The benefits and harms of black bread for human health

Why is the composition of bread so important?

Two years ago, after finishing a major project at work, my immunity also ended.
I ended up in the hospital for a whole year. After this experience, on the advice of doctors, I began to understand nutrition. I started first of all with what I really love and eat often. Topping this list is bread. There are products from which you expect a dirty trick and know that it is harmful: chips, Coca-Cola, fast food. No such suspicions arise about bread. Since childhood, we have become accustomed to eating bread: in a sandwich for breakfast, with soup and salads.

There is a lot of bread on the shelves, we figured it out and will tell you how to choose a healthy one.

Bread is generally healthy. It contains vegetable protein, B vitamins, dietary fiber, and minerals. But the bread sold in stores and bakeries is not always healthy.

Gray and black bread

Gray and black bread, which contains rye flour, is absorbed by the body several times slower than wheat bread. The benefits of rye bread are undeniable. It contains essential amino acids for the human body, fiber, macroelements, mineral salts, and microelements. Rye bread proteins are much richer in lysine (an amino acid beneficial to the body). Unlike white bread, rye bread helps you adjust the amount of food you eat: when you eat this bread in combination with other foods, you will quickly begin to feel full and end up eating less.

Rye bread promotes the rapid elimination of carcinogens, as well as other harmful metabolic products, from the body. It is much lower in calories compared to white. Now there are a huge number of recipes for bread based on rye flour: with caraway seeds, raisins, nuts, bran. Bran, by the way, contains additional vitamins, fiber and minerals. If flour from legumes (corn, peas) is used in the production of rye bread, then the calorie content of the bread will be reduced, but the content of nutrients will increase.

Gray bread

What is flour made from?

The grain consists of the germ, endosperm and outer shell of the grain.

The germ contains vitamins and microelements, which are discussed in articles about healthy bread.

The endosperm is the largest part of the grain and contains a lot of starch and protein.

Bran is the ground outer shell of the grain and is a source of fiber. It swells in the intestines and acts as a sponge for washing dishes. Envelops, scrapes waste or difficult to digest parts of food from the intestinal walls and directs them to the exit.

Bran contains many vitamins, proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, fiber, and fatty acids. Bran contains a beta-glucan component. It lowers cholesterol in the blood and cleanses blood vessels

Liliya Sergeevna Mikhailichenko
Candidate of Medical Sciences, nutritionist, pediatric endocrinologist, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education Rostov State Medical University Research Institute of Advanced Clinical Medicine

What flour is bread made from?

Wheat flour according to GOST:

1. Premium quality wheat flour . To produce such flour, the grain is ground several times to small particles, then carefully sifted. The screening process removes the useful parts of the grain—the bran and the germ. All that remains is the endosperm—starch and protein. Sliced ​​loaf and almost all white bread are made from this flour
2. “Extra” is more refined and finer than premium flour. I have never seen it in bread.
3. First grade wheat flour is the same white flour, the grind is a little coarser, it also does not contain parts of the germ and practically no bran.
4. Second grade wheat flour is often called “coarsely ground” flour due to the fact that the particles are larger and there is slightly more bran in it compared to the first and highest grade. This flour is preferable to the first two varieties, but it contains little bran and no germ part of the grain. It can also be classified as white refined flour.
5. Wallpaper flour is the coarsest flour, preserves all parts of the grain, and is the healthiest.

Rye flour according to GOST:

1. Sifted - purified, finely ground flour. It has the least number of useful properties.
2. “Special” is an analogue of premium wheat flour.
3. Peeled is similar to second grade wheat flour - it contains more bran.
4. Wallpaper is unrefined wholemeal flour. To produce it, the grain is ground once, practically without sifting out anything. Wallpaper flour preserves all parts of the grain, it has a high content of bran, and is the healthiest.

During the production of rye flour, useful particles are also crushed and sifted out. Therefore, you need to carefully look at the variety on the label.

Whole grain bread is considered the most useful, both for weight loss and for general health. It contains fiber, which in turn improves intestinal motility and promotes the elimination of heavy metal salts and breakdown products.

Liliya Sergeevna Mikhailichenko
Candidate of Medical Sciences, nutritionist, pediatric endocrinologist, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education Rostov State Medical University Research Institute of Advanced Clinical Medicine

“Whole grain” is not a type of flour, but a general name for products made using unrefined grain technology (pasta, cereals, flour).

