civil Subchefia para Assuntos Jurídicos. 2001. LEI No 10.273: Dispõe sobre o uso do bromato de potássio na farinha e nos produtos de panificação. Available from: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/Leis/LEIS_2001/L10273.htm
7. Kurokawa Y, Aoki S, Matsushima Y, et al. 1986. Dose-response studies on the carcinogenicity of potassium bromate in F344 rats after long-term oral administration. J Natl Cancer Inst. 77(4): 977-82.
8. DeAngelo AB, George MH, Kilburn SR, et al. 1998. Carcinogenicity of potassium bromate administered in the drinking water to male B6C3F1 mice and F344/N rats. Toxicol Pathol. 26(5): 587-94.
10. Geter DR, Ward WO, Knapp GW. 2006. Kidney Toxicogenomics of Chronic Potassium Bromate Exposure in F344 Male Rats. Transl Oncogenomics. 1: 33–52.
11. Zhang Y, Jiang L, Jiang L, et al. 2011. Possible involvement of oxidative stress in potassium bromate-induced genotoxicity in human HepG2 cells. Chem Biol Interact. 189(3): 186-91.
12. Spassova MA, Miller DJ, Eastmond DA, et al. 2013. Dose-response analysis of bromate-induced DNA damage and mutagenicity is consistent with low-dose linear, nonthreshold processes. Environ Mol Mutagen. 54(1): 19-35.
14. Dennis MJ, Burrell A, Mathieson K, et al. 1994. The determination of the flour improver potassium bromate in bread by gas chromatographic and ICP-MS methods. Food Addit Contam. 11(6): 633-9.
Study found postmenopausal women who ate more processed foods faced higher risk of mood disorder
WebMD News from HealthDay By Alan Mozes HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Aug. 7, 2015 (HealthDay News) – Refined carbohydrates – such as those found in white bread, white rice and sodas – may harm more than the waistlines of older women. New research shows that eating too much of these highly processed foods might also raise their risk of depression.
Luckily, the opposite also appears to be true: The analysis also found that those who ate lots of whole grains, vegetables, fruits and dietary fiber appeared to see their risk for depression drop.
The study involved more than 70,000 women aged 50 to 79. The findings, the investigators said, only show an association between “refined” carbs and elevated depression risk, rather than a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
“[But] it is already well known that people who suffer from depression tend to crave carbohydrates,” said study author James Gangwisch, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry with the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City.
So the researchers set out to look at the dynamic in reverse. The goal: to see whether consuming refined carbs – a known driver of high blood sugar levels – actually raises depression risk among women with no recent history of mental illness.
The apparent answer: Yes.
Gangwisch and his colleagues reported their findings Aug. 5 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The investigators reviewed nutrition and mental health records collected at 40 clinical centers across 24 states and the District of Columbia during the well-known Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study.
None of the women had any history of substance abuse, depression or any other form of mental illness in the three years leading up to their enrollment in the study.
The result at the end of the study: The more refined sugars a woman ate, the higher her blood sugar levels and the greater her risk for a bout of depression.
As to why, Gangwisch said that “one likely explanation is spikes and troughs in blood sugar [levels] that result from the consumption of these foods. Blood sugar that is too high induces an elevated insulin [hormonal] response that can lower blood sugar to levels that induce a hormonal counter-regulatory response.”
The result can be a rise in anxiety, irritability and hunger. Similarly, plunging blood sugar levels often translate into fatigue, he said.
Asked whether refined carbs might drive depression risk among other groups of people, Gangwisch said that he “would presume that our results could also apply to men, although I cannot say definitively.”
But Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, cautioned that the dynamic could shift, depending on age and gender.
“The outcomes could be very different in younger women due to hormones, and of course in men,” she said. But “the important outcome to me, as a registered dietitian, is that the women who consumed diets higher in vegetables, fruits and whole grains had a lower incidence of depression. So, the question is not: do the [highly refined] foods contribute to depression? It is: do women at risk for depression simply choose these foods?”
That point was seconded by Lona Sandon, a registered dietician and assistant professor of clinical nutrition with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
“When you feed your body and brain healthy, whole, nutrient-rich foods, you feel better,” she said. “You may feel better and have a better mood, simply because you know you are doing something good for your body,” Sandon suggested.
“What is not clear from the report is whether or not the depression or consumption of refined carbohydrates came first,” she added. “Many people make poor food choices when they are depressed or even stressed, and may reach for refined carbohydrates – like chocolate – in an attempt to improve their mood.”
Regardless, registered dietitian Penny Kris-Etherton, a professor of nutrition at Penn State University in University Park, Pa., said the current study is “part of an important piece of emerging literature.”
“People are just starting to explore the connection between nutrition and mental health,” she said. “And I think this work will add fuel to a fascinating area of study, which is certainly worthy of more investigation.”
