Should you eat bread? How to eat bread

Today, no one can name the exact date of the appearance of bread in the human diet, but most scientists believe that people got the first bread by accident, more than 15,000 years ago. Once, in search of food, people turned their attention to grains of cereals. At first they collected them and ate them, then they noticed that the grain that accidentally fell into the ground germinates, and much more grains are obtained. So people began to grow cereal crops and eat them.

Gradually, people learned how to grind grain, cook cereals, cereal mash and stews, and then cakes and bread. According to archaeologists, baked bread appeared about 7,000 years ago, when part of the cereal mash was accidentally poured onto the hearth stones and baked.

Thousands of years have passed since then, and today baking bread is a real art. More than one book can be written about the history of bread, and there are so many varieties of bread in the world that it is easy to get lost in their abundance. After all, only in Russia there are several hundred of them, and new ones appear all the time: Russians have always considered bread to be their main food, and not just food, but a symbol of prosperity and well-being. What is worth only one Russian custom - to greet dear and honored guests, respected people, new settlers and newlyweds with bread and salt. With bread - always happiness.

However, in recent years, they began to write a lot and talk about the fact that bread is not so useful, and even advise to exclude bread from your diet.

Let's try to figure out what this opinion is based on? Wheat grain is a product unique in its composition, which has collected almost the entire periodic table. It contains many vitamins: A, E, F, vitamins of group B and others; a large number of minerals: copper, selenium, magnesium, cobalt, zinc, chlorine, sodium, silicon, manganese, potassium, iodine - it would take a long time to list.

However, all these useful necessary for a person substances are contained only in the shell of the grain and its germ. Unfortunately, in the process of modern grain processing, it is this most valuable part of it that goes to waste, and what remains is mainly starch and calories, which make up white flour premium considered elite.

Soft and fluffy white bread is baked from this flour, as well as rolls and other delicious products that look so beautiful on our table. Of all the vitamins and minerals contained in the unprocessed grain, hardly 30% remains in such flour, and they become practically inactive after two weeks. As a result, our diet begins to dominate empty calories and starch, which do not have any life force, however, contributing to the accumulation of excess fat in the body.

Most doctors and nutritionists believe that many diseases arise and develop precisely through the use of white bread from flour of the highest grades. If we take into account what other food products have become today, as well as the fact that we are all used to eating with bread, it becomes quite clear what the opinion about the dangers of eating bread is based on. People who constantly eat white bread and high-grade flour products are much more likely to develop and worsen cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine and oncological diseases.

In one of the developed countries, a study was recently conducted in which more than 60,000 middle-aged women took part. The results of the study showed that in women whose diet was dominated by white bread and products made from premium flour, diabetes developed almost three times more often than those who included in their diet foods rich in fiber and containing few easily digestible carbohydrates.

It was noted that the factor of heredity, motor activity and body weight did not affect the development of the disease in any way - everything depended only on the diet. In short, we can say that the constant consumption of white bread leads to serious disorders of carbohydrate metabolism, the consequence of which is the development of type II diabetes.

Fortunately, today, as noted above, there are a lot of varieties of bread, so we have plenty to choose from. The main thing is to learn how to choose the right bread. Bread with addition rye flour – gray bread, absorbed more slowly, and contains more useful substances than white bread. That's why he doesn't do that. harmful influence to our health.

However, the most healthy bread- this is bread with bran. Bran has the ability to absorb toxins and allergens, help strengthen the immune system, supply our body with fiber, valuable proteins and vitamins. People who prefer bran bread are much less likely to suffer gastrointestinal diseases, overweight and atherosclerosis, since this bread contains a lot of nicotinic acid, which is necessary for the body to prevent these diseases.

Bran contains useful alimentary fiber, vitamins and minerals, and therefore nutritionists often prescribe them as a supplement to medical nutrition patients with hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cholelithiasis, constipation and obesity. Bran is added to cereals, meat and fish dishes, soups, and also prepare a decoction of bran - valuable vitamin drink. You can use bran and in kind, after frying them in the oven and steaming with boiling water.

Very helpful also unleavened bread on hop starter . It has a mild sleeping pill, as well as anti-inflammatory, choleretic and expectorant effects, helps to increase appetite and normalize the menstrual cycle in women.

How to choose the right bread? Of course, first you need to pay attention to it appearance, color and shape. Bread should be even, without cracks, of normal color: for example, rye bread should be an even dark brown color, and white buns should be golden; the shape of the bread must be correct, and the bread itself must not include foreign undesirable formations, such as black soot containing carcinogenic substances.