The healthiest flour is wallpaper flour. Since it refers to a whole grain method of preparing products. Flour of the highest grade is the most useless.

Is rye bread okay for pregnant and lactating women?

Rye bread, especially from wholemeal flour, provides energy and does not harm the child. The majority of doctors recommend it to pregnant women. You should not eat a product that contains a lot of acid to avoid bloating and intestinal pain.

The benefits and harms of rye bread for a woman’s body during pregnancy and breastfeeding are determined by its quantity. The norm is 250 g.

During lactation, it must be introduced into the diet carefully, otherwise gas formation and colic may occur in the baby. To avoid causing constipation, rye bread is dried before consumption or eaten slightly stale.

Why is refined flour bad?

Chemical composition of flour according to GOST:

From the table we see that the more starch (carbohydrates) in flour, the less healthy proteins and dietary fiber (fiber). Refined flour is inferior in composition to unrefined flour.

A decree on the website of the Russian newspaper confirms the benefits of unrefined flour: “Technological processing of grain crops, including wheat and rye into flour, is accompanied by significant losses of micronutrients, vitamins and minerals, which are removed along with the grain shell.”

How bread made from refined flour affects the body

This bread contains a lot of protein and starch, which turn into a sticky mass in the intestines. If there is no bran in bread, this mass clogs the intestinal walls and prevents the body from receiving useful substances from food. Due to a lack of nutrients, we feel chronic lethargy, our immunity decreases, which can lead to diseases and allergies.

Bread made from refined flour contains fast carbohydrates. They are “fast” because the feeling of fullness does not last long. Thanks to them, we eat more than we need and gain excess weight.

Bread made from premium flour is considered the most “useless”. In bread made from second grade flour, i.e. coarse grinding, such as grain or with bran, is much more beneficial.

Liliya Sergeevna Mikhailichenko
Candidate of Medical Sciences, nutritionist, pediatric endocrinologist, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education Rostov State Medical University Research Institute of Advanced Clinical Medicine

The more refined the flour, the less nutrients it contains.

Gluten —they write and talk about it a lot. The topic is complex and controversial; I don’t want to draw conclusions superficially. I was unable to find serious scientific articles that convincingly prove the harm of gluten. If you have links to such sources, please share in the comments.

What else to look for in the composition

Read the ingredients when choosing bread. This will help you recognize obvious inadequacies before purchasing.

Article about sugar: Why and how to give up

Sugar is added to raise the dough and give it a nice, crispy crust. The exact amount is not indicated on the label, but you can guess if you look closely at the composition.

Ingredients are listed by quantity from largest to smallest. According to this principle, sugar should be at the end of the list, next to salt and yeast.

The closer the sugar is to the beginning of the composition, the more there is in the bread.

Pay attention to where sugar is listed in the composition. Next to salt and yeast - in this case, there is not much of it in the bread.

Here, for example, is “Malt” bread. Granulated sugar is in third place. This means that there is a lot of it there. Put the bread in its place and let it stay there.

Margarine is added to bread to make the crumb more tender. But margarine contains up to 20% trans fats. The WHO recommended daily intake is 1%.

“Trans fats: what they are and what they are eaten with” book by Zhuravlev A.V.

Products containing trans fats increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by 2 times. Contributes to the development of breast cancer, infertility, cancer and diabetes.

Bread "Toast". Convenient shape, friends often buy it for sandwiches. Let's read the composition. Premium wheat flour, water, sugar, margarine, improvers, antioxidants. We don’t take this kind of bread.

Toast bread is made with soul and love - now I will cry with happiness, we read the composition: first grade wheat flour, peeled rye flour, sugar, margarine. If we see sugar and margarine in the ingredients, as here at the beginning of the list, we don’t take it.

Our favorite is the sliced ​​one. Let's read the composition. Premium wheat flour, water, sugar, margarine... you don’t need to read any further. White flour, sugar, and also margarine. Hello, diabetes, excess weight, allergies...

Improvers in bread are all additives classified as “E”: oxidizing agents, reducing agents, preservatives. With them, the bread is wadded and tasteless. You can overeat it and not notice it because it does not give you a feeling of fullness.

List of improvers in PDF

Oxidative improvers accelerate the ripening and bleaching of flour. With oxidizing agents, you can prepare bread in 3 hours. But it will not be as aromatic and tasty as bread with 12-hour or daily fermentation.

