Eating For Health

Is the bread you are eating healthy?   What does it matter?   Last weekend my daughters wanted to try a new sandwich shop advertising its signature sandwiches.   A big draw is that they use meat from the upstairs butcher shop. The meat is not only really fresh but also antibiotic free.   The greens are locally grown and also healthy.   So, I order a ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion and ask for whole wheat bread.   No whole wheat.   I ask for multi-grain bread.   No multi-grain.   I finally ask, “Do you have any bread that is healthy?”   They responded they had rye bread.   Well, that could be healthy if it is whole grain rye, which is pretty hard to find.   But it was refined rye bread, so not really healthier than refined white bread.   The sandwich was good but could have been so much tastier and healthier with better bread choices.   Recently my husband and I stopped at a French bakery in Nov...

It is amazing how many people have no idea what a whole grain is and what foods are whole grain and which are just refined grains.   To have a healthy diet, one needs whole grains in their diet, yet so many people have no idea what that means.    I was presenting at a high school class while the students ate their lunches.   All the students said they ate whole grains.   When I asked them what on their lunch tray was whole grain they pointed to the white roll, the breading on their fried chicken, the mashed potatoes.   Of course, none of these foods are whole grain.  Fortunately, I was there to help them learn what whole grains were.     I’ve asked many adults what whole grain bread is and they respond, if the bread is dark in color, any brown at all, it is whole grain.   Not true. What is whole grain?   To be whole grain, the food needs to contain 100% of all parts of the grain seed including the bran, endosperm and germ. ...