SOURCES: James E. Gangwisch, Ph.D., assistant professor, department of psychiatry, division of experimental therapeutics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City; Connie Diekman, M.Ed., R.D., director, university nutrition, Washington University, St. Louis; Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., R.D., registered dietitian and professor, nutrition, Penn State University, University Park, Penn.; Lona Sandon, R.D., assistant professor, clinical nutrition, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas; Aug. 5, 2015, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
By Carolanne Wright Contributing Writer for Wake Up World
Jack Bezian of Bezian’s Bakery in Santa Monica, California, has an eye-catching sign behind his loaves of bread, stating: “Roman soldiers had only sourdough bread to get protein.” But this is only part of the story. For those who suffer from gluten intolerance or celiac disease, Jack’s naturally fermented bread is surprisingly easy to digest. Interestingly, several studies have also found true sourdough to be well tolerated by individuals sensitive to gluten.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder triggered by consuming the protein in wheat, barley and rye – otherwise known as gluten. If a celiac ingests this protein, the immune system mistakenly attacks the villi in the small intestine, causing a cascade of health issues, including leaky gut syndrome, malnutrition, lactose intolerance, osteoporosis, neurological disorders and cancer.
Under normal circumstances, it’s necessary for individuals with a gluten sensitivity to completely eliminate the troublesome offender from their diet. However, two small studies involving sourdough bread give hope to the millions who believe they need to swear off gluten containing grains forever.
A European study of 17 celiac patients who consumed sourdough bread had an intriguing outcome. When the volunteers ingested a specialized sourdough containing lactobacilli culture, none of the participants exhibited any negative effects of intestinal permeability. The bread was made with 30 percent wheat flour and a combination of oat, millet and buckwheat flours. The researchers concluded, “These results showed that a bread biotechnology that uses selected lactobacilli, nontoxic flours, and a long fermentation time is a novel tool for decreasing the level of gluten intolerance in humans.”
Similarly, another study found that “individuals with celiac disease who ate specially prepared sourdough wheat bread over the course of 60 days experienced no ill effects,” writes Tasha Gerken in “Celiacs Can Say Yes to Sourdough Bread.” Read more about the testing protocol here.
Research published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology offers a possible explanation. Scientists discovered that, when wheat bread is thoroughly fermented, gluten content drops from approximately 75,000 ppm to 12 – a level technically considered gluten-free.
Not all bread is created equal
The key is a long fermentation process – up to a month with bakers like Jack Bezian. When bread is leavened naturally with lactobacilli, it transforms wheat flour into a nutrient-rich edible which is abundant in vitamins B, C and E, bioavailable protein, fatty acids and minerals. With true sourdough, bone and tooth destroying phytates are minimized as well.
In the post “Top 10 Reasons to Eat Real Sourdough Bread, Even if You’re Gluten Intolerant” Jack relates a story about how a celiac customer tried his traditional sourdough bread and discovered he could eat it without any adverse reactions.
Jack believes it’s important to knead the bread thoroughly and allow it to ferment for a lengthy stretch of time. There are no shortcuts here, but if you have an issue with gluten and miss the joy of bread, a true sourdough may be the answer.
(NaturalNews) Jack Bezian of Bezian’s Bakery in Santa Monica, California, has an eye-catching sign behind his loaves of bread, stating: “Roman soldiers had only sourdough bread to get protein.” But this is only part of the story. For those who suffer from gluten intolerance or celiac disease, Jack’s naturally fermented bread is surprisingly easy to digest. Interestingly, several studies have also found true sourdough to be well tolerated by individuals sensitive to gluten.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder triggered by consuming the protein in wheat, barley and rye – otherwise known as gluten. If a celiac ingests this protein, the immune system mistakenly attacks the villi in the small intestine, causing a cascade of health issues, including leaky gut syndrome, malnutrition, lactose intolerance, osteoporosis, neurological disorders and cancer.
Under normal circumstances, it’s necessary for individuals with a gluten sensitivity to completely eliminate the troublesome offender from their diet. However, two small studies involving sourdough bread give hope to the millions who believe they need to swear off gluten containing grains forever.
A European study of 17 celiac patients who consumed sourdough bread had an intriguing outcome. When the volunteers ingested a specialized sourdough containing lactobacilli culture, none of the participants exhibited any negative effects of intestinal permeability. The bread was made with 30 percent wheat flour and a combination of oat, millet and buckwheat flours. The researchers concluded, “These results showed that a bread biotechnology that uses selected lactobacilli, nontoxic flours, and a long fermentation time is a novel tool for decreasing the level of gluten intolerance in humans.”
Similarly, another study found that “individuals with celiac disease who ate specially prepared sourdough wheat bread over the course of 60 days experienced no ill effects,” writes Tasha Gerken in “Celiacs Can Say Yes to Sourdough Bread.” Read more about the testing protocol here.
Research published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology offers a possible explanation. Scientists discovered that, when wheat bread is thoroughly fermented, gluten content drops from approximately 75,000 ppm to 12 – a level technically considered gluten-free.
Not all bread is created equal
The key is a long fermentation process – up to a month with bakers like Jack Bezian. When bread is leavened naturally with lactobacilli, it transforms wheat flour into a nutrient-rich edible which is abundant in vitamins B, C and E, bioavailable protein, fatty acids and minerals. With true sourdough, bone and tooth destroying phytates are minimized as well.