Restorative action improvers increase the extensibility of dough gluten. The bread with them is airy, with holes, like cheese.

Modified starches are used to make bread go stale more slowly.

Experts say enhancers are not harmful in small doses. But frequent consumption of foods with “E” can provoke allergies or aggravate chronic diseases.

There are many more flavor improvers and enhancers, but you should remember: “E” - should not be in the composition of healthy bread

It looks like this on the label:

E 471, E 475, E 330, E 202, E 200, E 160, flour improver with a very long list...

On the outside of the label are “Premium” and flax seeds. Ingredients: emulsifiers, baking improver... Designed to make you think “well, of course, here it is, healthy bread.” And you won’t read the ingredients.

“Village” bread contains improvers. Manufacturers honestly wrote on the label: E 471, E475, E330, E 202, E 200, and so on.

Here's what I can do with this bread. I squeeze it and it becomes easily deformed. And light in weight.

I bought this bread at a bakery near my house. Let's check it for improvers.

The bread shrinks easily and loses its structure when you press on it. And then it also quickly restores its shape. What was put there and in what quantity can only be guessed.

The additives are not very harmful, but they are not advisable for the diet. High concentrations may cause digestive problems. Make sure that there are no long and unclear names in the composition.

Potential Health Benefits

Eating rye bread can benefit your health in several ways.

May improve heart health

Including rye bread in your diet may improve some aspects of heart health, as studies have linked its consumption to lower levels of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

For example, an 8-week study of 40 people compared the effects of consuming 20% ​​of daily calories from rye or wheat bread on blood cholesterol levels.

Researchers found that rye bread was more effective in lowering cholesterol levels in men than wheat bread, and reduced total and bad LDL cholesterol by 14% and 12%, respectively ().

This effect is likely due to rye bread's high content of soluble fiber, a type of indigestible dietary fiber that forms a gel-like substance in the digestive tract and can help remove high-cholesterol bile from the blood and body.

Research has shown that regularly consuming soluble fiber is associated with a 5-10% reduction in total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels in just 4 weeks ().

May help control blood sugar levels

Controlling your blood sugar is important for everyone, especially for people with type 2 diabetes and those who cannot produce enough insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar.

Rye bread has a number of qualities that can help control blood sugar levels ().

For starters, it's high in soluble fiber, which helps slow the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates and sugar in the digestive tract, resulting in a more gradual rise in blood sugar levels ().

Rye bread also contains phenolic compounds such as ferulic acid and caffeic acid, which can slow the release of sugar and insulin into the bloodstream, further helping control blood sugar levels ().

For example, a study of 21 healthy adults found that eating a rye-based dinner with extra resistant starch helped slow the release of sugar and insulin into the bloodstream. In addition, rye increased the level of satiety hormones, which made it possible to feel fuller longer ().

However, regular rye did not have a significant effect on blood sugar levels, although it did increase the feeling of fullness ().

Helps Gastrointestinal Health

Rye bread can improve the health of your digestive tract in several ways.

First, it is a good source of fiber, which helps maintain good intestinal motility. Soluble fiber absorbs water, keeping stool large and soft, making it easier to pass ().

In fact, one study of 51 adults with constipation found that rye bread was more effective in treating constipation than whole grain bread and laxatives, without causing side effects ().

Other studies have shown that the fiber in rye bread may increase blood levels of short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate.

These short-chain fatty acids have been associated with a variety of health benefits, including weight loss, lower blood sugar levels, and protection against colon cancer (, , ).

Helps you feel fuller longer

Numerous studies have shown that rye bread is incredibly filling (, ,).

This may be because it's high in soluble fiber, which can help you feel fuller longer (, , ).

For example, a study of 41 participants found that those who ate whole grain rye bread felt fuller and consumed fewer calories throughout the day than people who ate wheat bread made with refined white flour ().

Other Potential Benefits

In addition to those listed above, rye bread offers some additional potential health benefits.

Although these benefits are supported by fewer studies and weaker evidence, they include:

• May reduce inflammation . A human study linked consumption of rye bread to lower inflammatory markers such as interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) ().
• May protect against some types of cancer . In human and test-tube studies, rye consumption has been associated with a reduced risk of several types of cancer, including prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer (, , , ).

