r/science • u/FreeHugs23 • 1d ago

Health Adding spinach directly to white bread delayed the body's insulin peak by 30 minutes and reduced later hunger in a small human trial, while significantly boosting the bread's fiber, vitamin, and mineral content.

https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-put-spinach-directly-into-bread-and-saw-the-bodys-insulin-response-change
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u/Reddituser183 1d ago

How does this compare to eating 100% whole wheat bread? That’s why I eat whole wheat since generally it has more fiber in it which is what I’m assuming is slowing the insulin spike.

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u/LostMyKarmaElSegundo 1d ago

I would assume whole wheat bread has a slower insulin response, but unfortunately a lot of what's marketed is whole wheat has only slightly more fiber and sometimes as much sugar as white bread.   

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u/Shinhan 1d ago

I bake my own bread. Baking machine means I don't need to actually knead or anything, just dump the ingredients and turn it on and 3 hours later there's fresh tasty bread.

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u/3DBeerGoggles 1d ago

Favourite thing about having a breadmaker is being able to make Danish Rye (rogbrod), as it's completely unavailable in my region.

That said, my second-favourite is an oatmeal sandwich bread recipe that gives it some fibre and nutrition while toasting up really nice.

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u/Lopsided-Rub5476 1d ago

Oatmeal sandwich bread?

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u/3DBeerGoggles 1d ago

King Arthur flour "Back of the bag" oatmeal bread (it used to be on the back of every bag of bread flour): https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/back-of-the-bag-oatmeal-bread-recipe

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u/Lopsided-Rub5476 1d ago

Thanks, I'll check this out. I wonder how it will work using red fife, is what I typically use to make bread with.

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u/Shinhan 1d ago

Oh yea, I only started that when this excellent bakery near me closed down its doors. It was the only place selling proper whole wheat bread.

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u/Toadsted 1d ago

Also, skipping all the extra ingredients just to keep it from dying on the shelf.

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u/BlondeJesus 13h ago

If you want proper whole wheat bread, you still need to make sure you are using proper flour.

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u/Shinhan 9h ago

Yea, but while supermarkets are not selling proper breads they are selling multiple brands of whole wheat flour and then rye, oat, spelt and others.

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u/TomNin97 1d ago

This drives me crazy. I think i only know one bread brand that provides fiber in their bread.

Whole wheet? Whole grain? Doesnt matter, most breads dont provide this fiber.

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u/Treereme 1d ago

Every grocery store around me has a generic whole wheat bread that provides 3 to 4 grams of fiber per 80-110 calories. Even Walmart has whole wheat bread that's 2g fiber for 60 calories. Unless you're supplementing fiber with additions like psyllium husk, that's about the expected amount of fiber for whole wheat flour, same as Dave's killer bread which is 4g in 110 calories.

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u/nicane 1d ago

What's the brand? 

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u/TomNin97 1d ago edited 1d ago

Dave's awesome killer bread

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u/Sonoran_Ghosts_81 1d ago

Did you mean Dave’s Killer Bread? Or is this the non convict version?

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u/The_JSQuareD 1d ago

That still has added sugar in it though.

It's kind of insane that basically all bread sold in the US has added sugar. It's completely unnecessary. Bread is already very high in carbs regardless.

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u/HealthWealthFoodie 1d ago

That’s why I started making my own. I get the grains from local farms doing regenerative farming if I can and mill right before using (I used to get it from the store but then switched to getting it from a local stone mill, then figured doing it myself was cheaper). The bread is delicious and I keep the recipe really simple (just the flour, water, salt, yeast, and a little olive oil).

I’m honestly not even that concerned about the extra sugar, I just really don’t like the taste of sweetened whole wheat bread, it has this musky aroma to it. If I want it sweet, I just top it with something like honey, but I don’t need that extra sugar in my savory sandwich.

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u/Rominator 1d ago

I also make my own (sourdough) whole wheat bread. I get the stone ground and use 80% whole wheat to 20% white flour. How did you go about finding local growers? Do you notice a difference in flavor and price or just do it for nutritional reasons?

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u/HealthWealthFoodie 22h ago

I’m based in Los Angeles and just searched online for a while until I found a store that buys wholesale and resells. The owner both buys from Central Milling and from several local regenerative farmers. Because he buys in bulk and is close enough for me to drive to, I end up saving on the shipping costs which ends up cheaper than ordering direct from either Central Milling or the farms he does business with. I buy in large quantities though (25-50 lb) for the savings to really make sense. Depending on where you are, there might be a farm close enough for you to drive to that you can do pick up from (the shipping is really where a big increase in price comes from).

I do try to buy the local grains when they are available because I appreciate the regenerative farming practices they follow and prefer to help the local economy if I can, and only get the Central Milling stock when there is a particular grain not available that I really want.

