white bread

no bread
 by Katie Jones

Caution: May Contain White Bread

There is nothing quite like the soft, squishy texture of commercial white bread. These days your friends would call the food police if they found a loaf of brightly packaged white bread sitting on your kitchen counter. “Sally, step away from the loaf and put your butter knife down!”

White bread ranks highest of all the evils of bread consumption for being unhealthy.

But did you know you can still enjoy the doughy goodness of white bread with better nutritional value?

Not all white bread is created equal. If you want the best version, check the ingredient label for white whole wheat flour. The basis of good bread is flour. White whole wheat flour is not a bleached version of whole wheat flour; i.e., it is not the same as the white refined flour that many are trying to avoid. It is a flour made from grinding the entire hard white wheat kernel. You get all the fiber, vitamins and nutrients of the whole grain.

Let’s look at a nutritional comparison of three types of flour:

Flour Calories Fat Carbs Fiber Sugars Protein Iron Magnesium Phosphorus Enriched
Whole wheat 140 1g 27g 5g 1g 7g 10% 15% 15%
White whole wheat 130 0.5g 27g 9g 0g 4g 8% 10% 10%
Enriched white 100 0g 22g <1g <1g 3g 6% 10%/ 6%/ 8%/ 10%

Serving size is ¼ cup of flour.

From the table we can see that, nutritionally speaking, none of these flours is high in fat or sugar. I was surprised to see that the white whole wheat has a slightly higher fiber content than the other two. The enriched flour started as a red wheat berry that was milled and refined, removing the bran and germ. We started milling the flour this way to achieve a finer-texture grain and to improve the shelf life of the flour.

You have probably noticed that whole grain bread has a coarser texture than billowy white bread. Unfortunately, all of this processing removes fiber, iron, and B vitamins, which are then added back as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and folic acid. Many health issues point to refined white flour as the culprit. Its ease of digestibility due to lack of fiber is also to blame for blood sugar spikes.

Bakers are always innovating ways to keep bread in vogue. More whole grain breads line the supermarket shelves with seeds, nuts, and ancient grains. For those of us who just really loved white bread but were told to consume it with caution in order to stay thin and healthy, white whole wheat may be the answer.

Now we can choose the latest trend in the whole grain bread aisle — white whole grain bread!

If you want to learn more about whole grains, refined grains and healthy diet choices, check out choosemyplate.gov.

To read about baking with whole wheat flour, enriched flour, or white whole wheat flour, head over to BAKERpedia for all things baking-related.

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white bread
 by Lin Carson

Is Artisan Bread Healthier than White Bread? Day 71 and 72

Centuries ago, eating white bread meant you had status. White bread was served to the elite classes while the peasants continued to suffer with crusty whole grain loaves. How the times have changed! I know everyone loves to hate white bread these days. It seems to embody the distrust consumers have of industrially manufactured foods. But are artisan breads like sourdough healthier than white bread?

The use of bleached flour and the addition of dough conditioners, emulsifiers, and mold inhibitors are seen as unhealthy and blamed for our modern health issues. As consumer preferences have begun to shift to more wholesome ingredients, artisan bread began gaining in popularity.

Dave's killer bread-white bread done right-healthier than artisan bread

But what exactly is artisan bread and is it any healthier than industrially produced white bread?

Artisan bread is loosely defined as bread that is produced using traditional methods and ingredients.

Choice of flour type, length of fermentation, and how the bread is made are important characteristics for an artisan loaf. Dough is generally made in small batches with a more hands on approach. With the rise in popularity, the manufacturing of artisan loaves has been scaled up to embrace some modern conveniences. Due to the minimally processed and clean ingredient declaration consumers believe this to be a healthier bread.

A recent study tried to answer the question – Is artisan bread healthier than manufactured white bread?

20 healthy adults participated in a randomized crossover trial of two 1-week-long sessions. Participants consumed traditionally made sourdough-leavened whole-grain bread or industrially made white bread widely available for the study.  Test subjects ate standardized meals calculated to have 50 g of available carbohydrates.

During the white bread intervention period, subjects consumed 3 meals of 110 grams white bread, and 3 meals of 113g white bread + 30g butter. Sourdough meals consisted of 3 meals of 145 g sourdough bread, and 3 meals of 149 sourdough bread + 30 g butter.

The test showed no significant difference between consumption of traditionally made sourdough-leavened whole-grain bread or industrially made white bread on the participants. The study does point out that both types of bread had had very personal results on participants.