The label must indicate the expiration date and information about the manufacturer. Try to buy bread and baked goods well-known manufacturers having a good reputation in the market. In this case, you can be sure that not only the composition of the product, but the entire manufacturing process, and the personnel of the enterprise is carefully checked and controlled.

Remember what can cause bread defects. If you bought once poor quality product, try not to buy bread from this manufacturer again. So, an extraneous taste and smell of bread can be caused by both impurities and non-compliance with the rules for storing products: flour, yeast and fats. If the bread has a pale crust, and the crumb is sticky and creased, then, most likely, flour was used for baking that did not have the necessary baking properties.

More than 70% of people who drastically eliminate bread from their diet lose weight within the first two weeks. Bread was incorrectly placed at the base of the food pyramid that children study at school with early age. Some of these kids may become professional nutritionists in the future and preach the same bullshit about bread. The processed grains that make bread are unnecessary and even sometimes dangerous for some types of metabolism. And that's why:

1) Whole grain bread can raise blood sugar more than a Snickers bar

Whole grain bread does not actually contain whole grains. Flour is made by grinding grains into powder. It is thanks to the powdered form that it is easier for the body to digest bread and allow the resulting glucose to enter the bloodstream. This raises the fat synthesis enhancing hormone known as insulin. Wu whole grain bread glycemic index even higher than chocolate bars such as Snickers.

Elevated blood sugar levels can cause glycation at the cellular level, when blood sugar reacts with proteins in the body, which is part of the aging process.

This is the flip side of the high-carbohydrate diet so often promoted by ill-informed sources.

2) Bread contains a lot of gluten

Wheat contains a large amount of a protein called gluten.

Gluten consists of substances resembling glue in its consistency (from the English glue - glue), due to which the dough becomes elastic-viscous.

According to the latest data, a significant part of the population is sensitive to gluten.

When we eat bread that contains gluten (wheat, spelled, rye and barley), the immune system V digestive tract begins to "attack" gluten proteins.

Gluten sensitivity is often associated with some cases of schizophrenia and cerebellar ataxia (both serious brain disorders).

Most likely, gluten is dangerous for most people, not just those diagnosed with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease.

The only way to test if you're sensitive to gluten is to cut it out of your diet for thirty days and then start consuming it again and see if you have any side effects.

3) Modern wheat is dangerous

The most popular cereal in the world is also the most deadly. According to cardiologist and leading wheat specialist Dr. William Davis, modern wheat is not wheat at all, "an excellent, permanent poison."

As soon as agro-industrial enterprises began to grow high-yielding grains, wheat became so hybridized that, in its genetic code, it does not at all resemble the wheat that was grown in ancient times. All the nutritional value of modern wheat in its natural unprocessed state has depreciated by 30% compared to the genetic data of its predecessors. Balance and ratios useful elements in wheat, created by nature itself, have been changed. And the human body and psychology cannot adapt to new changes so quickly.

4) Modern bread contains preservatives and chemicals

Like most modern processed foods, most modern species breads contain sugar or corn syrup With high content fructose.

Most grains also contain phytic acid (this is one of the main problems with soy). Phytic acid is a substance that binds minerals such as calcium, iron and zinc that are important to the body and prevents them from entering the bloodstream. Soy advocates consume much more allowable rate phytates (salts phytic acid) through soy milk, tofu cheese, cereals and many others food products subjected to technological processing. soybean oil and soy lecithin quite common in bread.

Dough leavening agents, consisting of azocarbonic acid diamide, have only recently been called into question.

Here is the composition of most modern types of bread:

"caption on image"

Ingredients: wheat flour whole grain, water, wheat gluten, high fructose corn syrup, honey, molasses, yeast. Contains 2% or less of: wheat bran, soybean oil, salt, calcium sulfate, dough raising agents (sodium stearoyl lactylate, ethoxylated mono and diglycerides, calcium dioxide and / or azocarbonic acid diamide), soy flour, nutritional supplement for yeast growth (ammonium chloride, ammonium sulfate and/or calcium monophosphate), vinegar, calcium propionate (to keep the product fresh), whey, soy lecithin. Contains wheat, milk and soy.

5) Bread is not a nutritious food

NO in bread nutrients, which you can get from other products in much large quantities. Wheat bread from whole grain flour can even slow down the absorption of nutrients from other foods. Gluten, damaging the intestinal mucosa, slows down the process of absorption of other nutrients by organisms.

Regardless of the number of calories whole wheat bread contains fewer nutrients than, for example, vegetables.

