Bread: Diet News to Get You Confused.

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  94 mg/dl.  Go Team!
• Weight:  190 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes with the bike hooked up to the trainer.  Foggy morning and the air was soupy, not at all pleasant for a ride. 
• Mood:  8.5.  It's Friday!

Menu:

• Breakfast:  One slice of pizza (nature's most perfect food) from yesterday.  Hey, I use turkey pepperoni.  The lack of fat is a lot easier on the stomach. 
• Lunch:  Fried Catfish.  My big, fattening splurge for the day, along with some tasty curly cue fries.  The healthy part was the few shreds of lettuce and the sliver of a very unripe tomato.  I loved every minute if it. 
• Dinner:  Grilled salmon with some sauteed vegetables and seasoned rice.  
• Snacks:  Some chips and salsa.  Hey, cooked tomato is supposed to contain something that is good for prostrate health.  That's my excuse, anyway, to moderately enjoy salty corn chips and spicy salsa. Sheesh, I seem to need an excuse for anything I enjoy these days. 

Bread:  Staff of Life or Deadly Killer? 

According to two  separate articles I have read recently, the answer is yes.


Anyone who knows me knows that I have one culinary skill, making bread.  Even at that I keep it simple, either just some basic bread in a loaf pan or pizza dough to make our standard Thursday night fare.  Making it at home always makes the house smell wonderful and toasted homemade bread is breakfast at its finest. (I just realized I have been avoiding toast for breakfast now for long while.  My sandwich consumption has also gone way down. Fear of carbohydrates again.)

So, because things I seem to like are in someone's view bad for me I was more than distressed to read of this book: Bread is the Devil: Win the Weight Loss Battle by Taking Control of Your Diet Demons.  Oh, dear, the devil?  Really?  That's kind of extreme for something that smells so nice, and it is.  Read beyond the shocking headline and this just grabs on to common sense.  Eat, no enjoy, moderate portions of whole grain breads.  Whole grains in general, including whole grain bread, can be part of sound, lifetime diet regimen.  Big news there, really. A good summary is here.

Carbohydrates in general can raise blood glucose and insulin levels and that is a problem for type 2 diabetics.  Simple carbohydrates quickly spike glucose and insulin levels way up.  Complex carbohydrates from whole grains, and vegetable and legumes, don't.  It's that simple. 

With that in mind I came across this from Dr. McDougall.  He cites this study done at Michigan State University (my alma mater, too) that eating more bread in general is a good way to lose weight and lower cholesterol levels.  For some reason, white bread was better than high-fiber bread.  I infer from this that high-fiber is whole grain, but that may not be necessarily true, either.

While it does not mention any affects on blood glucose levels, in general losing weight is a sure way to control blood glucose and insulin levels, as does lowering fat in the blood.  Fat in the blood also impedes cell absorption of insulin I have read.  So, this study and Dr. McDougall says moderately filling up on various whole grains and legumes is good for you.

So, what do I learn from this?  Just like mom said, too much of anything is bad for you. Find a diet regime that you can live with the rest of your life and stick to it. Don't be humorless about it, either.  Life is too short no matter how healthful you eat.