Choose the right kind of bread for your family

Not all breads are created equal, and here’s how you can pick the best

No one can live without bread in one form or another. It is one of the oldest foods, even in primarily rice-eating nations. However, like all food, bread has good, bad and ugly sides too. Here’s how you can pick the best option...

There is a wide variety of bread available in the market (Getty Images)

The good

Bread is conveniently available, travel-friendly and doesn’t spoil for a few days. It can be combined with almost anything. It’s also very filling.

Try these:

•Oat bread – made of oats flour and maida – makes a good substitute for white bread if there is a cholesterol issue in the family.

•Rye bread – made with rye flour and wheat flour – is richer in nutrients than white bread, and has a higher fibre content that is suitable for people with digestion issues.

•Multigrain bread – made with more than one flour such as oats, soya, corn flour and maida – should be chosen for growing children, expecting mothers, and those who exercise, because of its better nutritive value.

•Wholewheat bread (atta bread) – made with whole flour –which has all three parts of the grain (endosperm, wheat bran and wheat germ). Rich in fibre, it is the best choice for people with diabetes and high cholesterol.

The bad

All breads are not created equal, and the ones made of white refined flour (maida) are the worst offenders, closely followed by brown bread, which is that glorious colour simply because of a colouring agent. These are unhealthy breads because of their high glycemic index, which means that the moment you eat them, the starch dissolves and enters the blood stream rapidly, leading to a dangerous spike in blood sugar. This results in uncontrolled blood sugar among diabetics, childhood obesity, and worsens the symptoms of polycystic ovary (PCO) among girls.

The ugly

Bread is so easily devoured by fungus that commercially-made bread must include a cocktail of chemicals to prevent the fast growth of mould.

So what you eat along with your bread are bleaching agents, transglutataminase, cysteine, potassium bromate, and iodate. All of these can lead to chronic allergies and gut-related problems.

From HT Brunch, June 18, 2017

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch