However, with the improvement of public health awareness, people also realize that sweet white bread is actually not a healthy food. It's too easy to digest, and the blood sugar is high after meals. Extra sugar and oil add too much calories. But one kind of bread can really be called healthy bread, and that is whole wheat bread.
As the name implies, whole wheat bread is made of whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour is ground from wheat that retains part of seed coat and all germ endosperm. Wheat seed coat consists of outer bran and inner aleurone layer, which contains a lot of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Wheat germ contains more protein, fat and vitamins. Therefore, the nutritional value of whole wheat flour is far superior to that of ordinary white flour. Whole wheat bread made of whole wheat flour is of course healthy bread.
This is true in theory, but the question is: Is the whole wheat bread you bought really whole wheat bread?
What? ! Whole wheat bread and fake? Yes, and most of them are fake! According to the regulations of the Whole Grain Council of the United States, only when the content of whole wheat flour reaches more than 64% can it be called whole wheat bread. In our country, there are no specific regulations. In other words, merchants can define their bread as "whole wheat bread" at will, even if there is no whole wheat flour in this bread.
There are many kinds of whole wheat bread on the market, most of which are fake. There are three ways to forge them:
Just add a little whole wheat flour: there is a whole wheat flour for baking in the domestic market, which is packed in large packages and used exclusively by bakeries. This whole wheat flour is made by baking and grinding wheat through a special process, and then adding some nutrients according to different needs. Many bakeries make whole wheat bread by adding this whole wheat flour to ordinary bread flour, and the addition amount is about 15~20%. The "whole wheat bread" made in this way has a delicate taste and a taste of wheat. In fact, it is not authentic whole wheat bread, but it is sold under the banner of whole wheat. Making whole wheat bread is a conscience, at least there is a little whole wheat flour.
Wheat flour, wheat bran: The most common fake whole wheat bread flour in the market, with large packaging, more use in bakeries and low price. This product is actually adding bran to ordinary bread flour. The bread made can see obvious bran particles, but the wheat is not strong, lacks chewiness and is white in color.
Wheat flour with colorant: this is the most fake whole wheat bread, that is, caramel or syrup is added to white flour, and coking reaction occurs at high temperature, so that the baked bread appears natural light brown and looks like "whole wheat bread". This kind of bread has no wheat flavor, chewiness and no wheat bran particles.
Real whole wheat bread is light brown in color, and the inside and outside colors are the same. You can see a lot of wheat bran particles when you break bread, and the texture is rough. It smells like wheat and tastes rough and chewy. The nutritional value of whole wheat bread is much higher than that of white bread, and it is rich in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Fake whole wheat bread is actually more delicious than real whole wheat bread, and its taste is not so rough. Even with sugar and spices, it tastes sweet and fragrant. However, it is not easy for people who are not familiar with real whole wheat bread to distinguish fake whole wheat bread. Then you need to look at the ingredient list. The ingredient list clearly stipulates that the ingredients should be expressed according to the content. In other words, the first ingredient in the ingredient list is the one with the most content. If it is whole wheat bread, put whole wheat flour first. Just like the picture above, the first one is whole wheat flour, then water, salt and yeast, and there are no other ingredients. This is the most authentic whole wheat bread.
But in the market, the so-called "whole wheat bread" is mostly fake, and the ingredient list is clear at a glance. For example, as shown below, the first one is wheat flour, then water, raisins, sugar, food additives, and then whole wheat flour, er, no, or whole wheat premixed flour. This bread is also called "whole wheat toast"!
Therefore, when buying whole wheat bread, you must keep your eyes open and study the food ingredient list. Real whole wheat bread must first be whole wheat flour. And you'd better buy whole wheat bread without sugar, oil and food additives. We eat whole wheat bread for health. The more other ingredients we add, the more unhealthy it is.