Curious Joe Wants to Know: Why is wheat bread better?

Posted by Joe | October 22, 2009 | 20 Comments
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As a child, I remember downing Wonder bread like it was candy. Today, with society becoming more health conscious, certain foods we cherished as children have been relegated to the end of the line.


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Wheat or white?

According to an article on HealthGuidance.org there is a significant difference between wheat bread and white bread.  Wheat is made up of flour called wheat berry which contain a combination of bran, germ, and endosperm. White bread only contains endosperm, the starchy inner layer, and lacks 30 additional nutrients that are found in wheat bread. 

The difference is significant. White bread lacks the nutritional supplements that help prevent a variety of diseases like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. According to the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition, it is important to eat at least 20 grams of fiber to help prevent such diseases. Whole wheat bread is a great source for our daily fiber intake.

Still, I often crave a nice loaf of white bread and cave in at the grocery store.

So what I want to know is: Have you transitioned into the whole wheat world? Or are you still lingering in the wonder years of white bread?

Member Comments

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by katlish on October 22, 2009 at 3:33 PM

I come from a European background so we've always eaten the heavier rye breads, therefore it was quite easy to transition into healther options such wheat, wholemeal, soy & linseed and other similar breads.

I have never been a fan of white bread; never felt satisifed after eating it so could eat a lot more portions of white as opposed to less refined breads. At the same time; I find white bread like a lot of empty calorie foods; moorish.

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by bosha1ks on October 22, 2009 at 5:29 PM

I've transitioned into the "whole" and "7 grain" market, yep. I just tell myself that white bread = sugar and that makes it easy.

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by SakuraGreenLily on October 23, 2009 at 5:50 AM

Out of curiosity... Does whole grain white make up for any of the nutrients lost in regular white bread? Sometimes I just really want a pb&j on white bread... I usually go for the whole grain white but I wonder if it's really THAT much better.

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by Jonigirl45 on October 23, 2009 at 6:00 AM

White bread spikes your blood sugar level(not good) and leaves you unsatisfied and craving more sugary products. I suggest trying different kinds of whole grain breads, or try your hand at making breads. All foods can be enjoyed in moderation, so have a piece every now and then if that's what floats your boat. I truely enjoy Eziekel bread and manna bread. The closer a product is to its natural state the better it is for your health. In other words, flour is several steps away from the grain itself, hence, whole grains are better for you. :)

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by j3nn.net on October 23, 2009 at 6:45 AM

I eat whole grain or sprouted grain most of the time, but, still eating white or crusty white breads a few times a week, too. It's all about balance. :)

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by peggy0256 on October 23, 2009 at 8:12 AM

I have totaly transitioned into the whole wheat world and loving it..I still try to hold off on having bread each and everyday because it adds weight too easily on me..But I do enjoy it very much !

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by Tylexander on October 23, 2009 at 9:45 AM

Read the labels! Enriched white breads are just as good as whole wheat.
Fibre can be obtained from lots of better things like fruits and veggies. Any kin of bread, in general, should be eaten in moderation.

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by cheris373 on October 23, 2009 at 1:22 PM

I eat whole wheat whenever feasible. The only time I find myself eating white breads/pastas is when it is served to me without a choice or additional options. Even then, I'll eat my vegetable first & may take a bit or two of the bread.

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by tmci_63 on October 23, 2009 at 3:32 PM

When my daughter was growing up and wanted white bread, or pancakes from a white flour mix, as her friends had this is what I showed her. I used stone ground wheatflour for pancakes with fresh strawberries and we always had whole wheat bread. Having the wheat flour on hand and also white pastry flour I would wet the sink and have her throw in a bit of white flour in one sink and the whole wheat in the other. Then I asked her to rinse the flours off the sink. The white turned gummy while the wheat just rinsed right off. I told her to think of her intestines and how much effort her body had to use to get the nutrients from that gummy stuff and get it out of her body. She just said...wow mom. I don't know where I got the idea from, but it seemed logical to me. I didn't go into all the info about the whole grain and the nutrients in that until she was older. Trish

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by ccpretzel on October 23, 2009 at 5:58 PM

What a great method of demonstrating to kids the difference in a way they'll understand! Great thinking!

