Episode 3: The Bread Edition: Wise choices for your Family's well-being

Episode 3: The Bread Edition: Wise choices for your Family's well-being

Welcome to another episode of the Easy Feed Podcast. Today, let’s talk about a much-loved food – bread! 🍞 You know, if I had to choose three things for a stranded island, bread and butter would be at the top of my list. I bet many of you can relate.

Join me on this journey down memory lane as I recall shopping with my Nonna and savouring a freshly baked brioche baguette I can still taste. Bread has such a special place in my heart, connecting me to cherished moments with my Nonna. So, let's chat about bread, making better choices for our families, and helping our kids find that balance between loving bread and nourishing their bodies.

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Links
https://nourishwithkarina.com/feedingbabies
https://nourishwithkarina.com/3-week-feeding-kids-reset

Highlights:

Introduction (00:00.718)
Bread and Family Favorites (00:28.654)
Bread and Nutrition: A Balance (02:50.51)
Whole Grain Nutrition Overview (05:13.902
Low Glycemic Index Bread and Whole Grain Products (07:37.71)
Traditional Sourdough and Wholemeal Bread(10:09.038)
Bread Consumption (12:27.822)
The Importance of Fresh Wholemeal Bread (14:45.006)
Iron Supplementation for Iron Deficient Children (17:09.39)
Iron Supplementation for Iron Deficient Children (19:34.382)
Choosing Fiber-Enriched White Processed Bread (21:54.734)
Understanding Bread Nutrition (24:10.19)

Show notes

READ TRANSCRIPT

Show Notes

In this episode, we'll cover:

- The Bread Variety Explosion: Have you noticed how many types of bread are on the shelves these days? From bakery bread to supermarket varieties, it's overwhelming. We'll break down the choices and find the best fit for your family.

- Whole Grains vs. Refined Bread: Discover why whole grain bread is a nutritional powerhouse, offering fibre and slow-release carbohydrates. It's a game-changer for your family's health.

- The Charm of Sourdough: Learn why sourdough is a top pick, naturally offering slower-release carbs and enhanced nutrient availability. We'll also explore how to spot an authentic sourdough.

- Wholemeal Bread Insights: Find out why wholemeal bread is high in fibre but releases sugar faster. Plus, we'll discuss the importance of choosing freshly baked over supermarket options.

- Cracking the Mystery of White Bread: Understand why white bread is high GI and what you can do to make it healthier. We'll discuss adding protein and fat to improve nutrition.

Remember, there's no judgement here. Whether your family loves whole grain or sticks to white bread, I’ll help you to make the best choices for your kids based on where your kids are at - without the guilt. So, if you want to become a bread expert and discover simple tweaks to your family's bread choices, tune in now!

And don't forget to subscribe for more episodes like this one. Thanks for listening, and I'll catch you in the next episode. Happy munching! 🥪

Gets your child to eat more nutritious foods and enjoy them! To learn more about my membership program, head over to : https://nourishwithkarina.com/nourishingkids

Gets your child eating more nutritious foods and enjoying them! Join the waitlist today : https://nourishwithkarina.com/membership

