On its website, the High Council of Public Health recommends preferring wholemeal bread to white bread. We explain why.
- Consuming white bread is a bad food reflex, it is too rich in salt, sugar and gluten.
- It is better to favor wholemeal bread, rich in fiber, beneficial for our body.
Many French people eat baguette with every meal. However, eating white bread is a bad food reflex. the High Council of Public Health recommended “for cereal products (bread, pasta, rice, etc.) to favor complete and semi-complete products“. “This message is based on studies: whole grains help prevent colon cancer“, explained the nutritionist Arnaud Cocaul to West France. “By consuming too many refined products, such as white bread, we do not bring enough nutrients to our body”, he specified.
Too much salt, sugar and gluten in white bread
White bread often contains too much salt, according to a study from World Action on Salt & Health (WASH), in collaboration with the University of Toronto in Canada and dating from 2018. It is also made with the poorest flours on the market – what we call “empty” calories because these flours provide no nutrients to the body. It also contains gluten, the cause of many diseases, as well as large amounts of sugar (carbohydrates), the excessive consumption of which can lead to overweight or addiction. Finally, this food has a high glycemic index, which means that it increases the concentration of glucose in the blood.
Elise Joseph’s investigation, Is our bread in trouble ? also explains that most white breads are difficult to digest because they are made from a basic flour, containing additives and flavor enhancers added by some millers.
Wholemeal bread is rich in fiber, sources of benefits for the body
Conversely, wholemeal bread, made from whole wheat flour, is rich in fiber, which improves intestinal transit and regulates cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Fiber is particularly recommended for preventing or delaying diseases such as diabetes or heart problems. Fiber also contributes to the feeling of satiety, which prevents you from snacking.
However, a study published in the journal Cell Metabolism relativizes the white bread/wholemeal bread antagonism. Researchers from the Weizmann Institute (Israel) compared the effects of a diet including these two foods, and concluded that from a metabolic point of view, wholemeal bread does not provide more benefits than white bread. In fact, it depends on each person.
In addition, the use of a natural yeast (a microbial group that causes spontaneous fermentation) rather than a chemical yeast is essential to ensure good digestion, whether it is white bread or wholemeal bread.
