Is White Bread Really Bad for You?
Bread gets a lot of bad press.
One week it’s carbohydrates, the next it’s blood sugar, then suddenly everyone is talking about whether white bread is something we should be avoiding altogether.
I read an awful lot about bread. Probably more than most people would choose to.
But after a lifetime surrounded by baking and nearly 20 years working in a bakery, it’s one of those subjects that’s very close to my heart. Whenever I see an article about bread, flour, nutrition or how our eating habits are changing, I usually end up reading it.
Recently, there has been quite a bit written about white bread and blood sugar, and I came across a response from the Federation of Bakers that made a very sensible point:
Bread isn’t eaten in a laboratory.
Bread is only one part of what we eat
How our bodies respond to food depends on far more than one ingredient.
The type of flour, the recipe, the way the bread is made, the portion size and what you eat alongside it can all make a difference.
A couple of slices of bread might form part of a sandwich with eggs, cheese, meat or salad. It might be served alongside a bowl of soup, or eaten as toast with something on top.
Looking at bread in isolation doesn’t always tell you very much about the meal as a whole.
White bread isn’t nutritionally empty
Another thing that is sometimes overlooked is that flour used for bread in the UK is fortified.
That means everyday white bread provides nutrients including calcium, iron and B vitamins.
That doesn’t mean wholemeal and higher-fibre breads aren’t excellent choices. They absolutely are, and having a variety of breads in your diet makes sense.
But it does mean we probably don’t need to turn a perfectly ordinary slice of white bread into something to feel guilty about.
In fact, around 52% of bread purchased in the UK is white bread, so clearly plenty of us still enjoy it.
Perhaps food doesn’t always need a label
There is a tendency now to divide food into “good” and “bad”.
But food is also part of everyday life.
It’s the sandwich eaten halfway through a long walk.
Bread and butter alongside a bowl of soup.
A bacon sandwich on a Saturday morning.
The toast someone brings you when you feel poorly.
And perhaps that is the bit that gets lost when we reduce food to numbers and nutritional headlines.
Healthy eating doesn’t always have to mean removing the things you enjoy. Sometimes it can simply mean eating a varied diet, making sensible choices most of the time and enjoying the food you choose.
And frankly, I think life is considerably better with good bread in it.
But I may be slightly biased.
Seuranie
Roses the Bakers