Introduction (00:00.718)
You're listening to the Easy Feed Podcast, episode number three.
Hi there, I'm Karina Savage and with over 20 years experience feeding children, including my own, I've learnt all the secrets that busy mums need to get their children eating better and actually enjoying healthy foods. So a huge welcome to the Easy Feed Podcast.
Bread and Family Favorites (00:28.654)
Welcome back everybody. Today is all about bread, bread, bread, bread. I tell you, if I was going to a stranded island tomorrow and I was told that I could only take three things, bread and butter would be at the top of my list. I don't meet too many people that don't like bread, including kids. So I thought it would be a great opportunity to chat about a much loved day product that we all enjoy.
so that we can make better choices for our families. I tell you, I can still vividly remember, I can almost taste it still, when I used to go shopping with my nonna in a big department store called David Jones, and I would have probably been 11 or 12, and we would have done some shopping in the center, and then we would go down the escalators down to the basement, where this amazing,
freshly baked bread in this bakery, we would go down there and as I said, I can almost still taste it, the freshly baked brioche baguette that I would have in my hands. I still remember the white paper bag and I think to be honest with you, I ate one myself. I probably smashed the whole thing because it was so delicious and I just remember holding this white paper bag and just...
munching into this delicious, fresh brioche because it was just so good. And I have such fond memories of that time with my nonna, simple things, but yeah, as I said, I could almost still taste that brioche because it was just so good. So bread is a very much loved food. And, you know, for me, it has really special connections to my nonna who's in our past, but I really look back on those times.
very fondly. Probably a good thing I was pretty sporty as well. But look, I still love bread. And I just think, you know, it needs to be able to fit in our life. We can't take bread away. I look, you know, genetically, some people prefer more bread. Some people maybe genetically don't do as well with as much bread or Carbohydrate in their life. But, you know, I think we need to make it fit if we possibly can and
Bread and Nutrition: A Balance (02:50.51)
and just make good choices for our bodies as much as possible, but we still need the enjoyment of bread, right? I think back then, bread was simpler. This was probably 30 years ago now that I'm talking about riding down the escalators after a shopping expedition with my nonna. But, you know, I feel like it's so much more complicated these days. I feel that there are about 10 times, if not 20 times,
as many breads on the shelves in front of us to choose from. Now we've got bakery bread, we've got a whole range of supermarket bread, just a gazillion varieties. And I was chatting about it on television this morning and I was asked whether bread is actually good for you. And my resounding answer was yes, but the whole grain, whole meal, whole grain option is the best, but...
It's not always what our children want to eat. And certainly mine don't eat whole grain either. I think I lost the whole grain battle. years ago, I used to get whole grain into my daughter when she was younger. But since she's realized she can have a voice and say, no, I now struggle with wholemeal. So, you know, I think it's about trying to find that middle ground with kids and trying to find that healthier option so that we can nourish their insides.
So I'll be the first to confess that we are not a hundred percent whole grain, you know, bread family. I wish my kids did eat it, but they don't. And that's where we're at. So it's about making the best choices that you can with what your children will eat. And of course, you know, we also have to try and give them a little nudge and have it there available and give them, give them a go. But at the same time, if they're not going to have it.
and we have to find the best option for where they're currently at, really to lower our expectations. So yes, I'm a big carb lover. My mom's side is from the north of Italy and I grew up loving pasta and bread and what I also really love about the Mediterranean style of cooking and eating is they use a lot of great extra virgin olive oil, which
Whole Grain Nutrition Overview (05:13.902)
The me I think is liquid gold. You know, I think it's so good for you. And they use this extra virgin olive oil to make their veggies taste good. And for this reason, I believe they and probably their children eat a whole lot more veggies and salads. They're really revered because they're so tasty and they, they place a big importance on their vegetables and making them taste good.
And I believe the extra virgin olive oil that they use with that plays a huge part of that or part in that. So anyway, I digress, digress, back to bread. We have a huge variety, which I'm going to pull apart today, but honestly, I could talk about my daughter and you know, what I've learned from her and cooking and the Mediterranean way of eating a whole lot more. So I apologize if I digress to that, but it's very close to my heart. So maybe I'll do a podcast on that later, but back to bread.
We have the gold medal winners, which are the whole grains. No surprises there. Whole grain brand contains the entire grain. So what this means it's the whole grain, the brand outer layer. Now in that brand outer layer, we have a lot of fibre. And as we know, as we will continue to discuss in this podcast, fibre is
