Not all Americans made a habit of ordering food for delivery when we found ourselves homebound two or more years ago. Millions went to grocery stores and cleared whole aisles, even clearing baking ingredients at some stores. And millions combed the internet for recipes.
It wasn't that people were cake-making and celebrating. But maybe many were finding reason to be more at home while at home.
Some businesses that surveyed their customers, included The Hershey Company. According to Hershey, customers were finding recipes to work on as activities, with children at home. Hershey also found customers were relieving stressful feelings through kitchen creativity.
For some of us, 2021 was a tumultuous year, and 2022 is offering uncertainty. But we can hold out hope for quieter, more faithful days ahead.
One thing of living I'm looking forward to, is the ability to share a table, at least every now and then.
That's because I know life is meant for living. And our bread was meant for life.
What about Whole Grains?
Kimberly H. Johnson
Old-fashioned rolled oats, for example, gives us a healthy, soluble fiber that lowers cholesterol and blood sugar. The healthy calories in oats also come with cancer-fighting antioxidants.
Similarly, whole wheat has some cancer-prevention properties.
A food is "whole wheat" when it includes all the parts of a wheat seed that we are able to eat. That includes the "bran" (the edible outer skin) of the seed, without the hard, inedible "hull" of the seed.
The whole edible seed of wheat is called a "wheatberry."
Some bread-makers throw in a few slightly cracked or crushed wheatberry seeds, along with other whole seeds that are slightly cracked or crushed (for example, poppy seeds and flax seeds). These breads may be a little unusual.
But, usually, whole-wheat breads are made by grinding all parts of wheat seeds into a powder that's called "flour."
The best whole-wheat breads say "100% Whole Wheat" on their package, regardless of how much bran is in the bread. The 100-percent-whole label means the bread flour is made of all three edible parts of wheat seeds; the 100-percent also means the whole flour is not mixed with any type of white flour that isn't made with all parts of the wheatberry.
White flours that aren't made with all parts of the seed can cause greater spikes in blood sugar, because those white flours are missing fiber and fats that help us.
By the way, white flours aren't white only because they've been bleached with a food-safe chemical. Some flours include bran skins that are yellow-white, instead of brown or tan; and the yellow-white bran makes the flour more naturally white.
Some whole-wheat flours also contain less bran than others, because whole-grain product-makers are only required to include "roughly" the amount of bran a seed has when it's freshly harvested.
However, most white bread flours don't have any bran at all in them.
Most
white flours are made by grinding down the seed after the bran and germ
— the most healthy parts — are removed. So, most white flours aren't
only bleached; most don't have any of the healthiest parts of the seed.
These flours are not "whole wheat."
Some nutritionists may frown on all white flour that isn't made from whole seeds of wheat. But that's probably being a little too restrictive. Most wheat breads, even those that say "whole wheat" (but not "100%"), mix their whole-seed flour with white flour that does not include the bran and germ parts of the seeds. And that can be okay.
A bread that has a little refined (meaning processed to the point of being non-nutritional) white flour can be okay if we're not at high risk for diabetes, as part of a diet that seldom includes soft drinks and the other very processed foods that we call "junk food."
Less than 100-percent whole wheat, or made with a refined white flour, can be okay sometimes. Dieticians would say never have a fast-food burger bun, if white bread were an absolute no-no for everyone. What matters is whether we're avoiding soft drinks, commercially produced fries or potato chips, and other no-fiber, high-carb stuff when we have a meal with refined white bread.
A 2019 Advances in Nutrition article by Glenn Gaesser, professor of exercise physiology at Arizona State University, points to more than 20 studies that conclude refined white breads, by themselves, are "not associated with all-cause mortality," meaning not associated with type 2 diabetes, coronary vascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, or cancer. In contrast, he points to studies that demonstrate many of our health difficulties are worsened by the habit of eating foods like "red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, [commercially processed] French fries" at the same time as processed white breads.
Studies prove it's best not to have a habit of eating refined white breads with other less healthy foods. And, of course, it's good to be in practice of making choices to include at least a little whole wheat or other whole grains with each meal.
Finding products that include at least some "whole wheat," or at least some bran, is one way to do that. But, keep in mind, we can't know whether a whole-wheat bread has more or less bran by looking at it. Some bread-makers add brown sugar for color and taste. And some use the yellow-white bran that makes the bread a lighter color.
What's most important to know about a wheat bread is whether the bread alone causes an individual's blood-sugar to spike if diabetic, and whether we like it, can afford it, and how many whole seeds are in each slice of bread. The more whole seeds in a slice of bread, the more nutrition and the lower our blood sugar.
It's worth saying that some persons who are not at high risk for diabetes, enjoy the texture of breads made with a little white flour, instead of only with whole wheat, and that can be okay, especially if there is enough whole grain in the diet.
Although not every brand of bread tells customers how many whole grains (seeds) are in a slice of their bread, some brands do tell the public how many whole grains are in one slice. These are a few examples:
This list does not include every whole-wheat bread on the market, and this list is not meant to promote the sale of any brand. But based on these examples, many whole-wheat breads have about 13 grams of whole grains per slice. That's about one and one-fourth tablespoons full of whole seeds per slice. That may sound like a lot, but we're not talking about junk food; we're talking about something we're supposed to eat!
