Well-bred bread

Is bread really bad for you?

Since Henry VIII indulged his penchant for oysters and suffered the most appalling gout as a consequence, food fads have always been a talking point.

And in this age of fibre-optic, super-fast communication, debates rage around the world about straight bananas, square tomatoes, five-a-day, carbs, gluten-free, dairy-free – and bread.

There are few aromas more alluring than the smell of freshly baked bread. Who hasn’t had a spontaneous belly rumble when walking past a bakery? Or childhood memories of Granny baking summoned by the scent? But is this very basic, compulsive wish for wheat good for us?

Somehow, deep down, we all believe the old adage ‘you are what you eat’. And we’re obsessed with how we look.

If you’ve never taken a slice of cheap, mass-produced, highly refined white – and therefore bleached – sliced bread (which secretly we all love toasted with butter) and scrunched it up in your fist, do it now. Its production process means it’s so full of air it reduces to a lump smaller than a ten pence piece.

If you step outside the UK, your loaf of bread may be filled with various chemicals used to bleach flour including: Benzoyl peroxide, Calcium peroxide, Chlorine, Chlorine dioxide gas, Azodicarbonamide, Potassium bromate, Calcium bromate and Nitrogen dioxide (to name a few). That the packaging of this kind of bread often boasts added B vitamins, thiamin and niacin – all of which occur naturally in wheat – begs the question ‘What on earth did manufacturers do to the wheat to make adding these ingredients necessary?’

According to the The George Mateljan Foundation, a not-for-profit wholefood organisation, “The health benefits of wheat depend entirely on the form in which you eat it. These benefits will be few if you select wheat that has been processed into 60% extraction, bleached white flour. 60% extraction – the standard for most wheat products in the United States, including breads, noodles and pastas, baked goods like rolls or biscuits, and cookies – means that 40% of the original wheat grain was removed, and only 60% is left. Unfortunately, the 40% that gets removed includes the bran and the germ of the wheat grain – its most nutrient-rich parts. In the process of making 60% extraction flour, over half of the vitamin B1, B2, B3, E, folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, iron, and fibre are lost.”

And so, from the ridiculous to the sublime… Artisan breads. Another food fad and of course Jamie Oliver can always be relied upon to engage in the food debate.

On his website he ran an article written by the Flour Station, a business that began in his award-winning Fifteen restaurant, and is dedicated to promoting handmade artisan breads.

“At The Flour Station we use the word ‘artisan’ to sum up just how much attention we give our products; the long, traditional processes we use and the way we closely monitor every single handmade loaf, like protective parents, to make sure it comes out beautifully. In short, it’s very well-bred bread.”

The writer went on to say: “Artisan bread is actually easier to digest, because the enzymes have had time to begin breaking down the gluten in the flour while fermenting.”

So maybe it’s the quickly made, mass produced bread that’s actually triggering gluten allergies?

This conversation will no doubt continue for many years to come, because bread, in all its various forms, is the most widely consumed food in the world – and has been for 30,000 years.

If you’re avoiding carbs to help with weight loss or are gluten intolerant we genuinely feel for you, and hope you find satisfying alternatives.

If you’re not, Northamptonshire has an abandunce of bakeries - we’ve even picked out where to find the best loaves.

Magee St Bakery, Northampton

Incredible Bakery Company, Kettering

The Good Loaf, Northampton

Caked In Bread, Brackley