like the fertiliser for our insides for our gut. It is so important to gut health. So the brain and outer layer of the whole grain actually contains the fibre and vitamins and minerals, really nutritious. Then we've got the middle layer of the whole grain of the grain of wheat, for example. And that middle layer consists mainly of starches, it's called the endosperm, and also has some vitamins and minerals in that middle starchy layer. And then the inside,
is the germ, for example, wheat germ, which is where the grain is sprouted from. And that germ is very rich in good fats, which is where, for example, you get wheat germ oil from and also other vitamins. So the whole grain offers the nutrition of the bran, endosperm and the germ. So you're getting a lot more nutrition there. And with whole grain comes what we call slow release carbohydrates.
Low Glycemic Index Bread and Whole Grain Products (07:37.71)
It's a low glycemic index bread. So that means that sugar is drip fed into your bloodstream. Sugar is released slowly into the bloodstream once you've eaten the bread. So you get a more sustained release of energy over the morning or once you've eaten it. So you're staying fuller for longer. And it's much better for our metabolic health to be having these low GI carbohydrates. So whole grains are good for two reasons. You get
the whole part of the grain, all the nutrition and the fiber nourishing your gut. And it's a slow release carbohydrate. So this is why whole grains or whole meal whole grain products. So by that, I mean it's like a whole meal base with the whole grains added or just white base with the whole grains added. But whole grains offer that elite level of nutrition for those reasons.
What we don't want to get when we eat bread is a real sugar rush. And that's what happens, and we will get to white bread later, but that's what happens when we move to a ultra -processed, refined bread. The sugar is rushed into our bloodstream. So then what happens is you get an insulin rush into the bloodstream, and that's not good for long -term metabolic health. Now, saldo.
is a great option as well because sourdough is naturally a slower release bread or carbohydrate. So it's a lower GI carbohydrate because of the way that it's made. The fermentation process means that it has a higher acidity level, which not only makes it a slower release carbohydrate, but it actually increases how available the nutrients are.
So again, the gold standard would be a whole grain sourdough. And look, there is a huge variation in the authenticity of sourdough and sometimes it is hard to know which is which. So traditional sourdough involves a much longer process. You use a traditional starter, which is a live fermented culture, compared to a commercial yeast, which this authentic
Traditional Sourdough and Wholemeal Bread (09:57.198)
traditional starter is fermented over a period of time and it results in an acidic and chewy bread. So if you see yeast in the ingredients list that's more like a commercial yeast, a commercial product. It's not as authentic, it's not as authentic as sourdough. The authentic sourdoughs will not use commercial yeast.
So with sourdough, I think in each category, whether it's a whole grain category or a wholemeal category or a white category, sourdough is a great option if your children will eat it. So if you're still in the white group, then go for a white sourdough. If you're in the wholemeal group, then go for a wholemeal sourdough. Or if you're in the grainy group, then a grainy sourdough is great, but then whole grains are great anyway. Okay, next up, wholemeal bread. Now, wholemeal bread is made using
the whole grains that have been ground up or milled into a flour. So essentially many of these nutrients are still present in the wholemeal flour, although some of them may have been destroyed during the milling process. Wholemeal bread is very high in fibre. In fact, sometimes wholemeal bread can actually be even higher than whole grain bread. But having said that,
the fibre is a little more fast released. Now it's not high high GI like or super fast release like white bread, but wholemeal bread's more middle of the range. It does release a bit more quickly compared to grainy bread because when you grind up the whole grains, you've effectively already started the digestion process for us. So you've ground up the whole grains. So that means the carbohydrate releases a little more quickly into the bloodstream.
So this means that wholemeal bread won't keep you or your children feeling full for as long compared to the whole grain bread options. Now in the wholemeal category, my pick would be either a sourdough wholemeal or if sourdough wholemeal is too chewy for your kids or it's not to your preference, a fresh wholemeal.
Bread Consumption (12:19.214)
versus one sitting in the supermarket shelves would be my choice. And the reason I would go for a freshly baked wholemeal is because some of the breads that you find in the supermarket will have more additives and preservatives in them so they last longer. My case in point, today, as I said, I was on TV doing a segment on breads and we were actually supposed to do this last Wednesday.
But in the nature of live television, we got bumped to this Wednesday. Totally fine. However, I had already bought all the brand last Tuesday. So what I'd bought one white, one wholemeal, one grey supermarket variety. So they've been on the shelf and you can easily get them whenever. Then I got a fresh wholemeal bread loaf from the bakery. And then I got three tatoes. Now, we ate once we had postponed it. I actually ate
