Making Healthier Choices: Wholegrain, NOT Wholewheat

Unlike with some of my previous articles, today I won’t be taking up too many cognitive resources with an overly lengthy post. Instead, I intend to briefly address and deconstruct a common nutritional misconception:

The Difference Between Wholemeal and Wholegrain Bread

Many health conscious people have fallen into the trap of searching for ‘cleaner’ carb sources and turning to servings of wholemeal bread as a ‘healthy’ alternative to white bread. While naturally, the bolus consumption of carbohydrates is NOT any way to achieve any sort of health / fitness, the idea that ‘wholemeal’ bread is the optimal carb source should be addressed. If you are going to incorporate bread into your daily diet, it is in fact the WHOLEGRAIN variety you should include.

It has long been scientifically established that breads made from 100% wholemeal flour result in glycaemic responses that do not significantly differ from those for white bread. In other words, your blood sugar will respond the same way to wholemeal bread as it does to white bread, that is to say, it will skyrocket faster than a shuttle breaking orbit. To better manage the insulin response caused by carbohydrate consumption, it is advisable to aim for breads that contain AT LEAST 75% whole-grains. However, the MORE THE BETTER. Additionally, try to incorporate a lean protein & healthy fat source with your carbohydrates to further blunt the insulin response and help your body to better manage the sugars.

Reference:

Jenkins, D.J., Wesson, W., Wolever, T.M., Jenkins, A.L., Kalmusky, J., Guidici, S., Csima, A., Josse, R.G., & Wong, G.S. (1988). Wholemeal versus wholegrain breads: proportion of whole or cracked grain and the glyaecemic response.BJM, 297(6654), 958-960.