What are you telling me? Is there really no difference between sourdough bread and white bread nutritionally?

While one person might have a blood spike after eating white bread another may person experience the same thing eating artisan sourdough. Another measure that was dependent on individual participants was gut biome. The researchers found that the microbiota composition remained generally stable and person-specific throughout the trial.

So there you have it! There’s no nutritional difference between sourdough and white bread. This week’s white bread of choice? Dave’s Killer Bread White Bread Done Right. Mind you, their white bread has 10g of whole grains!

brats white bread

Bratwursts off the grill. Yum!

Here’s what I ate on Days 71 and 72 of EB90:

Food Portion Calories
Day 71
Bagel 1(100g) 210
DKB 21 G 4 Slices (45g) 480
DKB WBDR 5 Slices(40g) 550
Butter 2 Tbsp 200
Ricotta Cheese 1/4 C 100
Berry Cream Cheese 2 Tbsp 50
Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 2 Tbsp 40
Orange 1 orange 45
Stir Fried Vegetables 125g 36
Sweet sour chicken 275
Total 1986
Day 72
DKB 21 G 4 Slices (45g) 480
DKB WBDR 5 Slices(40g) 550
Butter 2 Tbsp 200
Lemon Curd 2 Tbsp 120
Cherries 1C 74
Roasted Zucchini 1 C 68
Calcium Supp
Bratwurst w hot dog bun 1 260
 Total 1752

 

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bakers-dough- eat bread 90, bakery
 by Lin Carson

Be Passionate About What You Do: Day 24

Artesano® bread by Sarah Lee is probably one of the most favored bread here in the Pacific Northwest. It is a white bread, without a gummy texture. I can eat this toasted with butter all day. Why do I choose this bread? Mainly because I wanted to try what it feels like just to eat white bread all day. I love it. No guilt here. Just pure indulgence into my favorite food in the world, bread. White bread.

We also recorded our 4th podcast today sponsored by Manildra, co-hosted by David Deblauwe and I. Our guest was Scott Baker (yes, he is a real baker), CEO of 5 generation bakers. They make an amazing raisin swirl bread under the label Jenny Lee®. Talking to Scott really gives me hope for this industry.

Passionate Baking

His success story is about being really good at something, repeating that, and growing it by leaps and bounds. Scott is a genuine baker. He chose to be really specialized at producing one thing, and that’s raisin swirl bread. The way he broke down his process (which I feel is a really difficult process), how he cared about the quality of his bread, and how that affected his growth decisions indicated to me that he really cares about his bread. I was excited to have found a commercial baker who is successful after starting from ground zero and growing his bakery to a multi-million dollar business. Above all, I love seeing passion being rewarded. Look for this podcast on iTunes (coming soon).

 

“Skills are cheap, passion is priceless” – Gary Vaynerchuk

It is true, you should always be guided by your passion if you want to grow a successful bakery. This can be seen with the success stories of 5 Generation Bakers, Grand Central Baking Co., Dave’s Killer Bread and Blue Star Donuts.  If you bite into any of their products, you will feel the passion. It is what keeps your customers from coming back again and again.

Here’s what I ate on Day 23 of EB90:

Food Portion Calories
Sara Lee® Artesano 11 slices (38g) 1100
Ricotta Cheese 2 Tbsp 50
Artichoke Bruchetta spread 2 Tbsp 67
Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 4 Tbsp 80
Salami 6 Slices 180
Apricot Sugar-Free Jam 2 Tbsp 40
Dickinson’s® Lemon Curd 2 Tbsp 120
Orange 1 orange 45
Nutella 2 tbsp 200
Tilamook Butter (Salted) 1 Tbsp 100
Kale Soup 1 C 48
Marie Biscuits 10 pieces 150
Banana 1 105
Calcium Supp
Bike -300
Total 1985

 

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plate-crumbs-eat bread 90
 by Lin Carson

The Calorie Police: Day 21

Franz Bakery's 100% Whole Wheat bread.

Franz Bakery’s 100% Whole Wheat bread.

Ok, look. I’m not shy about what I eat, or reporting the sinful things that I eat on this blog. I was at a reception today, and was about to take a bite into a delicious fruit tart when a friend said “Are you supposed to eat that? This doesn’t substitute your bread consumption, right? You can’t cheat that way.”