We ate the Zowdos. Well, actually I ate the whole meal and started eating the grainy Zowdos and the rest of the family ate the white. But it was really interesting. I kind of knew, but I gave it a test anyway and it actually happened. I left those three, well actually left four, I left the three supermarket bread loafs in the bag. I thought, see if these last till next Wednesday.
plus the fresh wholemeal loaf. So I left those full of loaves in the bag. The other bag had the chateau and we ate them. Well, we ate some of them. I think the whole grain one's still in the fridge probably. But anyway, that's another story. So, yesterday afternoon I went to check on the breads because I thought I can't go on live TV with Moldy Brand. But I thought I'll just check. I bet you it's still okay. And guess what? It was. A week later.
It had been sitting there literally in the bag for seven full days. And it looks like I'd bought it today. In fact, one of the camera crew started to eat the bread, the white bread, because he loves bread. He started telling me about how he loves, at Christmas time, he loves white bread and prawn and mayonnaise sandwiches. my God, this is disgusting. But anyway, he was going into bed and I'm like, it's been a week. But that just goes to show how much.
The Importance of Fresh Wholemeal Bread (14:45.006)
These additives and preservatives turn this into almost a long life product. And I don't think that's a good thing. So back to my point about wholemeal breads, and this really goes to any bread in any category, fresh is best. Like, you know, 30 years ago when I was shopping with my nonna, you know, there was just more fresh bread, I think as more fresh bread is an option, but...
That was kind of the dumb thing. You didn't have, I mean, I know we did have bread in the supermarket then, but I feel like more of us ate just the fresh stuff from the bakeries, the little bakeries and you had the little delicatessens and whatnot. Now I'm showing my age, but anyway, I feel that the fact that we now have so much bread that lasts so long in the supermarket because of all these additives and preservatives.
Yes, it keeps them lasting longer, but you know, what is it really doing to our bodies? And I know that our food authorities say that they are safe for human consumption and they are fine to have in food products, but really at the end of the day, do we really know? And so look, my kids will still eat stuff with additives and preservatives and it's really hard to escape it. But if we can make a choice to...
on a daily basis, put foods into our body that will reduce the consumption of these additives and preservatives and emulsifies and what not, then great. So if you can make a simple decision to buy fresh wholemeal bread, not the one that's been in the supermarket, then perhaps, and you shouldn't be eating this multiple times every day, then you are significantly over the weeks and the months and years going to reduce their intake of additives and preservatives. So a simple swap to something that you do require.
can make a big difference. I guess it's just like saving money, right? That's if you just put a little bit away all the time, eventually it's, you know, you end up with a fortune. So this is the same thing, but in the reverse, you know, the less additives you're putting in every day, it makes a big difference over time. So I do need to pause and say that some of these supermarket varieties are fortified and there is a place for these. And I certainly in my clinic have,
Iron Supplementation for Iron Deficient Children (17:09.39)
Many patients that are iron deficient, for example. Now, some we talk about, you know, boosting iron through various food sources and increasing absorption and a lot of the stuff that we now have, all my nursing kids members have access to in my online portal and in the membership, they've got all of that information. So we talk about all that stuff and certainly sometimes children need supplementation. But there are cases where...
kids are really tricky to supplement. So they refuse the liquid iron. They won't take food that's got the granules that we sprinkle in. We try all the drinks and they still refuse it. And they're not eating any of the other iron -vortified foods that we've thrown at them. And so sometimes we really need to rely on iron -vortified breads, for example. And in that situation, I think you need to work out what primary concern number one is. So,
If the concern is iron deficiency and boosting the iron for, you know, energy levels, brain health, so that they're sleeping better, so they have more energy to get through the day and learn better at school, then yes, give them the supermarket iron fortified bread. That's the most important thing right now. And we can move them onto, you know, a fresher loaf later. So sometimes there is a place for these iron fortified breads. And certainly when I've done dietary analysis of patients' intake, simply swapping their bread to iron fortified.
makes a massive difference to their daily iron intake. So they do have a place, but if your child's not iron deficient, then yes, I would choose the fresh bakery option. And the wholemeal bread actually does contain iron naturally. So then it's like, well, how can we maximise the absorption and reduce, you know, interfering with the absorption? Cause there are foods that actually interfere with iron absorption as well. And I will do iron in a whole nother podcast as well. Like I'm creating a lot of