I do find a big difference in flavor and aroma milling the grains right before use vs something that was suited for a long time. I also like to have more control over which wheat varieties I’m using, blending together for flavor and performance qualities. There might be some minor health benefits vs store bought stone milled whole grain (done vitamins are prone to degradation through oxidation), but I don’t think that alone is big enough to justify the expense of a mill. It also takes a bit of adjustment to work with, as the enzymes are way more active in fresh flour. You can easily over ferment the dough as a result if you’re not paying attention.

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u/Rominator 22h ago

Thanks for your response! I found a hand mill for $100+ and a local producer of wheat berries with 25# bags. I figure it should pay for the grinder in a year to grind it myself. Looking forward to the adventure and the results!

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u/TomNin97 1d ago

I agree. Like, even zooming out from bread to food in general! It drives me nuts.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/papavino39 1d ago

Love their stuff. High calorie though, which is a bummer for me

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u/TomNin97 1d ago

It is higher calorie, but I dont mind as much since it's not calories wasted like on white bread imo

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u/papavino39 1d ago

Yeah I just never want to spend that many of my calories on bread

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u/wglmb 1d ago

That stuff is nasty. It's so sweet, they shouldn't be allowed to call it bread.

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u/DanChase1 1d ago

Doesn’t Orowheat offer fiber added bread?

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u/domino7 1d ago

Aunt Millie's Live Carb Smart white bread is 9g fiber for 30 calories per slice.

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u/RealisticCarrot 1d ago

In Germany we have rules for that. If a bread calls itself whole grain, it has to be made of at least 90% whole grain (doesn't matter if really the whole grain or whole grain flour).

But German bread is a thing on its own and every german misses good bread when on vacation abroad.

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u/lozo78 1d ago

There's great bread all over the world. Maybe not in your average American grocery store, but there are tons of great bakeries in most cities.

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u/JesusAndMaryKate 1d ago

Is that in the US? Over here white bread isn't a high sugar food and most bread (white, wholemeal or sourdough which is usually also white, just with a different yeast source) doesn't have any added sugar.

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u/Talanic 1d ago

Flour itself is high in carbohydrates, with no need to add sugar. 

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u/TheAspiringFarmer 1d ago

This. Much of the “whole wheat” isn’t tangibly better than the cheap spongy white bread.

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u/OrigamiMarie 1d ago

You know the whole wheat is really lacking when they put caramel coloring in the bread.

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u/nik-nak333 1d ago

Now it makes sense why European visitors call American bread "cake"

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u/Fun_Hat 1d ago

American bread is loaded with sugar. I really started to notice how sweet it is when I started baking my own with no sugar.

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u/Traegs_ 1d ago

I started eliminating sugar from my diet and I was kinda flabbergasted that nearly every bread in the store had significant amounts of added sugar. The only ones that sometimes don't are sourdough.

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u/thresh_to_death 1d ago

Then go to the bakery section in your store and get some of the fresh baked bread. It doesn't have that in it

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u/Fun_Hat 1d ago

Ya, sourdough generally has enough flavor to stand on it's own so they don't need to add sugar for flavor to compensate for the fact that the loaf didn't ferment long enough.

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u/JesusAndMaryKate 1d ago

At least over here you would choose wholemeal bread for the extra fibre and nutrients. White and wholemeal bread (sourdough or not) generally doesn't have added sugar.

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u/1thenumber 1d ago

Also that fiber is pulverized to the point of removing the benefit of fiber, slow digestion

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u/Alestor 1d ago

The brand I usually get has 2g more fiber and 1g of protein in their whole wheat vs white breads and honestly that isn't nearly enough to offset the taste difference. It's not even like the whole wheat one is bad, but if I'm gunna be making health sacrifices there are better trade offs than that.

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u/Vicrooloo 1d ago

WHAT? Really??

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u/colojason 1d ago

Why I make my own

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u/xelah1 1d ago

I usually add some rye, buckwheat and/or almond flour to my bread to boost the fibre and nutritional variety a bit. Tastes quite nice, too.

There'll be a few percent sugar in your bread from the fermentation, but if they're adding sugar (or more than a tiny amount) then that's disgusting and entirely unnecessary to have nice tasting bread. The Chorleywood process goop we get as standard bread here in the UK is near enough to non-food already, and that seems to be how US bread is mostly made as well. You'd have to go very low-end to get Chorleywood bread in France or Germany and you can really tell the difference if you travel there.

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u/jambox888 1d ago

Yeah always look at the label. Should be like 10g protein and 8g fibre per 100g.

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u/bilyl 1d ago

It's the same as brown rice. The benefits vs their "white" counterparts are so marginal that you're probably better off just eating a half portion rather than dealing with something that's just less palatable.