Bread Guide: Whole-Grain Benefits & Healthy Flour Tips

Bread can be a healthy complex carb if you choose whole-grain over white varieties. From the benefits of banana bread to baking with coconut and rice flour, learn which ingredients to avoid for optimal wellness.

French baguettes

How to Soften a Stale Baguette

A crusty baguette tastes best when eaten within a few hours of baking and goes stale quite quickly due to its small size. In addition to a lack of flavor, stale baguettes becomes rock hard and difficult to chew due to a process called retrogradation.

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Ciabatta bread sliced

Indigestion From Yeast Bread

Indigestion can include feelings of bloating, gas, nausea, heartburn and other gastric distress after eating certain foods.

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Close up of meat, tomatoes and cheese wrapped in lettuce

What Is a Good Substitute for Bread on a Diet?

The average American eats about 53 pounds of bread annually, according to Southern Utah University, and many supermarkets offer 50 or more types for purchase. At the same time, bread is one of the fastest-digesting – or highest glycemic – foods, which means you’ll be hungry again soon after eating.

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Put flour of glass bowl through a sieve

What Is the pH Level of Flour?

Though most flour comes from milled wheat grains, flour also refers to ground powder from rye, barley, rice, nuts, pulses or even root vegetables. For that reason, and because of different additives, flour pH levels vary. The pH value of a substance refers to its level of alkalinity or acidity.

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Variety of Breads

Disadvantages of Whole Wheat

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that you get at least half your daily servings of grain from whole grains, of which whole wheat is one of the most common.

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Bowl of Wheat Flour

Is Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour Good for You?

Traditional flour for baking and thickening comes from wheat, but the wheat typically has undergone processing that strips it of its bran and germ. That means it’s no longer considered a whole grain and offers fewer nutritional benefits.

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Bagels Versus Bread

Bagels made their entrance in New York in the 1880s, when a flood of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe streamed into the country. In the 1960s, they started to be produced in large quantities for sale. The bread slicer was invented in the 1920s, and sliced bread has been a household staple ever since.

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Wholemeal wheat spelt bread on wooden table

Brown Bread Diet

Brown whole grain bread is a nutritious staple in any diet because of the health benefits it has. According to the American Council on Exercise, whole grain breads contain a variety of vitamins and minerals essential for proper body function and healthy weight maintenance. Brown breads should be labeled "whole grain"

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farmhouse bread

Does Bread Make Your Butt Bigger?

Weight gain can be caused by many things, such as a sedentary lifestyle, a rich diet or other factors such as genetics or health conditions. If bread is partly to blame for your weight gain, it is most likely the amount of bread you consume and the type of breads you choose to eat that is causing the problem.

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Salmon scrambled eggs and avocado toast

What if You Eat Too Much Wheat Bread?

Because a healthy diet is about balance, too much wheat bread is not a good thing. To get the most from your wheat bread, eat the recommended portions and choose whole-grain products made from the entire grain kernel over products that say "enriched," which generally means refined. The U.S.

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beef goulash with carrots and roasted potatoes

How to Thicken Stew With Flour

Stews are a heartier and more substantial meal than a soup, and often require the use of a thickening agent to attain their traditional, savory base. When preparing stew, you can control the texture and viscosity of the liquid by using a mixture of flour and water or stock.

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top view of grain bread loaf

Is It Bad to Eat Wheat Bread After a Workout?

The basis of strength training is to break down your muscle fibers during a workout and then allow your body to naturally heal them stronger than they were before, thus preventing further damage. One of the most important parts of recovery is your diet.

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Sourdough bread

Sourdough Bread & Blood Sugar

Sourdough bread provides a number of important nutrients and can fit into a healthy and balanced diet. While its high carbohydrate content can cause blood sugar levels to rise, it shouldn't cause blood sugar spikes and crashes.

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Wholemeal pastries

Healthy Bread Flour

There are many alternatives to traditional white flour for bread making. Although white flour has the highest gluten content, it is not as healthy or nutritious as other potential bread flours. Baking methods will vary with different bread flours, so experiment with substituting other flours for white flour in breads.

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Why Are Rye & Pumpernickel Breads Better for You?

Rye is a cereal grain similar to wheat but with a slightly different taste and texture. Like wheat, rye kernels are ground into flour for use in baking. Traditional rye and pumpernickel breads contain rye flour of varying types and amounts.

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How to Cook Whole Foods Pizza Dough

Whole Foods Market's mission is offering consumers healthy natural and organic foods, and their frozen pizza dough fits well with that goal. Whole Foods Market frozen pizza dough contains just a handful of ingredients, including organic flour, and is available in a whole-wheat variety.

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Bowl with rice jasmine

How to Substitute Rice Flour for All-Purpose Flour in Cookies

Flour made from brown or white rice is a suitable alternative that may replace wheat flour cup for cup in your favorite cookie recipes. White rice flour is a good choice for most cookies; choose brown rice flour for cookies containing fruit or bold spices.

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Man's hand picking a banana from a bunch of bananas

Nutrition in Plantain Flour

A plantain is a fruit similar to the banana, but it is traditionally consumed cooked, rather than raw. Plantains are grown in tropical regions and come in a variety of colors, including green, yellow and black.

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close-up of a loaf of freshly baked bread

How to Bake Breads in Convection Ovens

Convection cooking works by continually blowing hot air on the cooking food. In addition to cooking food more quickly, a convection oven can help you achieve an evenly baked loaf of bread that's perfectly browned on the outside and moist on the inside.

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