Whole grain bread is often considered a healthier substitute than processed white bread. But according to this new study, there may be not much difference in how white and brown loaf affect a person’s health.
Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science found that eating whole grain did not improve well-being compared to chomping down on more processed types of bread.
The study divided 20 healthy people into two groups. One spent a week eating processed white bread, while the rest ate whole-wheat sourdough, with both groups increasing their bread consumption to about 25 percent of their calories. The subjects took a two-week break and then the diets of the two groups were reversed.
Using blood tests to measure levels of vitamins, glucose, fat and cholesterol, alongside essential minerals such as calcium and iron, they found no overall difference between the groups.
Professor Eran Segal, the study’s senior author explained, “The initial finding, and this was very much contrary to our expectation, was that there were no clinically significant differences between the effects of these two types of bread on any of the parameters that we measured.”
But when they looked at people’s individual responses to bread, they found some responded better to white bread, while others responded better to wholemeal sourdough bread, though it has more to do with the types of bacteria living in the gut of one’s body.
“White bread might not be bad for you. In fact, for some people it might be better than sourdough bread. In other words it is really personal,” said Segal.
Read also: Italian Study Says Eating Pasta Leads To Lower BMI
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