From Wheat Fields to Healthy Choices: How to Pick the Right Bread (Video)

[Opening]

Welcome to this quick guide to bread, a food found in many global diets. We’ll learn about how bread is made and how to choose the healthiest kinds.

[The History of Bread]

From ancient flatbreads to today’s vast array of types, bread has long been central to human diet and culture. Bread’s journey from ancient staple to modern supermarket shelves is a tale of innovation and industrialization. It always begins in wheat fields, where farmers cultivate wheat varieties produce seeds rich in gluten, a kind of protein molecule that gives bread structure and stretchiness. Wheat seeds also contain sugar and starch, which the seed could use as food if it were ever planted.

Wheat has great genetic diversity, but most common wheat varieties used today are the result of breeding for characteristics such as higher yield, breadmaking quality, efficient use of nutrients, and resistance to disease and pests.

The bread-making process starts with harvesting, once the grains have fully matured. During harvesting, the grains of wheat, which are also called kernels, are separated from the rest of the plant. Once harvested, the kernels are ground into a powder called flour. That’s the primary ingredient of bread.

Although kernels of wheat can be kept in storage for many months without losing much of their nutritional value, flour is a different story. Because the grinding process breaks up the cell walls in the kernel, what was inside those cells can be exposed to air, fungus, and bacteria, all of which will degrade the nutritional value and the flavor of the flour over time.

When it’s time to make bread, flour is mixed with water and other ingredients, depending on the bread being made. That makes something we call dough. You’ve probably seen pictures or videos of what happens next—the dough is squeezed, massaged, stretched, and rolled. That’s called kneading, with a “k”, and it’s done for a very specific purpose—to get the gluten molecules in the flour to connect up into a web or network. That web gives the bread a structure and also makes it chewy.

But even with the gluten molecules connected up, dough is not very appetizing. For one thing, it’s too dense and heavy to eat. So the next step is to put some kind of air into the bread. Most often, that’s done by adding a kind of fungus called yeast to the dough before it’s kneaded. After kneading, the dough is left to sit for a while in a place that’s warm and not too dry, giving the yeast time to convert some of the starch and sugar in the flour into the gas carbon dioxide. As bubbles of carbon dioxide collect inside the dough, it gets bigger, and we say the dough is rising.

The dough is now ready for the final step: Baking. The heat expands the carbon dioxide bubbles even more, and also hardens the gluten into a product that’s ready to be sliced and packaged. And by the way, baking also gets rid of something else that yeast makes out of sugar and starch, which is alcohol.

Now let’s look at the breads you’ll likely encounter in the grocery store’s bread aisle.

[Understanding White Bread]

First up, white bread. it’s popular for its soft texture and long shelf life. While convenient, the way the white flour is made strips away the outer parts of the wheat seed and the nutrients and fiber that are found there. What’s left is pretty much just sugar and starch, which breaks down quickly in your digestive system That can cause your blood sugar to rise rapidly, and having that happen over and over again is not great for your health in the long term.

Let’s look at some bread options that offer more nutrition and less blood sugar spikes.

[Whole Wheat Bread: The Wholesome Choice]

The flour used for whole-wheat bread is made from entire wheat kernel. That results in a heartier texture and a richer nutritional profile than white bread, with greater fiber, vitamin, and mineral content. The fiber is especially important, both because it nourishes your microbiome and because it slows down the digestion of starch and sugar and the rise of blood sugar levels.

[Multigrain Bread: The Diverse Option]

Multigrain bread is made from wheat plus at least one other grain type, such as oats, rye, and barley. Some or all of these types of flour could be made from whole grain, but it’s also true that none of them could—a multigrain bread might not have any whole grains at all! So read the label carefully, and look for the words “100% whole grain.”

[Sourdough Bread: The Traditional Technique]

Sourdough bread gets its slight sour flavor from the fact that its dough includes a combination of yeast and bacteria rather than yeast alone. The bacteria converts some of the sugar and starch into a kind of acid, and it also breaks down gluten, which can make the bread easier to digest. And as long as the flour used is whole grain, sourdough bread also has a lower impact on blood sugar levels than other kinds of bread.

[Sprouted Bread: The Nutrient-Rich Alternative]

Sprouted bread is made from whole grain seeds that are allowed to germinate or sprout before being milled. The flours commonly used in sprouted bread can be made from wheat, barley, spelt, and other grains, and sometimes other foods like lentils or soybeans. The sprouting process seems to make some of the nutrients in the flour, like B vitamins, easier for your body to assimilate. Additionally, some people find that sprouted bread is easier to digest, and it may be a suitable option for those with mild gluten sensitivities, as the sprouting process may break down some of the gluten.

[Choosing the Right Bread]

That fact that there are so many choices can make it seem difficult to choose healthy breads, but there are really only a couple of things to look for.

First, make sure the bread is whole grain, whether wheat or multi-grain. Ignore the claims on the front of the package, which are often misleading. Instead, go right to the ingredients list, which should be short, composed of read food and not include added sugar.

And here’s a tip! Many of the healthiest varieties of bread will be found in the freezer aisle, since they don’t have the preservatives that allow bread to sit on a shelf for a long time.

[Closing]

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