I think its safe to say that “carbs” are everyone’s favorite part of a meal; Breads, pastas, rice, and even desserts! Its a simple enough statement, yeah? But lets not forget, we live in the 21st century, and there are very few things that are simple these days — including our super markets and variety of foods!

Walk down the bread isle of your super market, and you’ll see a thousand options:

DOUBLE FIBER, ENRICHED WHITE, CINNAMON RAISIN, HONEY OAT, WHOLE WHEAT, WHITE..

And the list goes on and on. But what does it all mean? Which breads are actually good for you? Which breads are MARKETED to be good for you, but really aren’t? Which breads are just loafs of health-problems city? Well, I’m going to break it down for you.

White vs Wheat vs Whole Grain

WHITE DEMON:

White bread is like the photoshop cover girl on every magazine. How is this? Well, you start out with a model at a photo shoot. The model is pretty — she has nice eyes, cute lips, and some slight curves. But once the photo shoot is over, its time to edit the photos. Make her eyes bigger and brighter, change the color of them, make her lips fuller, and take away those curves. Why is this all necessary?

THEORY: Make something look awesome, and people will want it.

This same theory is directly applied to white bread:

You start out with a grain of whole wheat. Then, in a LAB, they refine the grain by literally taking out all of the good and beneficial parts of the grain — this leaves you with refined white flour. Next, they bleach the refined flour using chemical bleaching agents which contain chlorine, and then dry it in kilns at high temperature to kill any beneficial remains. Not over yet though. Next, they add gluten, which is directly linked to causing inflammation and worsening health problems. But don’t worry — the gluten is what gives it that fluffy, mouth-watering texture.

This, my friends, is what white bread is. Just like the photo shopped model, white bread is designed in a lab to have a texture and (lack of) taste that will make us drool. It is an empty, bleached, refined, and unnatural product that will make your tummy bloat and your hips and ass explode. If you’re into that kind of thing, then I mean, continue eating your white bread. But if you’re trying to make smarter choices, you should now see that WHITE IS OUT OF THE RUNNING!

(This process is also how they achieve all white products. And remember, refined flour is used in almost all sweets.)

HOLY SHIT, WHOLE WHEAT:

The lesser of two evils, we have whole wheat. Lets start off with a nice, big, disappointing fact: whole wheat and white bread have the same impact on blood sugar (which is NOT a good impact). Eating two slices of whole wheat bread effects your body and blood sugar the same way one snickers bar would. It raises your blood sugar, which isn’t good if you’re diabetic.

So then whats good about whole wheat, and what exactly is it? Wheat is a kind of grain, and whole wheat is when every part of the wheat is used: the bran, endosperm, and germ. These three components of all grains are GOOD for you! The bran supplies antioxidants, B vitamins, trace minerals, and dietary fiber. The endosperm is the inner part of the grain with most of the proteins and carbohydrates and small amounts of vitamins and minerals. Lastly, the germ is rich in B vitamins, vitamin E, trace minerals, antioxidants and essential fats.

So whole wheat bread definitely has some benefits to it! At least more than white bread! But this bread is no saint either. In addition to having a high sugar index, wheat is also ADDICTING! Wheat is an opiate that doesn’t make us feel high — it makes us feel HUNGRY! This is the effect exerted by gliadin, the protein in wheat that was inadvertently altered by geneticists in the 1970s. The whole wheat we praise is genetically altered in a lab to be an appetite stimulant. So, whole wheat is a healthier bread that stimulates your appetite and in turn will make you fatter. And before we decide if wheat is “good or bad,” let me just throw one more fun fact out there: because wheat is an opiate, people get withdrawals from it, just like with “real” drugs. Try not eating products with wheat in it for one day — you go nuts. Trust me, I’ve tried it.

SO, whole wheat: yay or nay? It has fiber and nutrients, but its an appetite stimulant and addictive. I can’t tell you what to think, but I can give you the facts. Whether you want to consume whole wheat products is up to you. Personally, I believe if you can deal with withdrawals and control your appetite, you’ll be okay.

HOPE FOR WHOLE GRAIN:

Lastly, we have whole grain. Whole wheat is a TYPE of whole grain. So what this means, is that WHOLE GRAIN is actually a term, and now a type of bread. Whole grain, like we just learned, is when the entire grain is used, which is GOOD. So essentially, any type of whole grain bread is the best for you! We know that wheat isn’t good for you, but there are many other types of grains! Here is a list of grains:

• Barley
• Spelt
• Corn
• Oats
• Rice
• Buckwheat
• Rye
• Quinoa
• Millet
• Amaranth
• Sorghum
• Teff

So, now that you know the facts, you can make the right decision, or at least a HEALTHIER decision when choosing bread :)