The Whiter the Bread, the Faster You're Dead

It's an old saying that you may have heard your parents tell you: the whiter the bread, the faster you're dead, which implies that choosing white bread over something like wheat can be harmful for your body. Could this be true?

As it turns out, yes. White bread is produced using a refined white flour. During the refining process, a lot of nutritional value is removed from the wheat including almost all of the vitamin E. This article on the matter continues:

About 50% of all calcium, 70% of phosphorus, 80% iron, 98% magnesium, 75% manganese, 50% potassium, and 65% of copper is destroyed. If that is not bad enough, about 80% thiamin, 60% of riboflavin, 75% of niacin, 50% of pantothenic acid, and about 50% of Pyridoxine is also lost.

Not only are the nutritional values lost, but the bread also gets bleached with chemicals that are harmful to the body such as chloride oxide. Gluten, a special protein that some are allergic to, is also added to the mix to help bring the loaf to a risen and uniform shape.

White bread also ranks high on the Glycaemic Index. This means that the consumption of white bread rapidly raises your blood pressure and this has damaging effects on the arteries. This can lead to heart disease and other heart problems. You can read about the study here (it's important to note that other breads can also rank high on this index).

When it comes down to it, white bread should be avoided at all costs, just go for the wheat variety instead. This simple substitution will make you better off and your body will greatly appreciate it.