Bread is made up of refined grains and isn’t nutritious- they put you at risk of weight gain, blood pressure, indigestion and diabetes.
Most of us grew up eating white bread and the demand for it has grown substantially. To meet the consumer demands, various food companies have compromised on the processing of white flour, which is one of the primary reasons why diabetes is on the rise.
Wheat in its natural state contains the wheat kernel, wheat bran and wheat germ, which are rich in fibre, minerals and vitamins. However, to make white flour, wheat undergoes extensive processing where the properties of kernels, bran and germ are stripped off, and is further added with a chemical similar to chlorine bleach called ‘Alloxan’. This chemical helps impart stark white colour to the flour. When consumed, Alloxan messes up with our pancreas and aggravates an already existing diabetes or increase the risk of developing diabetes. Many pharmaceutical companies use Alloxan to induce diabetes in rats when studying the effect of a new diabetic drug before seeking approval.
From a nutrition standpoint, even whole wheat or whole grain bread is mostly devoid of any kind of real nutrients.
The majority of bread at the grocery store have high fructose corn syrup in them.
In addition to high fructose corn syrup, many also contain hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils—TRANS FATS in your bread!
Let’s talk about the preservatives they contain- potassium bromate and iodate being added to bakery products. There are many brands that do not mention the use of these 2 toxic chemicals as a flour treatment agent in their packaging.
Most of the times NOT all ingredients that are used are listed in the Ingredients list in packaging.
Imagine what else goes behind the scenes in the factories.
By bread, I don’t mean only the loaf we buy from supermarkets. It also includes the pav buns, burger buns, pizza base etc. It also includes the burgers and pizzas we order from Subway, KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Dominos etc. They too contain potassium bromate and iodate.
We hardly eat bread as it is. It is always slathered with one or more of these processed foods – jam, cheese spread, mayonnaise, butter spread, cheese slice, ketchup, peanut butter, chocolate spread like Nutella etc.
So apart from the preservatives in bread, we are also consuming more toxic chemicals from these complementary products on a daily basis. Not to forget the huge amounts of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats they are loaded with.
Why would you want to put something into your body (several times a day even) that can make you sick?
Make your own Indian bread, which is also known as Chapati/Roti.