Wheat fiber can make your body use up your vitamin D stores faster, causing vitamin D deficiency, which in some cases can lead to cancer, diabetes, and even death.

6) The link between wheat and diabetes

Sousbury, Connecticut Traditional Medicine Clinic Director of Medicine Dr. Andrew Rubman says wheat consumption (especially gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, and barley) can cause diabetes among people at genetic risk for the disease. He also adds that eliminating gluten from the diet may be beneficial for people who already have diabetes. Dr. Rubman suggests following a gluten-free diet for four to six months and seeing if blood sugar levels improve. If the answer is yes, then such a diet should be followed for life.

7) Genetically Modified Enzymes

Enzymes (often genetically modified) are added to flour and dough to make loaves bigger and stay softer for days or even weeks. However, according to recent studies, one of these enzymes is transglutaminase, which is used in Food Industry and baking, can turn some gluten proteins out wheat flour into substances that are toxic to some people. Even organic bread made in large industrial plants can contain such substances.

Manufacturers often sell so-called "high-end" breads containing omega-3s, inulin, folic acid etc. But if you do not follow the ingredients in the main composition of the loaf of bread, then our diet will resemble just industrial waste with nutrients.

Bread is a source of vitamins and minerals

Bread is rich in riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, biotin, and other B vitamins, many of which are present in a form of digestibility rarely found in other foods. B vitamins are able to influence the regulation of functions nervous system and provide protection from stressful situations, so the complete refusal to eat bread increases the risk of developing neurological diseases and depressive states. Short temper, fatigue, irritability and tearfulness - all this can indicate a deficiency in the body of B vitamins. Bread contains vitamin E, which is necessary for regulating DNA synthesis and stabilizing red blood cells and muscle tissue. In addition, it is a powerful antioxidant that prevents premature aging of cells.

Bread contains large amounts of such minerals as magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, vanadium, manganese, cobalt, etc. the earth's crust and in natural sources, so it is present in few foods. Meanwhile, its role in the human body is very significant, because. he is an active participant in many reactions, normalizes metabolic processes. So, vanadium is most fully represented in bread. Knowing this and not eating bread is simply unwise.

Complex carbohydrates

Bread is a carbohydrate product. Depending on the variety, it contains 40-50% carbohydrates, and this is what scares people who want to lose weight and diabetics. But with a lack of carbohydrates in the body, the synthesis of serotonin, an important hormone and brain neurotransmitter (it is called the hormone of pleasure), is disrupted. Serotonin deficiency leads to brain activity and inability to deal with stress. What to do? Nutritionists are unanimous in their recommendations - exclude simple carbohydrates from the menu and include complex ones. Simply put, prefer bread to pastries, cakes and cookies. Carbohydrates contained in bread are classified as complex. It is unusual for them to be deposited on the waist, hips and buttocks with layers of fat. But they provide the body with energy, prevent anemia, diabetes and other diseases.

Alimentary fiber

Due to the presence of dietary fiber, which is found in large quantities in bread from flour coarse grinding, bran and whole grains, you can establish normal bowel function, and at the same time remove toxins and toxins and lower blood cholesterol levels. Bread made from premium wheat flour does not contain dietary fiber.

Which bread is a friend and which one is an enemy

Today, the stores offer a rich assortment of bread - rye, wheat, with bran, whole grain, with all kinds of additives (raisins, seeds, onions, caraway seeds, malt, sesame), unleavened, yeast, etc. There is also bread for special purposes: iodized, with high content iron, etc. And there is only one type of bread that nutritionists do not like. This is white bread made from premium wheat flour. During the production of this flour, the most valuable thing is removed from the grain - the shell and the germ. What remains are calories and starch. Such bread is a source of "fast" carbohydrates. Yes, it is extremely tasty, you can sometimes eat it ... as a treat. And in dried form, it is shown as dietary product at inflammatory diseases bodies gastrointestinal tract, because It has less acidity and is easier to digest than rye bread.

The undeniable benefits of bread

Bread is a useful product in all respects. It is necessary to eat it, and sometimes it is simply necessary. It should only be borne in mind that healthy bread means the “right” product. Namely - made from rye flour or a mixture of rye and wheat. Perfect Bread, bearing health - whole grain, with bran, with the inclusion of cereals and natural supplements(oat and buckwheat flakes, raisins, seeds). It is no coincidence that on black bread and clean water a person can live long enough without compromising his health.