Summary:

Rye bread has been linked to many potential health benefits, including weight loss, reduced inflammation, improved blood sugar control, and improved heart and digestive health.

Which bread is healthier, black or white?

Both wheat and rye bread are healthy if made from wallpaper or whole grain flour. But such bread is difficult to find. Almost all black or dark bread is a mixture of wheat and rye flour. Due to the fact that rye flour does not have enough gluten, wheat is added to it to make the bread rise.

If rye flour:

At the top of the list is bread prepared according to the rules and it is healthier. In the middle or towards the end - its content is low; such bread does not contain enough vitamins and dietary fiber.

Here is dark ciabatta, for example. It is clear that if the ciabatta is not light, then take it calmly and go home. We check: premium flour, water, malt extract. In fact, this is bread made from white flour; it was simply given a different color due to additives.

Wheat flour, malt, yeast... rye flour comes in last place. The baguette is not very rye. Bye, baguette, you won’t come with me.

If the bread is dark in color, this does not mean that it is healthier and does not mean that it is rye. “Rye bread” made from refined flour has the same benefits as a loaf of white bread.

Rye bread: harm

Due to the high content of dietary fiber, the product is contraindicated for people with stomach ulcers and high acidity. It can also cause flatulence and heartburn.

Microelements are difficult to absorb, so it is recommended to dilute the diet with wheat and bread and other varieties to reduce the load on the digestive system.

Experts recommend not to exceed the established standards:

• 150 g – for those leading a sedentary lifestyle;
• 300 g – during periods of increased activity;
• 500 g – for heavy physical activity.

You can buy frozen rye bread, ready for baking, at. Pay attention to your health and eat with pleasure!

With sourdough or yeast

There is a lot of debate about the benefits of sourdough and the dangers of yeast in bread. It is believed that yeast survives after bread is baked and causes a negative reaction in the body. This has not been scientifically proven. I did not find any information in any article about the dangers of yeast that could be used to check the accuracy: a clear name of the study, the date of the study, or a link to the text.

Yeast dies at a temperature of 60 degrees. Bread baking temperature is 220 degrees, inside the bread loaf is 95-98 degrees. There is no variety of yeast that can withstand high temperatures.

It is easier to make quick bread with yeast, since the dosage of yeast can be increased tens of times. An important point regarding the use of yeast and starter cultures. By the end of baking bread, all microflora dies, the bread becomes yeast-free and bacteria-free.

Sergey Kirillov,
ideologist of the Professor Poof bakery, baker and blogger

Diet of black bread and tea. Diet on black bread and water

Being on bread, even nutritious black bread, water or tea, a person experiences a severe lack of energy and nutrients. It is not recommended to eat this way for more than three days. It’s even better to use rye bread with water or tea for a fasting day.

Not everyone can survive a diet based on rye flour bread and water.

The diet menu is very simple - 5 pieces (200 g) of rye bread and 3 liters of water (5 cups of green tea) throughout the day.

In reviews of this diet, people who have tried it describe an irrepressible feeling of hunger, weakness, dizziness, and abdominal pain literally on the second day. This weight loss system can by no means be called healthy, with a balanced diet.

Let's check everything I told you in the store.

I went through common chains with a wide range of products, which are available in most cities (Magnit, Perekrestok, Green Perekrestok, Auchan, Pyaterochka).

I can’t recommend a specific manufacturer, but I’ll tell you the general principle of what to pay attention to. In different cities, manufacturers and names of bread may differ, but the composition is an indicator that you should focus on when choosing.

1. Baguette with onions
2. Bread Borodinsky
3. Sandwich bun
4. Sliced ​​wheat bread
5. Bread Fitness
6. Merchant Bread
7. Homemade bread
8. Khutorskoy bread
9. Bread Bread

Let's look at the composition: premium wheat flour, improvers. We don’t take classic bread made from white flour.

Okay, you can eat

White flour and a ton of sugar

The first grade of wheat flour is almost the same as the highest grade; in fact, it is classic bread made from white flour. We don't take it.

And again mega-healthy bread. Let's read the composition. Premium wheat flour, water, oat flakes, all sorts of seeds... In fact, the same sliced ​​loaf, some flakes, only without sugar. Cheap and unintelligent scam.

So, it looks like rye. The composition is long, but everything is to the point. No long list E, no sugar, no margarine. In first place is peeled rye flour, in second place is first-grade wheat flour. It's okay, you can take this bread.

