Whole Wheat bread is a fast release carb source

Adventure9
Adventure9 Posts: 58 Member
in Food and Nutrition
For me anyways. I occasionally measure my blood sugar with a blood sugar monitor after eating certain foods to see the blood sugar effects. Bread labeled as "Whole Wheat" will spike my blood sugar to the same levels as eating a candy bar like a snickers.
Whole Wheat bread is often touted as a slow release carb source, but I find this to not be the case. Anyone else?

Oatmeal, as one other grain example, doesn't do this by the way. According to my blood sugar tests, it seems to be a slow release carb source.

Replies

  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    whole wheat bread is almost no different than white on the glycemic index.

    you are not weird in your response here as whole wheat is like 75-80% the same as the processed stuff.
  • amyrob56
    amyrob56 Posts: 27
    You may be interested in the conversation going on in the wheat belly topic board. Spirited discussion.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    Your experience is consistent with the glycemic index data. I don't know why whole grain flour and fiber are touted as slowing the increase in blood sugar. Whole wheat, as in entire wheat kernels, have a lower glycemic index than flour. Maybe oats work the same way, since oatmeal is pretty much a crushed or coarsely ground grain, not a flour.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Even 100% whole wheat bread rarely contains more than 3g fiber per slice. That little is not going to slow release much. You can buy wholemeal breads wtih added fiber, but still it's rarely more than 5g fiber per slice.

    If you need to limit BG spikes a low carb wrap would be a better idea for sandwiches.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    Thank God for insulin, eh?
  • timbrom
    timbrom Posts: 303 Member
    I'd imagine this would also depend somewhat on the brand of bread. Some "whole grain" brands actually still use quite a bit of grain that is more heavily processed, and thus is able to be digested more quickly.

    Not that it really matters at all, a carb is a carb unless your insulin response is screwed up.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    Me too. Which confounds the hell outta me since doctors still advocate healthy whole grains for diabetics.
    I can't tolerate more than 10 g of carb at a time so that rules out most breads, including Ezekial. Though oatmeal raises me to the same degree as well. ::shrug:::

    Sometimes it bees like that :tongue:
  • BluejayNY
    BluejayNY Posts: 301 Member
    Is it whole wheat or whole GRAIN wheat? Lots of packaging put whole wheat and its essentially white bread. Some even add food colorings.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    You may be interested in the conversation going on in the wheat belly topic board. Spirited discussion.

    Is the Wheat Belly topic board filled with as much nonsense and made up stuff as the book?
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    Is it whole wheat or whole GRAIN wheat? Lots of packaging put whole wheat and its essentially white bread. Some even add food colorings.

    For me, it didn't matter whether it was whole wheat or whole grain, still produced a crazy spike that took a long time to recover from.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    I'd imagine this would also depend somewhat on the brand of bread. Some "whole grain" brands actually still use quite a bit of grain that is more heavily processed, and thus is able to be digested more quickly.

    Not that it really matters at all, a carb is a carb unless your insulin response is screwed up.

    'yes, carb is a carb' has been my experience....yes, insulin response is screwed up :blushing: the volume is what I react to rather than the type.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    Me too. Which confounds the hell outta me since doctors still advocate healthy whole grains for diabetics.
    I can't tolerate more than 10 g of carb at a time so that rules out most breads, including Ezekial. Though oatmeal raises me to the same degree as well. ::shrug:::

    Sometimes it bees like that :tongue:

    People are different, which is why you're smart to take your blood sugar reading and see what works for you. There are also at least 3 distinct kinds of oatmeal, i.e. rolled oats, instant oats, and steel cut oats. Instant oatmeal has a much higher GI than rolled oats or steel cut oats.
  • Adventure9
    Adventure9 Posts: 58 Member
    [/quote]

    Quote: "People are different, which is why you're smart to take your blood sugar reading and see what works for you. There are also at least 3 distinct kinds of oatmeal, i.e. rolled oats, instant oats, and steel cut oats. Instant oatmeal has a much higher GI than rolled oats or steel cut oats."
    [/quote]

    I figured this out because a cardiologist challenged me on it. I argued with him about whole wheat bread. I thought it was a slow release carb source. He said why don't you just measure your blood sugar at intervals after meals and see what different foods and combinations do to your blood sugar. Took his challenge, saw the truth and the debate was over.

    It is interesting that a majority of the articles and suggestions written on diet, say that Whole Wheat bread is a slow release carb source. I've tried several and they are all generally the same - blood sugar spike. Ezekial bread was the only one that was a little better - like 10 points. But, still a little high.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    This has been my experience as well.
    I have a different reaction to things like ezekiel sprouted grains.

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