Tracy Norris
Wheat has a bad reputation. The grain is suspected of promoting obesity, allergies, and dementia. But it’s healthier than you think. PraxisVITA explains why bread is good for your health and what is important when eating it.
In principle, every grain is healthy – if it is made from whole grains. In addition to carbohydrates, valuable nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber are found in the unpeeled grains of wheat, oats, and the like. And our bodies depend on them. Because a diet rich in vitamins and fiber can protect against diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, gallstones, or colon cancer and stimulates digestion.
What’s in spelled, oats and buckwheat
Spell is considered even healthier than wheat. It contains more and higher-quality protein, as well as silicic acid, which tightens the tissue. There is even three times as much lysine in the buckwheat grains as in all other types of grain. The protein-building material ensures strong bones. Oats score with B vitamins and beta-glucans. They stimulate the metabolism and keep the cholesterol level stable.
Does wheat make you fat?
If the healthy grain is heavily processed industrially, these valuable ingredients are lost. Then nothing is left but carbohydrates. The prejudice that wheat makes you fat probably arose from the fact that we like processed foods so much. So if you eat croissants, white toast, frozen pizza, and pastries properly, you will inevitably gain weight. But this is due to the number of calories consumed and not to the supposedly unhealthy wheat. Industrially, wheat starch is also often used as a filler, for example in ready meals, light products, sauces, and even ice cream.
So we unexpectedly eat more wheat than we would like. In addition, these foods first raise the blood sugar level and then drop it just as rapidly. The result: cravings for sweets.
Why don’t have to do without wheat?
Wholemeal bread, on the other hand, keeps you full longer and has fewer calories than white bread. If you don’t want to gain weight, you don’t have to do without bread or pasta. They should only be whole grain. To save calories, cut the bread into slightly thinner slices and choose a lean topping (e.g. turkey breast instead of salami).
A daily dose of 30 grams of fiber from bread, cereal flakes, pasta, or rice is recommended. As an example: Two slices of wholemeal rye or wheat bread (100 g) contain about ten grams of fiber. A portion of whole wheat pasta (180g) is around nine grams and wheat bran (40g) is around 18 grams.
Protein bread: you should know that
Consumers are increasingly turning to protein bread. They want to cut calories and believe it doesn’t contain gluten, a grain protein that many associates with digestive problems. However, nutrition experts advise against:
To increase the protein content in the bread, a lot of gluten is added. In addition, the bread contains fewer carbohydrates, but more calories due to its fat content. There are 248 calories in 100 grams, 200 in wholemeal bread, and only 290 calories in toast.
