Help Yourself to Health BREAD

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 257, 10 November 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

Help Yourself to Health BREAD

INCE New Zealand leads the world in the consumption of starch per capita, and most of this consists of breadstuffs in various forms, it is necessary that we devote special attention to this article of food. There are many varieties of bread: white, brown, wholemeal, diabetic starch-reduced, and fancy lines using a number of ingredients, and labelled “Health Foods.” Originally a mixture of wheaten flour, water and salt, bread has now come to mean almost anything; and judging by the claims made for some of the fancy loaA r es sold, will do almost anything, from supplying the body with all the necessary vitamins and minerals, etc., to fattening the too thin, and thinning the too fat! However, it is with the more commonly used bread that we are most concerned, since only “health cranks” can be gulled into using these other varieties. The first question, of course, is white or brown, or, to be exact, white or whole-meal, since brown bread can, and usually does, mean ordinary white bread coloured, with the addition, perhaps, of bran and brown sugar. Amazingly enough, there are still a few die-hards extolling the virtues of refined flour for bread making, but these are mostly doctors with little knowledge of nutrition, or those paid to do so by vested interests. In the light of vast knowledge garnered on the subject, the necessity for whole-meal bread is irrefutable. An interesting experiment which brings this fact home was conducted with laboratory stock rats. One group was given water only, while the other had water, white bread and sugar. Now, it would be supposed that the fasting rats would die first, yet the ones given the devitalised food succumbed far quicker, the

By PENROD TERRY, D.D.L., Dietitian.

reason being they were poisoned, since the mineral and vitaminfree diet resulted in acidosis, toxemia and eventually death. One argument against wholemeal bread is that it is indigestible, but this is so only for very weak, nervous people, who probably eat it fresh too much, combine it wrongly, or neglect to chew it well. Already starved of essentials, many of which the whole grain could supply so effectively, they shun it altogether, thus shutting the door on their opportunity to attain better health conditions; I have had patients voice this complaint to me, and yet in a few days’ time worked them on to whole-meal bread, and had them later avow they would never go back to the white variety, “it was so tasteless.” It is all a matter of habit. American clinics have demonstrated that dental decay can be made to appear by the use of white bread, and here is a signifi- ~ cant fact from Switzo&lawiiU- In two neighbouring villages of the canton Wallis—Ayer and Vissoie—the population lived under similar conditions, except that in Ayer only very hard wholemeal bread, such as had been eaten for generations, was used, while in Vissoie, new wheaten bread, baked by the baker and made fresh every day, was to be had. The result was that in Vissoie, among 36 children examined, only four had quite sound teeth, and most of them had from four to seven decayed teeth. In Ayer the reverse was true, as among the whole child population only three unhealthy teeth were found, and these had very small holes only. It will be seen, therefore, that there is whole-meal and wholemeal, the health-promoting characteristic of which varies greatly with the method of preparation and eating. The hard, coarse bread had a beneficial effect, while

that supplied by the baker was actually harmful. It is difficult nowadays to buy a genuine, wholesome loaf of bread, as many, factors enter into its production, all of which must be dealt with so that we can understand the pitfalls that await those who, contrary to Scriptural teaching, try to live by “bread alone,” and thus leave themselves liable to suffer from the various frauds and malpractices that are extant in the bread industry today. The worst of these is that wheatmeal flour is not always made from entire wheat; it is usually a mixture of white flour, bran and sharps, everything found in the original wheatberry, except, and this is a very big except, the wheat germ, which is removed to allow of storing, as once wheat is ground the germ causes the flour to deteriorate. Now, the germ, though it comprises only about 1£ p.c. of the total berry, is most important —it is the life-force of the grain, and is capable of supplying those eating it with considerable vitality. Analysis shows it to be rich in' aromatic oils, vitamins and salts, these latter being in a concentration of 7 p.c. whereas whole wheat has from 1 to l-§ p.c. Practically all the vitamin B 1 and all the vitamin E are contained in the germ, and it is of these that it is difficult to obtain enough in a normal dietary. Lecithin, an important brain and nerve food, is also present in goodly quantities, while protein, of a second class variety, though a good one for maintenance purposes, is there up to 36 per cent. A veritable storehouse of building materials! and yet it is casually discarded by these milling companies, and with it is discarded a large measure of our health. Sb much for materials; but another vital factor must be considered. Fresh wholemeal (if you are lucky enough to get it) must be used practically straight away. It has been observed that all virile, strong races, using wheat in their dietary, use it either whole, soaked and boiled, or sprouted, or, if they do grind it, use it straight away, grinding enough each day for immediate purposes. There is a strong argument for this. Once the wheatberry is crushed, its vitamin E content steadily dissipates, until after even only ten days 90 p.c. is lost. So you see that bread made even from genuine wholemeal may not necessarily be all it should. The third source of possible trouble comes from the use of improvers. Legislation forbids the use of those known specifically to be 'harmful, but loopholes are found by unscrupulous firms, and it is very probable that in many loaves sold in New Zealand to-day substances very deleterious to health, if ingested over a period, can be found. It is now recognised that soil health has a very potent effect on the well-being of humanity, since basically man lives on plants, either directly or indirectly by the use of animal foods. Now a very important element we must have day by day is vitamin B and its. complexes, and this can be obtained only in sufficient quantities from wheat products. If the wheat is grown on poor soil, forced along with artificial fertilisers, superphosphate particularly being found nocuous, we find this vitamin group singularly weakened in potency, so yet another influence attributes to a lessening of the health value of bread as it is to-day. Once the staff of life, it now becomes more in the nature of a broken reed, if we are to depend upon it in too great a degree. Until such time as a really vital loaf is made, then do not use bread as the mainstay in your diet.