People, people, people, relax! I’m not cheating. I’m still eating a pound of bread, and this luscious and sinful dessert is counted on top of that.

The usual response I get after explaining my diet is, “how do you get to eat so much? Doesn’t bread take up all your calories for the day?” The answer to this is NO. The calories from a pound of bread is about 1100. That leaves room for dessert cheats within the range of 300-400 calories. If I threw in a 35 min cardio in there, I could still safely consume another 1000 calories on top of a pound of bread. This gives me plenty of options to consider while consuming my bread throughout the day.

Bread every day

So, while I do appreciate your concern about my diet and policing me on it, also know that I eat a pound of bread every day to meet the minimal requirements of this bread eating challenge. Remember, every day, for 90 days.

Today, I finished up my whole grain white bread, and opened a new bag of Franz® Organic whole wheat bread. I wanted to compare eating a whole grain white bread to a whole wheat. After all, they should be similar.

The difference is very subtle. If you closed your eyes, or if you’re color blind, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference because these two breads taste very similar. So yes, you are getting the whole wheat goodness in both bread.

Here’s what I ate on Day 21 of EB90:

Food Portion Calories
Franz Organic Whole Grain White 4 slices (40g) 400
Franz Organic 100% Whole Wheat 6 slices (43) 700
Tilamook Butter (Salted) 3Tbsp 300
Smucker’s Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 2 Tbsp 20
Tillamook sliced cheddar 1 Slice 45
Orange 1 orange 45
Sauteed Spinach 1 C 48
Fruit Tart 1 300
Smucker’s Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 2 Tbsp 20
Fried Fish Dinner 1 C 300
Banana 1 105
Run -300
Swim -200
Total 1783

 

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white bread slices-eat bread 90
 by Lin Carson

White Bread is Bad: Day 20

Great Seed Bread.

Great Seed Bread.

I love the bakers at Franz Bakery. I walked into my office and there was a box full of fresh bread just sitting on my chair waiting for me. Today, I choose Whole Grain White and Great Seed. These are just amazing tasting breads.

Many people have lectured me about not eating white bread because it is bad. Now, before any of you condemn this white bread, remember: not all white breads are created equal. The recent surge on the market shows a new line of bread that is made from white wheat.

Whole Grain White Wheat by Franz.

Whole Grain White Wheat by Franz.

Did they bleach the wheat?

No, this flour is from whole grain white wheat.

Is this white wheat GMO?

No. it’s been around for a long time (Wait, before you go there, remember, there is no GMO wheat!). Red wheats are more common, and whole grain red wheats color the bread brown, which is traditionally your brown whole wheat bread.

Now that I’ve explained the difference between white and red wheat, you should feel comfortable eating a whole grain white bread, because it is as nutritionally good for you as the regular whole wheat bread. Go eat your bread white!

Here’s what I ate on Day 20 of EB90:

Franz® Whole Grain White 5 slices (40g) 500
Franz® Great Seed 6 slices (43) 660
Tilamook® Butter (Salted) 1 Tbsp 100
Ham 2 oz 60
Tillamook® sliced cheddar 1 Slice 45
Apple 1 95
Kale and sausage soup 1C 200
Quesadilla 1 Slice 400
Fried homemade dumplings 5  pieces 300
Smucker’s Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 2 Tbsp 20
Run -300
Bike -200
Total 1880

 

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bread misconceptions and myths
 by Katie Jones

10 Bread Misconceptions Debunked

When did bread become the enemy to healthy living?  Bread has been around since the beginning of civilization. It is a fundamental food containing gut-healthy fiber, magnesium and protein.

Bread has served as a lunch time companion to meat and veggies or an accompaniment to soup at supper. And where would our breakfasts be without toast or french bread? Cruising around the internet, however, I read so many bread misconceptions and myths.

bread misconceptions, bread myths, bread, healthy

Here are the top 10 bread misconceptions:

  1. Bread makes you fat
  2. Bread causes bloating
  3. Brown bread is healthier than white
  4. Bread causes joint inflammation
  5. Bread is empty calories
  6. Bread causes diarrhea
  7. Eating bread is bad for your blood sugar
  8. Bread is less nutritious than it used to be
  9. Gluten Free bread is healthier
  10. Bread is high in salt

If you follow along with us at EB90 we will be setting the record straight on these common myths. But here I’ll address a few.

