White bread or wholemeal bread? What is the best choice? Undoubtedly, consuming a product made with wholemeal and therefore unrefined flour is better, even more so if it is homemade with quality products and natural yeast.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousWhite bread or whole grain bread? What is the best choice? Undoubtedly, consuming a product made with wholemeal flour and therefore not refined is better, even more so if it is homemade with quality products and natural yeast.
However, when we go to buy wholemeal bread in the oven or at the supermarket, however, a problem arises. Is the flour with which it is made really wholemeal? Often the answer is no, as they are baked products made with normal white flour (therefore refined) to which they have been added re-milled bran or small bran, waste from the refining process. It is therefore in reality not only a product that is not truly wholemeal but of flour subjected to two processes and therefore defined as "reconstituted wholemeal".
All this is perfectly legal, in the sense that the law n.187 of February 9, 2001 establishes that a flour can be defined as wholemeal when the ash content (minerals) is between 1,30 and 1,70 per hundred parts of dry matter. This means that Even a product made with refined flour can be labeled as wholemeal to which bran was later added to make it darker. Most of the "wholemeal" flours on the market and "wholemeal" products are made just like that.
But let's get to the why choose wholemeal bread (the true one).
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WHY CHOOSE WHOLEMEAL BREAD
Choosing wholemeal bread is an advisable option as it comes to a more complete food than the white variant generally more consumed. This is due to the fact that the flour with which this bread is made is obtained from the whole grain of wheat and therefore contains more nutrients. It is in particular the good fiber intake which is useful for our body in many ways: from gastrointestinal well-being to the reduction of the glycemic index of the food and its caloric intake.
The reasons why it is better to consume wholemeal bread rather than white can be summarized as follows:
• Contains all parts of the grain and that is why a complete food
• Contains minerals and vitamins
• It is rich in fibers (which help intestinal transit)
• Tends to satiate more
• It is less caloric
• There is a lower glycemic index
• Reduces the absorption of fats and cholesterol
• I whole grains protect against some diseases such as type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer
WHICH BREAD TO CHOOSE
The best choice is undoubtedly that of buy stone ground wholemeal flours (and consequently buy or prepare a bread made from these flours at home). The stone grinding process means that the flour has been obtained without undergoing overheating and therefore keeps its nutritional principles more intact.
Whenever possible they should be preferred flour and wholemeal bread made by small local farmers, the expiry date will be shorter but it will be of excellent quality food. Then go to an organic food store, the market or directly to some trusted local producer.
Read also: WHOLEMEAL BREAD: HOW TO DEFEND US FROM FAKE FLOURS (VIDEO)
Organic whole flours are generally the safest to buy, although it is always good to read the label because the problem of adding bran is not excluded. It is important to buy organic flour and wholemeal bread also because, being unrefined products, if pesticides have been used in wheat cultivation, they will also be found largely in finished foods.
To recap:
• Buy organic and stone-ground flours (and bread made from these)
• Buy local and small-scale food as much as possible
• Read the labels of wholemeal bread and flours
HOW TO RECOGNIZE WHOLEMEAL BREAD
It is also important in the case of flours read the product label. Be careful! There must be a single ingredient: wholemeal flour and not white flour (0- 00) plus bran or small bran. In the case of ready-made products without packaging, the thing is more complicated, you can ask the manufacturer directly for clarifications on the type of flour used and then have a confirmation by observing the color of the bread which must generally be dark and fairly uniform, not light with darker dots (otherwise it is precisely the added bran).
Read also: REAL WHOLEMEAL FLOUR: HOW TO RECOGNIZE IT?
HOW TO DO IT AT HOME
The best choice that guarantees us the certainty of bringing a healthy product to the table is to make wholemeal bread at home. It is not a particularly difficult undertaking: you just need a quality wholemeal flour and a little time and desire to knead. To make the bread lighter and more digestible it would be it is advisable to use mother yeast rather than brewer's yeast.
We introduce you some recipes you can experiment with when you are going to make good wholemeal bread at home:
WHOLEMEAL BREAD WITH MOTHER PASTA
ANZY BREAD: HOW TO PREPARE BREAD WITHOUT YEAST
10 HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPES WITHOUT BAKING
Keep in mind that making bread is a real art and generally the first few times, especially if you use sourdough, the results may not be exactly what you hoped for. Hand hand that you become familiar with the dough, the rising times and baking, your wholemeal bread will become better in appearance and quality.
There are several mistakes that beginners can make: finding yourself struggling with a dough that is too hard or too soft, not knowing how to manage the yeast or the temperature of the oven well, leavening excessively or on the contrary for an insufficient time, etc. There is a remedy for all this, here we have presented the solutions to the most frequent mistakes that are made when preparing bread at home.
Read also: MAKING BREAD AT HOME: THE MISTAKES TO AVOID AND THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS
You guys have you already started making wholemeal bread at home?