In the post “Top 10 Reasons to Eat Real Sourdough Bread, Even if You’re Gluten Intolerant” Jack relates a story about how a celiac customer tried his traditional sourdough bread and discovered he could eat it without any adverse reactions.
Jack believes it’s important to knead the bread thoroughly and allow it to ferment for a lengthy stretch of time. There are no shortcuts here, but if you have an issue with gluten and miss the joy of bread, a true sourdough may be the answer.
There is so much debate out there on whether or not we should be consuming grains. I agree, that modernized grains are most likely not good for you. Most of them are made from genetically modified grains and can damage your health. For the past year or so, I have eliminated grains from my diet…I needed the break. I have slowly started to reintroduce grains back to my diet. I have chosen to focus on the traditional preparations of grains so that my body can break down the grains and digest them more easily.
What is sourdough? According to the Bread Bakers Forum, Sourdough is an American term for a natural leaven of “wild” or natural yeast and lactobacilli. Also the process of leavening bread with a natural leaven. Do not mistaken this with todays modernized yeast, it is not. Sourdough is created from a sourdough starter.
A sourdough starter is a starter or culture of wild/natural yeast and lactobacilli in a medium of flour and liquid which is propagated through ongoing refreshments (or “feedings”) for the purpose of leavening bread dough, is on-going and is continued on from one bake or activation to the next.
Sourdough Bread is bread which has been leavened with a sourdough starter. It may or may not be a sour bread, depending on the characteristics of the starter.
Sourdough bread is bread that is baked without the use of modernized yeast. It is the traditional way bread was made thousands of years ago. The bread rises slowly allowing the bread to ferment for several days to up to a month. This helps to promote the growth of more probiotic organisms.
10 reasons to eat sourdough bread
The probiotic microorganisms that are created when fermenting the dough:
1. Digest and assimilate (properly absorb) the foods you eat. Without adequate beneficial microflora in your gut, you can’t absorb nutrients in the foods you are eating.
2. Are necessary in order to maintain a healthy intestinal tract.
3. Contain uniquely balanced proteins, fatty acids, cellulose, minerals, and innumerable other nutrients our bodies need.
4. Provide vitamins B1 through B6 from lactobacillus and B12 vitamins from wild yeast. Wild yeast multiplies aerobically. This is because they have oxygen in them (not free radical oxygen ions) that feed your blood cells and not cancer cells. Most plant proteins including grains, seeds, cereals, beans, nuts, and some grasses form gluten. However, sourdough microflora has all the amino acids available, without the protein that forms gluten.
5. Depletes damaged starch in bread, thus diabetic people should not get insulin shock. It is a misconception that whole wheat is better than white flour for diabetics (the Glycemic difference is only 1%).
6. Produce acids, which will break down and remove some of the glutens from the bread. Acids do not allow mold and most bad bacterial growth. Alkaline with high pH allows mold growth and toxins. Mold ferments at a higher pH, allowing bad bacterial growth and the secretion of toxins. The absence of acids is abnormal, even animals have acid stomachs to kill bad bacteria.
7. Offset the effects of phytic acid, which robs your body of precious minerals.
According to Wikipedia:
Phytic acid is found within the hulls of nuts, seeds, and grains. In-home food preparation techniques can reduce the phytic acid in all of these foods. Simply cooking the food will reduce the phytic acid to some degree. More effective methods are soaking in an acid medium, lactic acid fermentation, and sprouting.
Phytic acid is a strong chelator of important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc, and can therefore contribute to mineral deficiencies in people whose diets rely on these foods for their mineral intake, such as those in developing countries. It also acts as an acid, chelating the vitamin niacin, which is basic, causing the condition known as pellagra. In this way, it is an anti-nutrient. For people with a particularly low intake of essential minerals, especially young children and those in developing countries, this effect can be undesirable.
“Probiotic lactobacilli, and other species of the endogenous digestive microflora as well, are an important source of the enzyme phytase which catalyses the release of phosphate from phytate and hydrolyses the complexes formed by phytate and metal ions or other cations, rendering them more soluble ultimately improving and facilitating their intestinal absorption
8. Dissolve proteins by producing protein enzymes, thus loosening multiple peptide bonds so that you can absorb more amino acids into your body. They dissolve four gluten-forming proteins: albumin, globulin, prolamin, and glutalin. They also produce alcohol that dissolves the most stubborn water insoluble protein bonds. These bonds are the reason why so many people have gluten intolerance.
9. Inhibit the growth of bad bacteria by:
creating a more acidic environment
producing anti-bacterial agents, and
absorbing all the B vitamins from their surroundings leaving none for the harmful bacteria.
10. Have most everything needed for optimum nutritional absorption. To absorb calcium, you need magnesium. To absorb magnesium, you need vitamin E, C, etc. Most of these are in the sourdough microorganisms, thus providing optimum absorption.
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