Why is Brown Bread Better Than White Bread?
In our quest to search for the best foods for good health, we turn our attention to the realm of the foods known as carbohydrates. There are two main types that exist: simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Examples of complex carbohydrate foods include brown rice, wholegrain bread, porridge oats and muesli. Simple carbohydrates are effectively reprocessed: broken down and put back together again. Examples of this include white bread, biscuits, cake, pastries etc… i.e. the sort of things we tend to like! These foods often have added sugar and preservatives as they are more likely to perish in comparison to the complex carbohydrate foods.
Carbohydrates from food are our main source of energy which allow us to function. These are broken down into glucose molecules within the body and used as a fuel source. The process of extracting energy from our food is effectively a series of breakdown stages which results in the production of the simplest molecules. With the help of certain vitamins and minerals, energy is produced in the form of ATP (adenosinetriphosphate). This ATP is essential for good health and anything which prevents the production of this fuel source will prevent the body from performing at peak performance. It is only through the consumption of complex carbohydrate foods that we can produce the most amount of ATP as well as consume the necessary nutrients in order to create them. Simple carbohydrates are far less effective at producing ATP and have the added downside of containing additives and preservatives which are not made from naturally occurring substances.
There are other problems associated with a simple carbohydrate diet that relates to the control of blood sugar levels within our bodies. As already explained, carbohydrates are broken down within the body to produce a useable fuel source. The less complex the carbohydrate, the fewer stages there are in the breakdown process. In order to control the level of blood sugar within our body and supply our organs with glucose, the pancreas secretes insulin into the bloodstream. In response to a sudden increase in blood sugar, the pancreas has to release a high dosage of insulin in a one hit. With a simple carbohydrate rich diet, over time this high demand placed on the pancreas can fatigue it and it stops functioning correctly, becoming resistant to producing the necessary insulin in order to control blood sugar levels.
By the way, anyone who eats white toast in the morning, white bread sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner should have cause for concern right now! A change in diet early on in the process can halt the continuation of the process but if not dealt with, there is a strong risk of the pancreas becoming overwhelmed and you developing non-insulin dependent diabetes.
