Why is White Bread so Bad for You?

I was in college during the summer of 1999, and I remember waking up one morning with a sore throat and a dull ache all over my body. It progressively got worse. I was drained and couldn't eat so I went to the University Health Center to see what the heck was wrong with me. Eventually they tested me for mono and I came up positive. They told me to get plenty of sleep, drink plenty of fluids and to not engage in any physical activity for several weeks. I told them that I was unable to eat without getting sick. They informed me that this is typical but I could avoid feeling sick by eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Now, up until that point in my life I had only eaten white bread. My parents bought white bread, all restaurants served it, and the school system provided it to students. I was a little skeptical of the idea that by simply switching to whole wheat bread, I could avoid feeling sick. To my surprise, it made a world of difference. I could eat whole wheat bread as much as I needed and I didn't feel sick. I started to wonder why my body acted so adversely to the white bread and what I discovered was startling.

What I discovered was that bread is not supposed to be white at all. A bleaching process was incorporated into bread making to give flour and the bread it makes a longer shelf life in the grocery store. During the process of bleaching most of the vitamin E antioxidant is lost, as well as the essential wheat germ and bran, which leaves only poor quality proteins and fattening starch. Wheat germ and bran is known to:

• Lower cholesterol
• Combat colon cancer
• Prevent constipation
• Help stop strokes
• Protect against heart disease
• Improve digestion

In addition, the flour is stripped of nutrients including 50% of all calcium, 70% of phosphorus, 80% iron, 98% magnesium, 75% manganese, and 50% potassium.

White bread also has a very high glycaemic index (GI) when compared to whole wheat. GI is the measure of how fast a food raises one's blood sugar. The carbohydrates are broken down quickly during digestion and the body's blood glucose response is fast and high. The quick increase causes an increases insulin response and energy intake. Put simply, white bread is an empty food that is burned very quickly. As a result, it can increase appetite and is harder on your body which was why I was getting sick from eating it. In contrast, foods high in fiber with a lower GI are digested more slowly which decreases hunger and energy intake.

My experience with "mono" was probably the worst 3 weeks of my life, but as a result, I learned a bit about nutrition and kind of forced me to think more astutely about what I was putting in my body. Since then, I only eat whole wheat bread and I make sure that none of my grains have been enriched (these means the nutrients were stripped and replaced). The results might not be so evident now, but I'm sure that as I grow older this choice will help me grow older without the increased risk heart problems, obesity, and diabetes that plague our country.