High fibre, low GI bread

Has there been any study of Bakers Delight highfibre/low GI bread? It is a ‘despised’ white bread which children love but woke parents disapprove of. What is ‘harmful’ about this bread?

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This is the bread along with its nutritional information…

https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/products/hi-fibre-lo-gi-white-block-loaf/

Some comments…salt/sodium is elevated (generally >400mg is considered a high sodium food), but not dissimilar to many other breads. If based on white flour (with fibre added), the nutritional benefits of not being made with wholegrains will be lower. Is lower nutritional content an issue…depends on what one consumes in the rest of their diet.

Having a higher fibre content than standard white bread and similar to wholemeal bread is better (than eating standard white bread) as many Australians don’t eat their recommended daily fibre intake. Higher fibre content diets are known to be beneficial to the gut and also one’s long term health. So, while it might not be wholemeal/whole grain bread, there are benefits to eating it over the standard plain (highly processed) white bread.

If children will only eat white bread (which they may have learnt from their parents or regularly provided by their parents), it is a possibly a better option than eating standard white bread as it has ‘hidden’ fibre children would otherwise miss out on, especially if their diet is already low in fibre.

It is also worth noting that there are a number of highfibre/low GI breads available from a number of different bakeries/supermarkets. It is likely due to the limited number of commercial mills in Australia, the base for the breads will be the same. Individual bakers may change the base mix slightly to try and make the bread ‘unique’ to their particular outlet.

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Hi there and welcome.

Do you mean the Bakers Delight specifically or white bread in general?

Assuming you mean white bread in general, it is not a specially bad product in itself but you may well do better. Whether a particular food is harmful depends on the individual and the quantity consumed.

White bread is not the best if you suffer from problems that it will exacerbate and if you eat a lot of it or if by eating it your don’t eat a better food. So if you have a low fibre diet generally it is advisable to increase the fibre for the benefit of your gut. Eating higher fibre bread will assist. There may be differences between wholemeal and fullgrain breads and fibre added bread. Likewise if you are diabetic eating high GI starches will elevate your blood sugar faster than low GI and this may cause harm.

Not that the colour itself is not the issue, there have been ‘brown’ breads produced that are just refined white bread with brown colour which does nothing for you. The aim is to have a less refined bread that has more of the total grain included.

Put it another way, if you already have a good balanced diet eating white bread is not a death sentence but if you do eat more unrefined grains in comparison to highly refined ones it is easier to have a balanced diet.

I have never tried fibre-reinforced white bread as I make my own and I prefer the textures and flavours of many different grains.

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I buy the Coles white high fibre low GI bread (they have two kinds, one seems to be bulk made someplace else and one seems to be made on the premises… the bulk made one is clearly of lesser quality). I don’t eat bread daily so its stored in the freezer, it takes me a couple of weeks to get through it all.

The problem for me is that I don’t like grainy bread, and I love dense white… and I haven’t found a decent wholemeal since leaving Leichhardt in 1987… there was a baker in the Marion St shopping centre that made the best ever.

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Where does the despised bit come from? The woke folks need to woke up and let people work out their own nutritional needs. I know many people and children who love this bread and for many it’s a better alternative than not eating at all.

|All bread is a carbohydrate ( which the body converts to sugars ) so for people watching their weight & diabetics should be very little in the weekly diet
|“Sandwich Thins” are an OK alternative for people that love their toast/sandwiches ?
Eat whatever bread you love but make it a Special Occasion ! Yvonne

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There are very low carb breads now available. 5 grams to 7 grams per serve (2 slices)

Sodium intake per day should be between 2,300 mg and 1,500 mg. 320 mg per serve is considered too high. Too little sodium is just as bad as too much sodium. 1,500 mg or below that per day is recommended for those with kidney disease, hypertension and/or diabetes.

On my diet the addition of 1 or 2 slices of this bread in a day does not raise my BSL in any meaningful way (0.5 to 1 g per day sugar and 7.2 to 14.4 g carbs), it is reasonable in sodium intake as I don’t eat more than the 2 slices in any day (I don’t eat it every day), it is low total carbohydrate compared to many other foods so stands as a option to be included for dietary variety as an occasional choice. It also benefits from a reasonably high percentage of protein (around 20 g per 100 g) to make a person feel fuller for longer.

100 g (about a cup) of fresh green beans contains 3.3 g of sugar (more than double the amount per 100 g in the bread) out of a total of 7 g of carbohydrates as a comparison to the two slices of the particular bread I showed, this amount of green beans has an energy rating of 31 kcal (what are termed calories in diets) which is roughly equal to 129 kilojoules. Nil sodium though.

Sandwich thins have around 15.8 g carbohydrate per 40 g serve (low carb bread is 4.4 g per 40g), 1.2 grams of that 15.8 g is sugar, it has 139 mg of sodium (the low carb bread is 143 mg/40g), thins supply 412 kilojoules energy (low carb bread is 404 kj/40g) , thins have 3.1 g of fibre compared to the 7.0 g in the bread I noted (low carb is 4.3 g/40g), and thins have a protein amount of roughly 10 g per 100 g (per serve 3.9 g compared to 13 g in the low carb bread per serve). Thins certainly have a low fat content (around 3 times less than the low carb bread per 100 g), the low carb bread is however lower in total energy per 100 g than even this low fat bread.

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HI Grahroll
Yes true but notice there is sugar a content add to that + high salt(Sodium) to enhance taste ! There HAS NEVER been an allowance for high salt in our diet !
Yvonne

Often bread has a little sugar added to feed the yeast if not for flavour. Also the sugar in it may not be added as such as yeast breaks down starch into sugar as part of its normal metabolism. I am not suggesting high sugar bread is good but no sugar bread is hard to find. This example has 1.5% how much do you consider acceptable? What bread do you eat and what is its sugar content?

I am not sure what you mean by that. Could you explain a bit what you mean by “allowance for high salt”.

For those looking for resources, and one many may already be aware of,

The Foundation is a Not for Profit. It offers a wide range of advice including product guidance. This extends to brand products and dietary advice. These include a number of recommended high fibre low GI breads and wraps. There are a surprising number of products to choose from.

One sample of a high fibre, low GI grainy bread product that had the seal of approval. Other brand products with similar claims have their nutrition panels included in the Foundations web listings for those seeking comparison information in one convenient resource.


Note the RDI is included in this table if one is concerned about salt intake.
A Woolies bakery product if that is of interest.