BY CHARLOTTE WEBSTER
White bread ages you and should be avoided like the plague.
Nutritionists and dietitians have always been unified in the knowledge that whole grain is much preferable and more nutritious. However, even brown and whole meal bread should be scarcely consumed, with no more than two slices eaten at any given sitting.
Respected health professionals will tell you that bread and other sources of gluten grains are unnecessary and potentially harmful. All bread is high in Carbs and can spike blood sugar levels. Whole grain or brown bread is much better than white bread, but can also age you faster than usual if you eat too much of it.
Bread is high in starch, and gets broken down quickly in the digestive tract, entering the bloodstream as glucose. This causes a rapid spike in blood sugar and insulin levels. Sugar is a poison that turns to a lot of fat when broken down in the digestive system, eventually responsible for diabetes. Those who escape diabetes but eat a lot of white bread will generally look a lot older than usual because of the way the starch and broken down carbs stretch the skin and compiles layers of fat in it. As we get older from our 20’s, especially further down our 30’s, the singular presence of regular white bread consumption will add layers of fatty skin on your face, increasing the tendency for it to wrinkle earlier than otherwise.
The effects of this may appear disguised for a good looking man or woman where they still generally look good. But the gradual deterioration of those looks are certain, no matter how undetectable they seem. This deterioration is obviously worsened for those who also indulge in the heavy consumption of white rice, chocolates, biscuits, chips, fried food(eggs, chips,chicken etc). Plenty of white bread or white rice ages you a lot more than nutritious foods. Some will say, ”but all foods age you because we age everyday”. This is true, but when we eat correctly, we age at a normal and naturally expected rate. However, when you eat unhealthily, you age at a much faster rate than a person who eats healthily.
The rapid rise in blood sugar correlates with the speed at which we next become hungry. And premature hunger for unhealthy eaters often perpetuates the cycle of further unhealthy eating. More high carb consumption becomes the natural order of the day for attending to the ensuing hunger.Most bread are made of pulverized wheat which stimulates the propensity to overeat. I have written about white bread before on this site, but never as concentrated as this article. I found it necessary to point this out, after recently discovering that many of my mates regularly eat white bread with cereals for breakfast without then complain about their weight or look. Sugary cereals like frostie’s are a disaster to your look and health because of the high sugar levels in many cereals.
GLYCATION
Elevated blood sugars can also cause glycation at the cellular level, a process that occurs when the blood sugars react with proteins in the body. This is one of the main components of ageing . Most commercial bread contain high fructose and corn syrup, like other processed foods. Most grains also include the “anti nutrient” phytic acid- a molecule that strongly binds essential minerals like calcium, iron and zinc, preventing them from being absorbed .Soaking grains before baking can degrade the phytic acid, which should improve the availability of minerals.
Bread is low in nutrients compared to nutritious foods, and also reduces the absorption of nutrients from other foods. In other words, it is an obstruction to the nutritious development of your body. In this sense, it contributes seriously to the ageing of your body, whether you realize it or not. Whilst a couple of slices of bread once in a while is not so bad, it is best to stay clear of bread if possible. What’s worse, is that most people eat bread with butter, which in itself is a disaster for fattening and ageing. You are better advised to eat plenty of salad and vegetables, restricted size of brown rice, restricted quantities of apples(apples are good, but beware of the sugar content!) oranges, fish, roast chicken without the skin etc, and drink plenty of water daily.
Many people are under the illusion that exercising makes them get away with the negative consequences of unhealthy eating. This is a serious level of ignorance a lot of people suffer from. Exercising and bad eating is a bad mix, because whilst you may be fitter than you would without exercise, you are negating a lot of the benefits of exercise with bad feeding. You will be better off mixing exercise with unhealthy eating than without exercise at all. However, be assured that the damage done to your skin will not disappear just because you are exercising. All that will happen is that the damage done to your skin and your mind will be slower than in the absence of exercise, but it will still be there.