This project, aimed at white bread lovers, has been funded by the UK government to improve the health benefits of the food.
The researchers plan add small amounts of peas, beans and cereals to the bread mixtureas well as bran and wheat germ that are normally removed from white flour.
For years, manufacturers have tried to make your healthiest white breads adding bran to their flour, but the resulting flavor and texture were not well received.
Dr Catherine Howarth from Aberystwyth University, who is leading this project which is still in its early stages, said scientists had begun to analyze the detailed chemical composition of existing white flour.
He added that increase its nutritional values to the levels of whole wheat bread and at the same time maintain the flavor and texture of white bread was a delicate balancing act.
It involves adding back smaller amounts of wheat germ and part of the bran that is removed in the grinding process, he explained, in addition to adding other grains richer in vitamins, minerals and fiber such as quinoa, the sorghum and the millet.
Peas and chickpeas would provide extra protein.
“We want to know exactly what vitamins and minerals are lost during the milling process,” Howarth said.
“Using other cereals we can improve levels of iron, zinc and vitamins and, most importantly, the fiber content, because white bread has very little fiber, which is very important for good health.”
Once Howarth has come up with some possible recipes, Chris Holister, product development manager at flour producer Shipton Mill, will turn them into bread.
“Most people know that whole wheat bread is better for your health, but many are put off by the taste or are not used to it and are simply not interested,” he said of the challenge.
Crisper
The final stage will be give the new bread to people to try to see if they can tell it apart of slices of white bread from supermarkets.
Holister used me as a guinea pig for an early prototype made from a mixture of plain white flour and some added grains and peas.
It was crunchier than the white breads you buy in the supermarket, but otherwise it looked and tasted like white bread. But there is much work to do.
It is expected that the product can be on supermarket shelves in about two years.
The research team believes their approach will be successful because they are adding only the inner layer of the bran, which has less flavor and color. They say they will need to add less because they are using other highly nutritious but less strong-flavored grains.
White bread must have minerals and vitamins added by law to compensate for what is lost in the refining process. But Dr Amanda Lloyd, who works with Howarth and Holister, believes using natural ingredients would make sliced white bread even healthier.
“If the nutritional quality of standard bread is improved, then people’s quality of life, health and well-being will improve,” Lloyd said.
What do nutritionists say?
Tim Lang, a professor of food policy at City University, independent of the research team, said the work could be an important step forward to improve health of the population.
“British people have had a love affair with white bread for more than a century and nutritionists have longed for more people to eat the whole grain,” he said.
“The new research “It seems like a really interesting approach to achieve both at the same time,” he added.
Lang believes it’s still too early to know if this new approach will work.
“Critics will say that people are being tricked into improving their diet, but nutritionists will surely respond that It doesn’t matter how it’s done: the important thing is that people improve their health!” he concluded.
Differences between white bread and whole wheat bread
Whole wheat bread is made with unrefined flourthat is, made from the whole wheat grain, including the wheat germ, bran and endosperm.
He saved It is the external part, it contains antioxidants and minerals and is rich in fiber; he germ It also has numerous nutrients, lipids and group B vitamins; he endospermthe largest part of the grain, has carbohydrates and proteins.
There are whole wheat breads that are made 100% with this type of flour and others that contain a mixture of both.
On the other hand, white bread is made with refined flour, made with only the endosperm of wheat. Precisely, the whitish color is achieved after eliminating the bran and almost all of the wheat germ.
Although both breads can provide a very similar number of calories, In the case of white bread the contribution will be mainly carbohydrates, while whole wheat bread has many more nutrientsfiber and more vitamins and minerals.
The other difference is that whole wheat breads, having more fiber, are digested more slowly than white breads.
This also means that white bread tends to have a glycemic index (which measures how quickly a food can raise your blood sugar -glucose- level) higher than whole-grain breads.
According to the British Diabetic Association, risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes may be up to 30% lower in people who eat whole grains regularly and the risk of bowel cancer may also be reduced.
The ABD says surveys show that 95% of adults do not eat enough whole grains and almost one in three of us don’t eat any at all.
According to Chris Holister, it wasn’t always like this.
“Before white bread it was for the upper class because it was a refined product and much more expensive than whole wheat bread. “That led to everyone else wanting white bread because it made them look better,” he said.
“Then there were people who returned to whole wheat bread when there was research that showed that it is more nutritious.”
But Chris remembers that Many people are used to eating sliced white bread.
“White bread is much cheaper than whole wheat because companies are prepared to produce it. And it’s also what most people are used to.”
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