Wheat Bread Is Not a Healthy Food

Bread symbolizes life and nourishment. It would be hard to look at it in another way. Since 1990, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines have recommended the daily consumption of 6 to 11 servings of bread (though the government’s food pyramid doesn’t say the types of grains you should include in your diet).

The Bleached Truth about White Bread

White bread is made from wheat flour without the bran and the germ, and is often bleached to remove any yellow coloring and extend its shelf life.

Flour mills use nitrogen oxide, chlorine, chloride, nitrosyl, benzoyl peroxide and various chemical salts as chemical bleaches. Chloride oxide is particularly worrisome because it combines with the residue protein left in the flour to form alloxan, a poison used to produce diabetes in lab animals. The use of chloride oxide strips the flour of vital wheat germ oil. The process of making the flour white also destroys half of the good unsaturated fatty acids and virtually kills all of the nutrients.

A study done by the University of California’s College of Agriculture revealed that when the wheat germ and bran are removed, the entire vitamin E content is lost and almost 50 percent of calcium, 70 percent of phosphorus, 80 percent of iron, 98 percent of magnesium, 75 percent of manganese, 50 percent of potassium, 65 percent of copper, 80 percent of thiamin, 60 percent of riboflavin, 75 percent of niacin, 50 percent of pantothenic acid and about 50 percent of pyridoxine are also destroyed.

So, aside from tasting bland, the white bread you get is left with only poor quality proteins and fattening starch.

The Many Hazards of Eating Wheat

Many consumers have become aware of the many deficiencies of white bread and are now buying wheat bread instead, believing that it is more nutritious and therefore, healthier.

The American Academy of Pediatrics states that “whole wheat bread offers a nutritional advantage over white bread.”

This may be true to some extent but according to Dr. Mercola, wheat bread is likely to cause health problems for a lot of people.

It may be hard to believe this at first because of the conventional belief that organic whole grains are healthy for everyone. Even Dr. Mercola agreed to this theory as a med student and it was only after 15 years of research outside of medical school that he learned that grains — even organic whole grains, and especially wheat — are a major reason why many people get sick from a wide variety of diseases.

The main reason why grains should not be considered as health food is that they will typically lead to a rise in your insulin levels. But what happens when your insulin levels increase?

• weight problems
• high blood pressure
• high blood cholesterol
• Type 2 diabetes
• cancer

Wheat also contains mycotoxins (toxins produced by fungus), so matter what the form wheat takes — whole wheat, cracked wheat, sprouted wheat, and so on — they are all capable of causing health problems, including:

• Celiac disease
• rheumatoid arthritis
• miscarriages
• headaches
• infertility
• developmental delay in children
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disorder which has been associated with conditions ranging from diabetes, anemia, short stature, infertility, Down syndrome and diarrhea. Patients suffering from Celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.

According to a study done in 32 states, almost 2 million Americans suffer from Celiac disease but majority of the people in the U.S. are unaware of this illness.

Another not-so appetizing fact about wheat: wheat flour is used to make glues for book binding and wall-papering and is also the key ingredient for paper mache mortar.

For Dr. Mercola, one of the most important changes you can make to your diet is to limit or if necessary, completely eliminating wheat from your diet. This will also benefit your weight loss efforts. You can also find out what foods to eat and which ones to avoid by identifying your Nutritional Type.

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