Restrictions on bread consumption

In some diseases, the use of bread must be limited (for example, in diabetes), and in some cases it should be completely excluded. So, you can’t eat bread with gluten enteropathy, because. people with it cannot tolerate gluten, a protein found in grains. Bread made from wholemeal flour and with bran is contraindicated peptic ulcer. Fortunately for the sick, manufacturers today produce special types of bread: gluten-free, diabetic, protein, etc.

Beauty and Health Health Nutrition

Today, no one can name the exact date of the appearance of bread in the human diet, but most scientists believe that people got the first bread by accident, more than 15,000 years ago. Once, in search of food, people turned their attention to grains of cereals. At first they collected them and ate them, then they noticed that the grain that accidentally fell into the ground germinates, and much more grains are obtained. So people began to grow cereals and eat them.

Gradually, people learned how to grind grain, cook cereals, cereal mash and stews, and then cakes and bread. According to archaeologists, baked bread appeared about 7,000 years ago, when part of the cereal mash was accidentally poured onto the hearth stones and baked.

Thousands of years have passed since then, and today baking bread is a real art. More than one book can be written about the history of bread, and there are so many varieties of bread in the world that it is easy to get lost in their abundance. After all, only in Russia there are several hundred of them, and new ones appear all the time: Russians have always considered bread to be their main food, and not just food, but a symbol of prosperity and well-being. What is worth only one Russian custom - to greet dear and honored guests, respected people, new settlers and newlyweds with bread and salt. With bread - always happiness.

Is bread healthy? The harm and benefits of bread

However, in recent years, they began to write a lot and talk about the fact that bread is not so useful, and even advise to exclude bread from your diet.

Let's try to figure out what this opinion is based on? Wheat grain is a product unique in its composition, which has collected almost the entire periodic table. It contains many vitamins: A, E, F, vitamins of group B and others; a large number of minerals: copper, selenium, magnesium, cobalt, zinc, chlorine, sodium, silicon, manganese, potassium, iodine - it would take a long time to list.

However, all these substances useful and necessary for a person are contained only in the shell of the grain and its germ. Unfortunately, in the process of modern grain processing, it is this most valuable part of it that goes to waste, and what remains is mainly starch and calories, which make up the highest grade white flour, which is considered elite.

Soft and fluffy white bread is baked from this flour, as well as rolls and other delicious products that look so beautiful on our table. Of all the vitamins and minerals contained in the unprocessed grain, hardly 30% remains in such flour, and they become practically inactive after two weeks. As a result, our diet begins to be dominated by empty calories and starch, which do not have any vitality, but contribute to the accumulation of excess fat in the body.

Most doctors and nutritionists believe that many diseases arise and develop precisely due to the use of white bread from high-grade flour. If we take into account what other food products have become today, as well as the fact that we are all used to eating with bread, it becomes quite clear what the opinion about the dangers of eating bread is based on. People who constantly eat white bread and high-grade flour products are much more likely to develop and worsen cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine and oncological diseases.

In one of the developed countries, a study was recently conducted in which more than 60,000 middle-aged women took part. The results of the study showed that in women whose diet was dominated by white bread and products made from premium flour, diabetes mellitus developed almost three times more often than those who included in their diet foods rich in fiber and containing few easily digestible carbohydrates.

It was noted that the factor of heredity, motor activity and body weight did not affect the development of the disease in any way - everything depended only on the diet. In short, we can say that the constant consumption of white bread leads to serious disorders of carbohydrate metabolism, the consequence of which is the development of type II diabetes.

Bread with rye flour

Fortunately, today, as noted above, there are a lot of varieties of bread, so we have plenty to choose from. The main thing is to learn how to choose the right bread. Bread with the addition of rye flour is gray bread, digested more slowly and contains more nutrients than white bread. Therefore, it does not have such a harmful effect on our health.

The healthiest bread is bran bread

However, the healthiest bread is bran bread.. Bran has the ability to absorb toxins and allergens, help strengthen the immune system, supply our body with fiber, valuable proteins and vitamins. People who prefer bran bread are much less likely to suffer from gastrointestinal diseases, overweight and atherosclerosis, since this bread contains a lot of nicotinic acid, which the body needs to prevent these diseases.

Bran contains healthy dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, and therefore nutritionists often prescribe them as a supplement to therapeutic nutrition for patients with hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, as well as for cholelithiasis, constipation and obesity. Bran is added to cereals, meat and fish dishes, soups, and a decoction of bran is also prepared - a valuable vitamin drink. You can use bran in its natural form, after frying them in the oven and steaming with boiling water.

Yeast-free bread with hop sourdough

Yeast-free sourdough bread is also very useful.. It has a mild sleeping pill, as well as anti-inflammatory, choleretic and expectorant effects, helps to increase appetite and normalize the menstrual cycle in women.