At least one, four-week study shows bread doesn't change the blood-sugar levels in pigeons. Although science has said not to feed bread to ducks and pigeons anymore, because doing so keeps them from hunting and deprives birds of the nutrients they really need, birds eat grains, too. But there's maybe a lesson in that for us: Just don't fill up on bread.
Even healthy lambs, by four months, may eat about four pounds of hay and grains each day, nearly three pounds of that being grains. After all, sheep have something like four tummies to consider!
Although we digest differently from many other animals, we at least know we need some of the same foods.
Not everyone is able to eat breads that are made from wheat. Some people's bodies overreact to the protein strands, or gluten, in wheat products. This food allergy is an immune response called celiac disease.
Persons with celiac disease need to avoid wheat, rye, and barley products; but oats may be a good alternative for those who talk with their primary-care doctors about their allergy and food choices.
And oats not only may help folk who have a wheat allergy. Whole oats can be a wonder food, for anyone.
A large bowl of old-fashioned rolled oats can be just fine: a whole bunch of whole grain in one serving. One and one-half dry cups (135 grams):
One
study notes oatmeal was used in an emergency, intensive-care setting:
to prevent a diabetic patient from dying. That's because oats don't only
have essential calories, vitamins, and minerals. Oats also have
antioxidants, and unique fibers, that aren't found in many other foods:
Beta-glucan, a unique soluble fiber in oats, makes up about four percent of rolled oats' weight. This healthy carbohydrate
As
if that's not enough, oatmeal has two, unique antioxidants that gently
open blood vessels for better bloodflow, and that further reduce
inflammation.
All this may well make the case that mom knows "best."
Figuring It All Out
Only one dry cup of "old-fashioned" rolled oats gives us the minimum three ounces we need in whole grains. Remarkably, two slices of an ordinary 100-percent whole-wheat bread, only have a little more than an ounce of the grains we need.
Even two slices of the most nutrition-packed breads, may not meet our complete daily need. A bread that has 46 grams of whole-grain wheat in two slices, has only a little more than half the minimum.
To help make sense of that:
Three ounces of whole-grain wheat seeds is about an eighth of a cup (about 85.5 grams). Two slices of an ordinary "100% Whole Wheat" bread in a day, has less than 35 percent of the at least one-eighth cup we need. By the end of each day, we need to have had at least an eighth cup of grains from our favorite products. And, really, that's not a lot.
Different research shows from 40 to 98 percent of us, in the U.S., don't eat the amount of whole grains we need — a fact that impacts our cancer risks for the worse.
But it's not easy understanding why we're not eating many whole grains.
Only
one-fourth dry cup of brown rice gives us more than twice the minimum
whole grains we need in a day. Plus, rice helps us in many little-known
ways.
An Underestimated Alternative
Brown rice isn't the diabetes-prevention and cholesterol-lowering powerhouse oatmeal is. It's a superfood in its own way.
Brown rice is a whole grain that, surprisingly, offers way more benefit than whole wheat — beginning with the fact that brown rice is high in selenium, a powerful antioxidant mineral.
Studies indicate selenium
- is crucial to thyroid function and metabolism;
- heightens immune responses in persons with HIV, influenza, and hepatitis C;
- helps in the fight against heart disease and cancer (even destroying some types of cancer cells);
- relieves side-effects of radiation during cancer treatment; and
- slows memory loss due to neurological decline.
See https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/selenium-benefits.
Rice, oats, and eggs may be the most affordable food sources of selenium.
Brown rice also has
- vitamin B6, to help lower the amount of an amino acid that contributes to heart disease, and to prevent degenerative problems of the brain and eye;
- manganese for growth and nerve health;
- magnesium for heart health;
- iron for overall health;
- pantothenic acid, for help with some types of arthritis; and
- antioxidants, to reduce inflammation and cancer risks. (A type of antioxidant, lignans, in rice, don't only reduce inflammation; they help lower cholesterol and blood pressure.)
And while
it's true that jasmine rice is an unhealthy option, studies indicate
many types of rice — including simple, brown rice — may be responsible
for lower rates of chronic diseases in some parts of the world. And,
while a few people fret over the possibility of high arsenic in rice,
the health benefits far outweigh the odds of any poisoning!
People who ate two large servings of brown rice a day, had lower blood-sugar levels after meals, says one study.
Other Whole-grain Options
Every family and individual makes their, his, or her own choices about whole grains.
While boxed cereals aren't usually the best option, some cereal makers do a good job putting whole grains in their products. For people who don't like the texture of oatmeal (despite how beneficial oats are!), there are other whole-wheat options in breakfast cereal.
Options can include whole-grain bran cereals like Fiber One Original Bran cereal with whole grains, Total Raisin Bran, and Great Value Raisin Bran. Manufacturers sometimes change their ingredients, but these examples, at one point, had more fiber and whole grains than most sandwich breads have. (Raisin Nut Bran also used to be a good option, but, at some point, the cereal's maker slacked off on the whole grains and added corn flakes to their bran. Corn flakes are not a good cereal option, at all.) Just check the ingredients label on your cereal. The first three ingredients tell you what the product is mostly made of.)
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