Is bread healthy?

Part II of this article on healthy bread examines the question: Is bread healthy?

Just because bread has been eaten traditionally for thousands of years does not mean that it is healthy - because traditional bread is quite different from modern bread.

This article, from an old issue of The Good Life, examines the role of bread in a healthy diet, from both the nutritional and macrobiotic perspectives.

Click here to read part I of this article on healthy bread and is bread healthy.

Apart from whether bread contains pure and fresh ingredients, the larger issue is: Is bread healthy?

Should you bake often? Should you regularly eat breads, pizza, cakes and other baked foods?

Think about it. Has it occurred to you that baked breads have never been part of the traditional diet in the tropics?

Why not? Because baked foods are very warming.

Traditionally, the Indians eat roti prata, chapatti, dosai and idli, the Chinese eat steamed buns, and the Mexicans eat tortilla...

These breads are steamed or toasted on a hot plate. They cook in a few minutes. They are much lighter than baked breads, which may be subject to intense heat for up to an hour.

Is bread healthy? Unleavened bread

Traditional breads like these are either unleavened (yeast free) or naturally fermented. If you can make them at home using freshly milled flour, they’ll be great.

Still, it is advisable to go easy on them. Flour products like bread and noodles are never as health giving as whole grains.

Eat them occasionally if you re in good health. If you have a serious illness, avoid them until your condition improves.

The best breakfast food is not bread, but soft grains, brown rice, millet, barley, corn or other grains, cooked into porridge.

Porridge cooked from a whole grains are again better than those made from broken grains like rolled oats or polenta (corn grits).

If you don’t have time to cook, use leftover grains from dinner, add water, boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Cooked grains keep quite well and it is okay to eat leftovers that are not more than 24 hours old. Eat you porridge with lightly steamed vegetables, home made pickles and other convenient but healthy foods.

Is bread healthy? Gluten intolerance

Another point to consider when asking: Is bread healthy? is the issue of gluten.

Gluten is protein that is derived from grains like wheat, barley, oats and rye. These are grains with a line down the middle – which the Japanese call mugi. They are unlike rice, millet or corn which does not have such a line.

Gluten gives bread its characteristic texture. Without gluten, bread will be crumbly like cake - which is why bread needs to be made from high gluten flour. Gluten is also used by the Chinese to make "vegetarian meat".

For some reason, many people in modern societies are sensitive or intolerant to gluten. For them, taking gluten can lead to a wide range of health problems including tiredness and fatigue, poor digestion, intestinal bleeding, etc. Many children with autism and ADHD are also found to be intolerant to gluten (and casien, or milk protein.)

If you happen to be gluten intolerant, is bread healthy for you? Obviously not!

Sprouted wheat bread

Sprouted wheat bread is made from whole wheat berries that have been soaked in water and then sprouted. The sprouts are ground, formed into a loaf, and baked.

The original recipe came from the Essence, a mystical sect which lived near the Dead Sea around the time of Jesus.

They “baked” this bread in the sun but modern versions are baked in a low heat oven. Both sprouting and low temperature baking makes this bread more yin and so more suitable for warm climates.

I won’t eat this everyday, but compared with regular bread, it is much better. Also, this bread is very pure. It is made from just sprouted wheat and perhaps one or two other natural ingredients for flavour, like ginger, raisins, dates or nuts.