Bread makes you fat. False. A bad ratio of calories in and calories out, along with eating food low in nutrition and high in fats, makes you fat. However, by balancing your calorie intake there is plenty of room for bread in a healthy diet. In fact, whole grain breads offer needed nutrients, like fiber, and help you feel full longer.

Brown bread is healthier than white bread. Not quite. The color of bread depends on the type of wheat used: white wheat or red wheat. The nutrition depends on how much of the whole kernel of wheat is used. So you can eat whole grain white bread, that is chalk full of nutrition. Here’s one that I like. Just look for whole grain breads, and you’ll be getting the healthier loaf.

Bread is empty calories. Nope. Bread is bursting with ingredients we need in our daily diet. With whole grain bread, you receive high amounts of fiber and protein. Plus, whole grains are good for your heart.

Eating bread is bad for your blood sugar. Not with this bread! There are a number of breads that have a low GI index and still taste great.

Gluten-free bread is healthier. Actually, it’s usually the opposite. In order to replace grains that have gluten, gluten-free breads use ingredients like rice, potatoes and tapioca. These food are high in starch and sugar. Plus, there is usually little fiber. And unless you are suffering from celiac disease, there’s no reason to cut out gluten.

What bread myths have you been telling yourself?

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good about white bread-white bread-eb90-sliced bread
 by Lin Carson

What’s Good About White Bread? Day 1

Believe me, I was like a kid in a candy store looking at all the fresh loaves of bread that was kindly delivered to me in the first week – loaves from Dave’s Killer Bread, Jenny Lee’s, Franz Bakery, Klostermann’s Bakery and more! It was hard to decide where to start but I had to pick one. So I finally chose the innovative Dave’s Killer Bread – White Bread Done Right®.

Dave's killer bread-white bread done right

Really? What’s good about white bread?

“I don’t want white bread for my sandwich, it doesn’t have substance!“ says Dean, my beloved husband of 20 years.

“But it’s good for you, honey. It comes from whole grain white wheat. It’s as nutritious as eating whole wheat bread, but it looks white so it will fool the kids!” I felt like a sales representative for Dave’s Killer Bread. The real question is, why is Dean eating my bread, when the whole loaf was mine? Because he just might be a little envious? I think so.

My analysis of a variety of loaves revealed I can safely consume one pound of bread (454g) every day with other food items, without going over my daily intake of 2,100 calories. It comes out to 14 slices out of 17 slices, leaving three slices of bread left for my hungry husband.

Yep, that’s 14 slices of White Bread Done Right® for my first day.

How did it go?

White Bread Done Right® was delicious and surprisingly hearty. I should have eaten two in the morning, two at lunch, and two at dinner, with slices consumed at regular intervals all throughout the day. My meal plan included sandwiches, toasts with Nutella® and strawberries, cookie butter, cream cheese and butter.

bread-spread-fruit-daves killers bread

So spreading out the slices seemed logical.

But that wasn’t the case. I ate a slice with a spread every time I felt hungry (But man! This white bread really kept me full!) or when I could break from work to eat. By 5 p.m., I had seven slices left. SEVEN SLICES!!! I usually don’t eat past 7 p.m. and I needed to go for a run. So now I was faced with shoving seven slices of bread into my face within 1.5 hours? HORRORS! Bad planning, Lin. Bad planning!

Now, you all know that you have to drink water (or some kind of liquid) when you eat bread. So the more bread I ate, the more I had to drink. My first day of this bread eating challenge ended with me just feeling so bloated from shoving five slices down (with two used for a sandwich) before 7:30 p.m. By 10 p.m. I still felt like a beached whale.  Was it the bread? No, it was bad planning. Like any diet, not having a proper menu in place was bad strategy.

So to summarize, what’s good about White Bread Done Right®? It is an awesome loaf of bread. I just don’t recommend eating most of it in one sitting—definitely not a good idea.

Here’s what I ate on Day 1 of EB90:

Food Portion Calories
DKB White Bread Done Right® 14 slices (480g) 1540
Weight Watchers® Whipped Cream Cheese Spread 1 Tbsp 30
Almond Breeze® Chocolate Almond Milk 1 Cup 100
Boar’s Head® Smoked Ham 2 oz 60
Nutella® 2 tbsp 200
Strawberries 1C 47
Wild Friends® Honey Peanut Butter with Pretzel 2 tbsp 180
Biscoff Cookie Butter® 1 tbsp 85
Orange 1 orange 45
Calcium Supplement NA
Run 5K -325
Total 1962

 

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