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I just don't get sliced white bread. or why some people - even those with their own teeth - say they can't eat anything else. In my book, a sandwich or a slice of toast made with white bread is a lost opportunity to eat some decent fibre and nutrients, not to mention sink your teeth into a slice of something dense and chewy - preferably with some seeds thrown in as well. Still, as the price of bread rises, the white stuff is looking incredibly cheap - a loaf of Home Brand white sliced costs $1.09, a fraction of the price of a loaf from the Burgen range ($4.95) or the $6.50 I paid for a small loaf of Sonoma whole grain sourdough rye with a thick layer of sunflower seeds on top. It was almost as heavy as a brick which meant that it passed my test for choosing a healthier bread - in my experience, the heavier the bread, the better it's likely to be.
Is it worth paying the extra money? Definitely - not only because better breads taste better, but because you eat less of them, says Judy Davie, one of the authors of Star Foods, a new nutrition guide from ABC Books which explains how to choose the best performing foods from each food group.
When it comes to bread, Davie, and co-author, nutritionist Dr Joanna Mcmillan Price, have given five star ratings to pumpernickel, sourdough breads made with whole grain or rye and the heavier wholegrain breads made from wholewheat flour and added grain. Wholemeal, however, doesn't rate so highly - neither does multigrain bread, which Davie and McMillan Price say is made with white flour with a few grains added.
What's wrong with wholemeal? Strictly speaking, a bread made with wholemeal flour can be labelled whole grain because it does contain the whole grain - ie the wheat's bran and germ, the nutritious bits that are removed to make white flour - in the same proportion as found in whole grain bread. But because the fibre in wholemeal flour is ground so finely, it has a higher Glycemic Index than denser whole grain breads.
"Wholemeal bread might have more fibre than 100% white flour and more nutrients but, like white flour, it has a high GI and doesn't keep you feeling full for very long," says Davie. "Any bread made with wholewheat flour is more nutritious than white as it's the outer husk surrounding the wheat - stripped away to make white flour - that contains the majority of nutrients." This makes it nutritionally better than white bread, but not as a nutritious as a good whole grain bread - one that's brown in colour, heavy in weight and with the most visible grain kernels, say Davie and McMillan Price.
What's so good about pumpernickel, according to Star Foods , is that it's made from whole grain rye, is very high in fibre, and packed with nutrients including B vitamins and iron, is low GI - and again, hard to overeat, says Judy Davie.
Wholegrain sourdough and rye sourdough get a five star rating for combining both the nutrients and fibre from a whole grain with the GI lowering benefit that comes with making bread with an acidic sourdough starter (made from fermenting flour and water) rather than yeast.
My pick of the best breads? If I'm supermarket shopping it's Burgen rye or soy and linseed, but if I'm at the deli or health food shop or market I'll get breads from smaller bakeries like Common Ground, Sonoma, Bowen Island or La Tartine. I also love Pure Life's Sprouted Essene bread - a very moist heavy bread made with sprouted wheat or rye that's almost like cake. Lower in salt, but higher in protein than most breads, a single slice keeps you going for hours.
我不吃白面包。为何一些人（甚至那些还有牙的人）说他们除此之外不能吃别的东西呢？我认为，带有白面包片的三明治或吐司丧失了摄取优质纤维和营养素的机会，更不必说猛吃一片什么又稠又粘的东西了——它或许也添加了一些果仁。因为面包价格上涨了，白面包片看起来难以置信的便宜—— 一块小品牌的白面包花费$1.09美元，是Burgen系列面包价格($4.95)或者一块面上有一层厚厚瓜籽的Sonoma全麦面包价格($6.50)的一小部分。几乎和砖头一样重，这意味着它通过了我挑选健康面包的测试。以我的经验，面包越重，可能越好。
健康面包值得多付钱吗？当然。不仅因为优质面包味道更好，而且你吃的会少很多，Judy Davie说，《星级食物》的作家之一，ABC丛书的一个新营养指导解释了如何从各类食物中选择最好的。
当谈到面包时，Davie和另一名合著者，Joanna Mcmillan Price博士，已给予黑面包，全谷物或黑麦发酵面包，以及全麦粉加谷物制成的较重的全麦面包五星级别，全麦面粉却没有得到如此高的级别——杂粮面包也没有，Davie和Mcmillan Price说，杂粮面包是用白面加谷物做成的。
全麦面粉有什么问题吗？严格来讲，以全麦粉制成的面包应该标有全谷物标志，因为它确实含有全谷颗粒，即麦麸和微生物——被除去以制造白面的营养成分与全谷物面包中的比例一样。但是因为全麦粉纤维被碾磨的很细微，它的Glycemic指数比全麦面包含更高。
“全麦面包或许比纯白面粉含有更多纤维和营养素，但是，和白面粉一样，它有高glycemic指数，会使你在短时间内感觉饥饿”Davie说道。“任何用全麦面粉做成的面包都比白面包更加营养，因为全麦是麦子被脱掉用以制造白面的外壳——它含有麦子的大部分营养。”这使得全麦在营养上优于白面包，但是不像优质全谷物面包那么有营养。全谷物面包的色泽为棕色，重量较大，并带有看的到的果仁，Davie和Mcmillan Price说道。
黑面包有什么好处呢？按照星级食物标准，黑面包是用全黑麦做成的，富含纤维，以及各类包括维生素B和铁在内的营养元素，同时，低glycemic指数，并且不容易过量食用，Judy Davie说道。
全谷物发酵面包和黑麦发酵面包得到了五星级别，因为它们融合了全谷物的营养和纤维，又因为使用酸性面起子（酵素和水制成）而非酵母，带有低GI的好处。
我如何选择最好的面包？如果我在超市购物，会选择Burgen的黑麦或亚麻面包。但是，如果我在熟食店，健康食品店或市场，我会从小型烘焙房例如：Common Ground, Sonoma, Bowen Island 或者 La Tartine购买。我也喜欢纯生品牌的麦芽面包——一种很湿很重的面包，用麦芽或黑麦制成，几乎像蛋糕。低盐，但是比大部分面包都含有更高的蛋白，一片能维持你几个小时。