How to choose bread

How to choose the right bread? Of course, you first need to pay attention to its appearance, color and shape. Bread should be even, without cracks, of normal color: for example, rye bread should be an even dark brown color, and white buns should be golden; the shape of the bread must be correct, and the bread itself must not include foreign undesirable formations, such as black soot containing carcinogenic substances.

The label must indicate the expiration date and information about the manufacturer. Try to buy bread and bakery products from well-known brands with a good reputation in the market. In this case, you can be sure that not only the composition of the product, but also the entire production process, and the personnel of the enterprise are carefully checked and controlled.

Remember what can cause bread defects. If you once bought a low-quality product, try not to buy bread from this manufacturer again. So, an extraneous taste and smell of bread can be caused by both impurities and non-compliance with the rules for storing products: flour, yeast and fats. If the bread has a pale crust, and the crumb is sticky and creased, then, most likely, flour was used for baking that did not have the necessary baking properties.

How to eat bread

Having learned how to choose bread, you need to learn how to eat it correctly.. The fact that the crust is healthier than the crumb, many of us feel intuitively - because we all love the crust, ruddy and crispy. However, the main thing is the compatibility of bread with other foods. If you eat bread randomly, at random, then even healthy person there will be digestive problems.

Try to at least follow a simple rule: do not eat white bread with fatty foods. Salo, oily fish, rich broth it is better to eat with black bread, and meat and potatoes can perfectly do without bread at all. But vegetables, absolutely any, can be eaten with both black and white bread.

Never eat bread if you notice that mold has appeared on it. Many housewives believe that if you cut off a moldy piece, the remaining bread can be eaten without fear. This is not so: after all, mold is mushrooms, and their threads are able to grow through bread, so it is invisible to the eye, and spores mold fungi, once in the body, can cause not only food poisoning, but also complex diseases of the blood and respiratory organs, which are then difficult to get rid of. So do not save on health - yours and loved ones.

In conclusion, we can recall that bread is the only product which we never get tired of. We eat it every day, at any time, and do not want to give it up at all. Our ancestors did not just call bread “holy” and “God’s gift”, and composed many beautiful songs and wonderful proverbs about it - they valued and respected bread, because bread is life itself.

Only the advice to give up white bread can be considered reasonable, and all its other types are useful and necessary products in our diet that preserve and maintain our health and beauty.

Can you eat bread? Bread is a daily companion of our meal. We are so accustomed to the ritual of invariably serving bread on the table at any meal that we are surprised to perceive the question, which in Lately more and more often it is heard: is it possible to eat bread?

What prompted such a question? Is there any reason to doubt the daily consumption of this product?

• What is in the bread?
• What useful properties has bread?
• Is there any harm in bread?

Can you eat bread?

What is in the bread?

To understand the value and necessity of bread, you need to have a very clear idea of ​​what is included in it. Naturally, bread is baked from flour, flour is made from grain, the composition of the grain is as follows:

• endosperm (85%);
• the germ (15%) is the most basic and biologically very active part of any grain;
• shell (14%).

Minerals and vitamins are contained in the germ of the grain and its shell, but they are not used in the production of flour - which means they are not in bread. Bakery products are fortified, but artificial vitamins are not as beneficial to the body as natural ones. In addition, in modern bread contains in excess:

• dyes;
• baking powder;
• flavors;
• antioxidants;
• flavor additives.

And this list is not exhaustive. food additives, which are contained in a piece of simple bread, which we used to consider so useful and indispensable.

What are the health benefits of bread?

1. Rye bread contains not as many calories as white. He has useful material which are completely absorbed by the body.

2. Bread with bran - that's the one indispensable product, which should be put on the table more often.

• actively absorb allergens and toxins;
• strengthen immunity;
• enriched with fiber, which is necessary for the human body;
• contain large amounts of vitamins and proteins.

3. Yeast-free bread, on hoppy sourdough, has certain properties:

• has a hypnotic and expectorant effect;
• is an excellent anti-inflammatory agent;
• help to drive bile;
• improves appetite.

Is there any harm in bread?

White bread is a pastry in which, after processing the grain, only calories and starch remain, which are of no value to the body. But they are able to perfectly accumulate excess fats in the body.

It is for this reason that people who prefer white bread to black bread most often suffer from oncological, endocrine, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

So if you are concerned about the question of whether you can eat bread, the answer is obvious: of course you can. However, much depends on what kind of bread will be present on your table.

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