Unhealthy Health Food
Whole Wheat Bread
Why we think it’s healthy:
Whole grains are far superior to refined white bread because of the added bran and vitamins. American nutritional guidelines recommend that half or more of your grains be whole. Why it’s not:
Sure, the extra bran adds a tiny bit more fiber and B vitamins to your bread, but 100% whole wheat and refined white bread have essentially the same impact on your blood sugar. When Dr. Oz invited Dr. William Davis, author of Wheat Belly,
on his show, he put his claim that whole-wheat bread can cause a bigger blood sugar spike than a candy bar to the test. Indeed, three out of the five women he tested had a higher blood sugar level after eating the bread. Of coarse this is far from being a reliable experiment, but it caused the good doctor to reconsider his “eat whole grains” recommendation to his clients.
On a glycemic index scale of 1 to 100, where pure glucose equals 100, white bread and whole wheat bread both have the same value of 71 -- a pretty high value. If we follow national guidelines to eat between six and eight slices of whole-wheat bread, this’ll keep our insulin levels high, making it impossible to tap into our fat reserves for energy. That not only stalls fat loss, but it also promotes fat gain. With wheat as our staple, it’s easy to see how the obesity epidemic came about.
If you have a sedentary job and you don't exercise much, then all of your carbs should come from fibrous vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds (if your goal is weight loss). If you need a carb source to fuel your exercise needs, opt instead for slow-burning carbs like oatmeal
, buckwheat, sweet potatoes or red beans.