Assignment #10: Tackle the Wheat Monster

Grains come in many forms.  You need to know the parts of a kernel of grain—and note that not all grains have all parts.  Look at your text figure for the wheat bran, endosperm, germ, and husk/hull. 

It’s the husk/hull that contains the fiber. Be sure you know the difference between wheat flour, whole wheat flour, and refined flour. 

**White bread IS made from wheat flour—it’s just been bleached**

Be sure you can distinguish between whole grain, refined grain, and fortified/enriched products. 


This reminds me of a sad situation at a Subway—it occurred soon after I’d been diagnosed with Celiac.  Me:  “Can I have the BMT, but without the bread.”  Worker:  “But then it won’t be a sandwich.” Me:  “I know.  I don’t want a sandwich. I can’t eat wheat.”  Worker:  “Oh, we have round bread.  I’ll use that instead.”  Me:  “Round, square, rectangular…it’s all made from wheat.”  Hubby:  “Can you make her a salad?” 


Suffice it to say, people seem to not understand what wheat is and what foods contain it.  When I tell people I can’t eat wheat, they often try to cook me things with whole wheat instead.  Sigh.


Carefully read the section in your text on whole grains! The term “whole grain” SHOULD mean an increase in fiber and some other nutrients.  However, packaging can be VERY VERY misleading.  Even when foods are made from 100% whole wheat, the actual nutritional differences can be miniscule.  In many cases, consumers pay extra for something they think is a healthier choice-only to be mislead by creative packaging and a failure to understand the basic calculations required to make accurate comparisons between foods. 


Your text shows (see the little bread figure) that a true whole grain bread ‘wins out’ over other choices in several nutrient categories.  But are the differences substantial? 


At the same time, a discussion of the glycemic index often pops up.  The GI is a measurement of how quickly a carbohydrate consumption changes blood glucose.  What I can say at this point with certainty is that the debate over the GI isn’t over.  There is a lot of research that needs to be done.  Some studies show that the glycemic index of foods changes wildly based on the whole meal consumed—and it may be because an increase in fat in the meal actually decreases the GI for certain foods.  For example, white rice when consumed with fat-containing foods has a lesser GI than when consumed alone.  I can also say that the person-to-person differences aren’t understood.  If that’s not enough—just because a food has a low GI doesn’t mean it’s a healthier choice.  One example is the comparison of Pizza Hut Super Supreme Pizza (GI of 30) as compared to white rice (64).  There are other differences to consider!


So, back to the saga of white versus whole wheat bread…

Visit http://wholegrainscouncil.org/newsroom/myths-busted 

Just when we hear “more whole grains” there are people who swear that grains, in general, will be the death of us all.  Check out what they’ve put together, and really, really look at the description of the research discussed.


A fun page to visit is silverhydra.com, a product of BS in Applied Human Dietitics, Kurtis Frank.  He has a great “war of the breads” that I love. http://www.silverhydra.com/2011/02/white-vs-whole-wheat-bread/  See—and READ CAREFULLY—what he’s put together.


Let’s now do some analysis:

Wheat bread (bleached flour, white) has a glycemic index of 75 +/- 2.  That means the range is 73-77.

Whole wheat bread has a GI of 73-77 +/- 2.  That means a range of 72-76. 

For all practical purposes, the GI for both is essentially the same, and neither is that different as compared to white rice.  For what follows, we can compare white and brown rice, or any other foods.

I’ve chosen to do a quick comparison of Wonder white bread and Nature’s Own 100% whole wheat bread. 


WE MUST COMPARE THESE BY THE SAME WEIGHT—SO VALUES ARE EXPRESSED PER GRAM.

In the table I've provided on Moodle, I’ve broken down how to calculate the % difference between these two.  What do you think?  The table as an excel file is also available, unlocked, on Moodle.  Also on Moodle are two research papers (PDFs) about the glycemic index—one file is a table that has many foods listed with their corresponding glycemic index value.


Your assignment:

-Choose two wheat-containing foods to compare in the same way.  It would be most helpful to compare two foods you eat on a regular basis.  Or, choose foods you are curious about. You can compare whole wheat, to 100% whole wheat, to “regular” white bread—but, it doesn’t have to be bread.  The goal of the assignment is to determine if these whole wheat products are really different enough to matter. 



BE SURE to visit every web page I've suggested and READ the content!

Due 1/18/18 at midnight