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A frequently heard nutritional piece of wisdom is: If you want to live a healthy life, you should avoid white bread if possible. But there are exceptions to every rule.
Munich – White bread is unhealthy – or is it? Not necessarily, say scientific studies. It really depends on how fresh the bread is and whether you toast it before eating it or store it at cool temperatures.
Particularly high glycemic load: Avoiding white bread is better for the body
With the glycemic index, scientists measure how quickly and strongly blood sugar rises after eating. The reference value for the index is glucose, because nothing causes blood sugar levels to rise faster. The so-called glycemic load takes into account not only the glycemic index but also the amount of carbohydrates. And this load is particularly high in white bread.
The result: insulin levels rise significantly more after consuming white bread than after eating wholemeal bread. study from Canada, high blood sugar levels increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in the long term. Apart from that, this type of bread has few nutrients compared to the calories. Therefore, leaving white bread out of your diet is the best idea.
Nutrition expert and IHK health coach Tanja Maxeiner explains at IPPEN.MEDIA on this: It is “sensible to pay attention to the whole grain designation. Dark bread alone is no guarantee of healthy or even whole grain! This dark color is often created by molasses. However, if we eat fiber-rich whole grain bread, we are nourishing our good intestinal bacteria and ensuring that we feel full for a long time.”
This is Tanja Maxeiner
Tanja Maxeiner is a health advisor (IHK) and nutrition coach with the “simple guarantee”. Her motto: A healthy lifestyle does not always have to be complicated. Maxeiner gives tips on how to live healthily despite a stressful everyday life. She is a certified nutrition, Nordic walking and stress management coach and also gives many lectures on this topic.
Frozen and toasted bread as an insider tip: This is the influence on blood sugar levels
The second best option would be to at least freeze and defrost or toast the bread before consumption, like the first study on the subject in 2007. This had a positive effect on the glucose response to the bread, said the researchers from Oxford.
The glucose reaction curve is measured in millimoles per liter of blood, or mmol min/l for short. After eating fresh bread, the value was 259 mmol min/l. In comparison, the values for frozen and thawed bread were significantly lower at 179 mmol min/l and for just toasted bread at 193 mmol min/l. The blood sugar level was particularly low (157 mmol min/l) when the test subjects had frozen the bread, then thawed it and then toasted it. However, toasting it too dark is also not good, as this increases the risk of acrylamide.
Is white bread suddenly good for the intestines? Different storage creates “resistant starches”
A study by King’s College London also shows that the processing of food can influence its effect on the body. By cooking pasta and rice and then leaving it in the fridge overnight, the natural starches contained in the food are converted into so-called resistant starches. These are said to have a number of health benefits, such as New York Times reported, citing studies.
According to current scientific knowledge, the consumption of resistant starches can have a positive effect on intestinal health and reduce the risk of Cancer reduce. It is even said to make losing weight easier. However, nutrition experts see the effect as relatively insignificant compared to a generally healthier lifestyle.
Further studies show: Cool storage of white bread can make it healthier
The effect of the formation of resistant starches also occurs in stale bread, as a study by researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology The rule already known from the Oxford study applies: the colder, the better. According to the researchers from London, storage at refrigerator temperatures promoted the formation of resistant starches more than storage at room temperature.
Nutrition expert Tanja Maxeiner also explains: “A long rising time for the dough is definitely much more digestible than quickly baked goods from bakeries or discount stores.”
As a rule, researchers in nutritional science rely on so-called observational studies. The following are considered particularly informative: for example twin studies. This is because genetic factors can be ruled out. The gold standard in science, however, is double-blind randomized controlled trials. These are particularly difficult to conduct in nutritional science. Blinding, for example, is generally not possible because people can see what is on their plate.
“Quantity is crucial”: Nutrition expert warns against too many carbohydrates
Nutrition expert Maxeiner warns in conclusion: “The quantity is crucial. Often an excess of fast carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rice, sweets, etc. is consumed. However, the amount of energy is usually not used up and results in weight gain. In the worst case, too much fat stored in the liver can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.”
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