Does any supermarket bread have good carbs?

[andyswarbs]

As anyone who follows my posts should glean that when I eat grains I aim exclusively for the full wholegrain since these are what I consider good carbs.

Refined carbs such as white bread (and flour), I consider a processed food and so avoid like the plague. I was thus interested in a youtuber called Footsoldier's recent vlog entitled UK WHOLEGRAIN BREAD CONSPIRACY which tries to find good wholemeal bread in major UK supermarkets. It shows how even expensive breads such as organic or spelt are often based on white flour. (It may also be useful to vegans since it highlights some breads that contain milk and eggs.)

youtube.com/watch?v=a2dXIor...(Not working as expected?)

What is my problem with white/refined flour & bread? It has much of the nutritional value extracted or destroyed. You can see this because, by law, they have to add back some useful nutrients such as niacin, and thus the flour is often called fortified flour. A key point is just because some destroyed ingredients are added back does not mean that you end up with the original product. Only those ingredients that have been legally identified as causing harm to health are in the fortification list.

Health-wise I think white flour raises blood sugar levels and can increase likelihood of diabetes. This is especially true when presented in that most desirable of all bread products, the croissant because of the inherent salt, sugar and fats.

[Hidden]

i didnt open your video as it had a skull and cross bones on it.

[andyswarbs in reply to Hidden]

Sorry the video somehow offends. It is not my video and so have no control over the image. Whatever I can assure you that 99.999999% of the video has nothing to do with skull & cross bones.

May I suggest this resource care2.com/greenliving/7-neg... that will cover some of the same ground, albeit in not with the same level of intensive scrutiny.

[Hidden in reply to andyswarbs]

hi , no it didnt offen me just got me worried that i would start watching it and something horrible would come on. am a bit sqeamish and i have always thought of the skull and cross bones as a warning.

thanks for the other link.

[PhilFreeToAsk]

Shame the video did not go further into the bread making process. Once you realise that supermarket bread is an industrial process known as the Chorleywood Process then you may think twice about any bread you buy from a supermarket. dailymail.co.uk/health/arti... .

In the 60s, the Chorleywood process method was brought out to reduce costs, improve bread life and make loaves feel fresh and fluffy. An ingredient that you will not find listed in the bread are enzymes as there is no legal requirement to declare them on packaging. So some of the work that the digestive system should be doing is done in the factory. No wonder supermarket bread can cause problems. According to the link to the Daily Mail article "One of the most common, amylase (enzyme), is known to cause asthma, a common disease among bakers. Others have been linked to illnesses of the gut, such as coeliac disease."

If you want decent bread then either bake it yourself or go to an artisan bakery.

[andyswarbs in reply to PhilFreeToAsk]

Thanks new info for me

[Hidden in reply to PhilFreeToAsk]

that is very interesting about bakers and asthma and gut disease.

is this due to there working environment of having to inhail freshly baked bread, or becouse they eat hot or more bread then other people?

[andyswarbs in reply to Hidden]

asthma.net/living/what-is-b...

[PhilFreeToAsk in reply to Hidden]

The article from the Daily Mail implies that asthma was found in bread workers where flour used enzymes.

There are other reports that indicate that the Chorleywood process may cause gut problems such as gluten intolerance. This does not happen in all cases. Sometimes, these reports are anecdotal and that it has been reported that people who have cut out supermarket bread for a few months and gone back onto Real bread are no longer gluten intolerant.

Now you have to be careful when you read any post. You must make up your own mind and judgement. If you feel this is of particular concern to you then investigate it further. Even try Real bread for a while and see how you feel.

What I would add is why is bread made with so many chemicals, added vitamins and enzymes? My logic suggests that this is not right and so many unnatural things put into bread is likely to cause a reaction in the body. Bread should be a simple product with just natural ingredients.

Supermarket bread is another example from the food industry where profit is put before health. I treat supermarket bread with caution just like other processed foods.

[Hidden in reply to PhilFreeToAsk]

thanks for your reply, i dont eat the bread that is classed as suppermarket bread, only becouse i dont like it.

i have a friend that owns a bakery and i thought this would interest him.

[Kay_Lee]

Oh wow that’s a shock! Even when you think your doing well and feeding your family better really the supermarkets are just tricking us! Any clue where you can get real brown bread from ?

[PhilFreeToAsk in reply to Kay_Lee]

I assume you mean wholemeal bread as brown bread maybe wholemeal but tends not to be.

A really good baker or bread shop should supply but you will pay more money.

For example, these are examples of a small bakery chains around the London area gailsbread.co.uk/, lepainquotidien.co.uk/our-b....

[Kay_Lee in reply to PhilFreeToAsk]

Thanks I will go to a small local bakery on Saturday and speak to them and buy from them instead

[TheAwfulToad in reply to Kay_Lee]

I guess it's not for everyone, but making your own is really a lot of fun, and it's not difficult to produce a professional result (or at least something 10x better than you'd buy in the supermarket). I thoroughly recommend James Morton's books on the subject.

If you have a lot of mouths to feed and bread is a regular part of your diet, making your own will save you a lot of $$$ over the long run. Proper bread from the bakery ain't cheap. Flour, on the other hand, is very cheap.

Just bear in mind that homemade bread only lasts 3 days, tops, unless you freeze it. No preservatives!

[andyswarbs]

As the video indicates to get real bread in a supermarket you are limited to german black bread often based on rye. The rest is junk.

[BadHare]

I often buy a seeded sourdough baguette on a Saturday, & a small sourdough loaf once a month. A few times a year I'll buy a small rye loaf, or an olive sourdough. I used to like Vogels or Burgen seeded soya bread, both of which have higher protein than most plastic packed loaves, but the latter wasn't made with good quality wheat, & now I avoid soy.

I'll occasionally enjoy an almond croissant on the only day of the week that I eat breakfast, but do so in the full knowledge the only nutritious part is a few almonds.

[Sadmia]

Do you class in store baked bread and rolls as 'supermarket' bread?

The stuff you get in plastic bags is clearly rubbish, you only have to scrunch up a slice to see that.

[andyswarbs]

store baked bread are also poor carbs. if in doubt ask for an ingredients list.