Is White Bread Bad for you?

A mom’s honest take on refined carbs

According to our household health expert, AKA my husband, Dinner Table Doctor, white bread is strictly reserved for treat day! Unfortunately, I like to celebrate treat day pretty often.

A real conversation at our family dinner table:

Mom, my lunch sandwich was soooo good today! I loved it! All my friends were like, “wow, you actually have white bread today!”

Meanwhile I’m across from her with a wide-eyed look of “please stop talking before your father hears this!“

The Problem with White Bread

If you’ve done any reading on nutrition lately, you’ve probably heard: white bread (and other refined carbs) aren’t doing us any favors. White carbs are made from refined grains, which means all the fiber and nutrients are stripped away. Basically, all the stuff that’s actually good for you is taken out in processing. What’s left is quickly converted to sugar in your body. According to DTD, this means you may as well eat a bowl of ice cream instead of that piece of pizza. (He says this while we’re eating our high-fiber, whole wheat pasta, just to really drive the point home.)

My complicated relationship with carbs

We very rarely have refined carbs in the house. The problem is that I didn’t grow up that way. In my Italian-American family pasta was served at least twice a week; bread was required for soaking up all the extra sauce; whole grain was not part of our vocabulary. Honestly I could eat pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and at one point I probably did.

How things changed

When my husband and I first married, he was fully on board with white carbs. It was not unusual for us to go to Cici’s all you can eat pizza buffet (no regrets!) I made pasta at least twice a week. He ate it with gusto! White bread was a staple.

Over time, after seeing patients deal with diabetes, weight gain and heart disease, his habits changed. Since I do most of the cooking, I had to be on board with this new lifestyle.

The Internal (daily) Debate

Even now, after we’ve been married for over 30 years, I justify carbs: Other people eat ice cream twice a week, but I don’t. Pasta is my version of dessert! Unfortunately, as I age, my waistline doesn’t seem to distinguish between pasta OR ice cream – it equally expands with both.

So…IS white bread bad for you?

The honest answer: white bread and other refined carbs are not poison, but they’re also not doing your body any favors. It is best to enjoy them occasionally, not daily. This is why in our house white bread is now a treat, and yes, that fact makes me a little sad.

A Better Compromise: Sourdough (and Sanity)

DTD makes amazing sourdough bread, which feels like a middle ground between health, happiness and not feeling deprived. But let’s be honest, sometimes you just want that soft, fluffy white bread. If you’re going to treat yourself, at least make it worth it by baking your own bread, which is a lot easier than you think and a lot healthier than the store-bought version.

Easy Homemade White Bread (because balance matters)

Here’s a simple recipe I love when I want a treat:

• Preheat oven to 425
• Add 2 T olive oil to a little more than a cup of super hot water
• Add milk until you have about 2 cups total of warm liquid
• In a separate large bowl, add 2.5 t of yeast
• Pour the warm mixture over the yeast and let sit for about 10 minutes
• Add 2 t salt to the mixture
• Using a dough hook, add 5 cups of flour to the bowl and mix until it’s a ball of dough
• Put the ball of dough in another bowl with about 1/2 T olive oil and roll it around, then cover it with a towel to let it rise (I put mine in the oven on the proof setting, but you could put it on a heating pad to speed up the process)
• After around 45 minutes of rising, shape it back into a ball and place in a Dutch oven, with some parchment paper under it
• Cut 3 slits in the top and cover
• Cook in the oven for about a half an hour or until nicely browned

Final Thoughts: Real Life and Healthy Eating

If there’s one thing I’ve learned living with a doctor, you can understand nutrition and agree with it and still miss white bread. And that’s okay. Once in a while, enjoy your homemade white bread with a nice bowl of pasta and a good chianti!

Related Posts:

• Limiting Sugar Intake: To Eat or Not to Eat the Cake
• Is Soda Bad for You?
• You’re Probably Not Eating Enough Fruits and Vegetables
• Stress Relievers to Improve Mental Health: Sourdough Bread