With an increasing consciousness
about health and hygiene, a large number of consumers are making the switch
from white bread to brown bread or whole wheat bread at their breakfast tables.
However, there is little awareness about why is brown bread considered healthy
or what constitutes brown bread that makes it healthy. As a result, most people
succumb to marketing tactics of companies that add caramel to white bread to
make the color brown and advertise it as wholesome and tasty!
In some extremely lazy manufacturing, but inspired marketing, much of the
‘brown’ bread you’ll find in the supermarket is simply the same white bread
with brown coloring, often CARAMEL, added back into it. Hardly the healthier
choice it’s made out to be.
Likewise, ‘wholemeal’ bread with a bit of chemically treated wheat germ
added back in, or ‘multigrain’, with a sprinkling of softened grains, hardly
makes up for what the main ingredient – refined wheat flour – has gone through.
The fact is, the vast majority of breads from the big manufacturers are just
slight variations, a little coloring here, a sprinkling of seeds there, of the
same extremely unhealthy processed bread.
But the hullaballoo of wanting to eat brown bread as the healthy bread could
all be distorted in kenya! This is because almost 80% of brown bread sold to us
is not genuinely brown. The best bread to eat is the whole wheat grain bread
that you can find in supermarkets and normally has a darker colour and is more
expensive!
True whole wheat bread, if you can find it, should be a healthier option.
Whole wheat bread is made with the wheat germ and the bran included and is
hopefully not as heavily processed or full of chemical additives as most
commercial loaves. It’s higher fiber content helps to slow down its digestion
and therefore its effect on your blood sugar and levels of fat storing insulin
shouldn’t be as pronounced.
A real brown bread is healthier than white bread because the wheat flour
used to make brown bread is less processed compared to wheat flour used for
making white bread. During the processing of the wheat flour for making brown
bread the bran and germ in the wheat grain are not removed. The bran is the
part of wheat grain that is rich in fibre, while germ is the inner part of
wheat grain which is packed with nutrients, Vitamins B and E as well as
phytochemicals.
So how do you tell the REALS from the FAKES?
It's commonly believed that you can tell the difference between white and
wholemeal by the color of the loaf. Not so! The keywords to look out for are
"whole grain" and "whole wheat" as the first ingredient on
the ingredient list. If any other substance is listed first, you are likely
looking at white bread that has had caramel colouring added.
There you have it, find this rare Whole meal bread and find your long lost
and found real brown bread. Infact, ask yourself why you eat brown chapattis that
taste real brown but when you eat brown bread it does not have similar taste?
This is not to say that white and brown breads could be exactly the same in
Kenya market. If you compare the labels of white and brown breads of your
favourite brand, you will probably find that the brown bread still has more
dietary fiber, making it the wiser choice. What’s important to remember is not
to confuse all brown breads with the much healthier whole grain bread alternatives.
Do your research and read your labels for the choice that’s right for you. Best
place to begin is in Tuskys supermarket at the bread parlour where you will
spot the difference!
I know you have questions so comment below and email me on
ndutaniceness@gmail.com