Homemade bread. I just want to just pick up and run, it’s clear that everything is fine here. Let's read the composition.

Peeled rye flour, sourdough, first grade wheat flour, molasses, and also sugar. Only the manufacturer knows how much sugar there is for this volume of bread. In general, it’s not the most criminal option. You can take it.

Khutorskoy bread is an excellent name. Let's read the composition. 1st grade wheat flour, peeled rye flour, sourdough, salt, bran, water. First grade flour is almost the same as premium flour, but there is bran. You can take it.

Inconspicuous Otrubnoy bread, no beautiful labels. Let's read the composition. First grade wheat flour, peeled rye flour, water, bran, malt, sugar, salt, yeast. Sugar is next to salt and yeast, which means there isn’t much of it there. Good composition - let's take it.

About bakeries

Bakeries of large hypermarkets are required to indicate the composition; all other bakeries do not do this. Let's look at the example of “Perekrestok” and “Auchan”. At the beginning of the article there were several examples, now more details.

And here we have a shelf with obviously healthy, dark bread. Okay, let's read the composition.

1. Mini baguette
2. Bread Champion
3. Bread Harvest
4. French baguette
5. Lavash thin

This is a dark baguette, also with seeds. Turn it over. First grade flour is already better than just white flour. In theory, it is possible.

Just health and health. Let's look at the composition. Wheat flour, then you don’t need to be a chemist to understand what is hidden in every E. Sadness.

Just in case, they wrote to you that it contains bran. Okay, let's read the ingredients anyway. Wheat flour, again unknown, most likely premium or first grade, bran, sugar, margarine, then again - interesting chemistry. There is bran in this bread, but it doesn’t make any difference here at all.

Everyone loves a baguette, right? Let's read the composition. Wheat flour, salt, improvers, dextrose, some additives. If you feel that your knowledge is not enough to understand the composition, return it to its place and leave happily without it.

Thin lavash contains no additives, no sugar, no yeast, but the flour in it is of the highest grade.

You can also find this kind of bread in vegetarian and health food stores.

It is made from whole sprouted grains. The taste is unusual, I liked it. It is difficult to swallow in pieces, as I am used to with regular bread. You have to chew and chew and it’s filling. A couple of slices are enough.

Don't panic, gentlemen! We all eat bread, but often not very good bread. We have put together a number of simple rules so that you can minimize the potential danger.

Memo

1. Treat bread as a treat, not as a meal.
2. Sugar at the beginning of the composition, milk powder, margarine on the label say one thing - feel free to pass by.
3. If the bread is light and you can squeeze it with your hand like a sponge, don’t take it.
4. Healthy bread is made from wallpaper flour. Acceptable option: wheat flour of the first, second grade, rye flour - peeled. It is ideal that the composition also contains bran
5. If you haven’t found an option that is acceptable in composition, don’t take anything better.
6. In a large chain store such as Perekrestok, Auchan, Pyaterochka, due to the large assortment, it is easier to find bread with the desired composition than in a small store near your home.
7. When buying bread from bakeries, ask for the type of flour and detailed ingredients. Bakeries must have such documents.
8. Both rye and wheat bread will taste better and be better digestible if you dry the slices on both sides in a hot frying pan without oil.

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Diet: milk with black bread

This type of diet on rye bread is different in that it allows you to lose weight without losing the feeling of fullness. Milk is very beneficial for the human body; it has great nutritional value due to its content:

• squirrel
• carbohydrates in the form of milk sugar
• animal fats
• calcium
• other nutrients

You can lose weight on black bread with milk.

IMPORTANT: This weight loss system can be chosen for three days, a week or two weeks. You can also make a fasting day on black bread and milk

Basic principles of losing weight on rye bread and milk:

• During the day you need to consume up to 150 g of bread made from rye flour and drink 1 liter of milk up to 2.5% fat
• if it is a fasting day or a diet for 3 days, in addition to the above products, you can only have green tea and water
• if this is a 7- or 10-day diet, in addition to bread and milk, you can have chicken meat, vegetables, green apples, low-fat cottage cheese, chicken egg whites, but so that the energy value of the daily diet does not exceed 1300 kcal

The promised results of this diet are minus 2 kg in three days, minus 4-6 kg in a week or ten days. If you exercise, you can improve these results.