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by AjaSage on October 23, 2009 at 7:03 PM

Trish- love that idea!

I don't think I've bought white bread as an adult; only wheat. . .and I don't remember my mother keeping much bread in the house as a kid.

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by JustAManWithAPlan on October 24, 2009 at 8:02 AM

I dropped white bread like the sack of dog mess that it was when I transitioned to low carb dieting 2 years ago and I've never looked back.

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by juju84 on October 25, 2009 at 9:12 AM

I've jumped on the whole wheat bandwagon. Nature's Pride Double Fiber Bread is my favorite so far. It's a little more pricy than some of the other breads, but it doesn't have a bunch of garbage in it. I just wish that more companies made different types of buns in whole wheat. I like to 'cheat' every now and then and have a burger or a hotdog or a hoagie, but I don't want to cheat *that* much.

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by hrlarki on October 26, 2009 at 12:40 PM

Whole wheat bread is better because it has all whole grains in it.

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by denngr on October 30, 2009 at 12:11 AM

After having my right kidney removed account of cancer and the remaining, left kidney nearing Stage 4 Chronic Kidney Disease AND recently diagnosed as "pre"- Diabetic I am on acombination of diets that limit or restrict sodium, potassium, calcium, phospherous, carbs and whole grains, dairy and so much more. Even tho it sounds like cardboard is the entree of the day I can eat quite a number of good food items, but whole grains and nuts are not among them. I've had to give up the "heavy" breads that I was raised on and go to "enriched"/"highly processed" bread products my kidney can process easier. I now eat "Enriched" (brown)Wheat bread.

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by MudRocks on November 3, 2009 at 6:10 AM

i eat random ones, honey wheat, whole wheat, even tried the whole wheat white.

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by scoutmasterdave on November 4, 2009 at 9:07 AM

The CDC recommends that an adult male consume 38g of fiber per day, and a woman 25g. Whole grain breads (not just "wheat bread" - look at the ingredients list for "whole" in front of each flour) are an excellent source of fiber. I actually prefer whole grain wheat bread to white bread, now that I have been eating exclusively whole grain wheat for a year or so.

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by b011381 on November 12, 2009 at 10:55 PM

Go to Kroger, or Meijer, or a local grocery store and buy a bag of King Arthur flour called "White Whole Wheat Flour". It is 100% wheat flour with the bran still in it, but it bakes like white flour. I have been making bread with it for over 10 years. Even my father in law who will NOT touch wheat bread LOVES my when its made with this flour.

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by zither74 on November 17, 2009 at 6:46 AM

The most important difference, and one that is completely skipped over in this article, is the solubility of the carbohydrates contained in the bread. The "bleached, enriched flour" that is used in white bread does, as the article states, consist solely of endosperm. What is missing is WHY this is bad. In combination with the process by which it is "enriched," the result is a carbohydrate that actually absorbs into the bloodstream faster than pure sucrose. If you were to eat three or four slices of Wonder bread, you would get the same sugar high that you would get from a couple tablespoons of pure sugar, followed by the same crash.
So, white bread is yet another major contributor to the American epidemic of diabetes.
And NO, TYLEXANDER... "enriched" white bread is actually worse. Please don't post things about which you have no knowledge as if they were fact.
SakuraGreenLily... you are correct to be suspicious of so-called "white-whole wheat." It is a scam. Although the carb molecules are not broken down as far as those in regular white bread, the content is the same.

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by rearlwriter on November 17, 2009 at 6:08 PM

I find that all wheat breads are not created equal. There are some wonderful-tasting versions, but some are dry and tasteless. Read the labels. Not all wheat breads are whole wheat breads. I saw one brand that said all over the package how healthy it was, and the second ingredient (after wheat flour, not whole wheat flour) was high fructose corn syrup!

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Joe Perez

Co-Founder of the The Daily Plate and Head of Product, Marketing & Community - Demand Media

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