Podcast episodes with myself, aren't I? But no, I look forward to it. So look at the end of the day, I think some key take homes here are fresh is best. The fewer ingredients, the better because we really want to limit all the additives and preservatives there. So fresh, fewer ingredients. And if you can go a sourdough option, then possibly great. And look, if you can go the whole grain option, amazing.
Iron Supplementation for Iron Deficient Children (19:34.382)
So it's really about trying to look at where your family's at, where your kids are at in terms of what breads they're eating and try to make a little upgrade without causing too much saga or rocking the boat too much with your kids. Now for white. So to make white bread, you take the middle part of the grain, which is called the endosperm. That's the starchy part of the grain.
Now you take that starchy part of the grain and you mill it, you grind it down so it's back to that flour again, but then you bleach it. So it's been milled, processed, bleached, and really at this point, there's not much left apart from starch, carbohydrates. And because it's been so highly processed, it is a higher GI product and it's got very little fiber. And for this reason,
Companies will often jazz up the white bread with added fiber to make it high fiber, or they'll add other nutrients to make it low GI. And look, if this is where your child is at, that is currently, is absolutely fine. This is where your child is at, that is absolutely fine. And there is absolutely no judgment because I get it. I get how kids can be. So if white bread is where things are at,
in your family, my advice is number one, if you can move them from that more highly processed white bread over to a white sourdough, amazing, because that will make it a little lower in GI or a little slower in how fast the sugar releases into their bloodstream. So that's going to be a good thing if you can slow down how quickly the sugar releases into their bloodstream. And
the white sourdough is still gonna be a bit higher in nutrients. Now, number two, if they're not up for sourdough, then I would go for a fresh white loaf, if you can, with fewer ingredients. So as little ingredients as possible, because that way we're really limiting the additives of most of us preservatives and all of that extra stuff that we really want to try to avoid where possible. Now, if you had a white,
Choosing Fiber-Enriched White Processed Bread (21:54.734)
bakery option that was fibre enriched, that would be a good choice. And that would be a preference instead of that white, more long life, ultra processed bread in the supermarket. Now, if you're at the point where the only thing that your child will eat is the white processed bread, then all is still not lost because you know what? At the end of the day, it's still carbohydrate, still going to be getting bigger vitamins.
still going to be getting iron and an iodine. All is not lost. So do not beat yourself up. There is still blood at the end of the tunnel. And what we need to do is add good quality protein or fat to the white processed breads because that's going to improve the nutrition of the meal of snack and it will actually slow down the release of sugar.
So for example, if you add avocado, you're going to be adding a bucket load of nutrients to that. Or if you're adding peanut butter, again, it's a great source of healthy fats. It's got protein, it's got iron. So if you're adding peanut butter to white bread, that's going to be a big upgrade. Now again, I would try and choose a more wholesome peanut butter rather than those ones that are more highly processed that have got a lot of sugar and salt. And again, look at the ingredients. If it's just peanuts and a bit of salt or just peanuts, then great.
but the more ingredients, then probably try and leave those on the shelf and choose one that's got fewer ingredients. But back to my point, if you are adding good quality fat or protein to the highly processed white bread, then it is actually going to slow down that release of sugar into the bloodstream. So protein and fat act to lower the glycemic index of the meal. It's actually called the...
glycemic load of the meal. And that glycemic load will be slowed down when you add protein in that. Whereas if you didn't and they just had, for example, white bread and maybe a little bit of butter and jam or Vegemite, then that's going to be still a relatively high GI fast sugar. So.
Understanding Bread Nutrition (24:10.19)
Aside from a short ingredients list, one other thing I also tend to encourage parents to look at in that shop bought bread is the nutrition table. So the ingredients list will list every ingredient in the product from the largest ingredient right down to the smallest ingredient. And then there you've got the nutrition table, which is what I also encourage parents to look at because
per 100 grams you can compare fibre and salt intake or salt in the product and salt will be often written as sodium, will be written as sodium. So to compare say two homo -breads or two white breads in the supermarket I would look at the fibre per 100 grams and choose the higher fibre option and I would look at the sodium per 100 grams.
And I would choose the lower sodium option. So that way you can still make healthier choices within the white category. Well, that really goes for every category. I would look at fibre, I would look at salt. And you can also look at the percentage of whole grains in the ingredients list. That's another thing that they've started doing in recent years is looking at and writing percentage of whole grains. So,
You can also do that in breakfast cereals, but we'll talk about that in another podcast. So there is always a silver lining. You've just got to find it, even if it is in the processed white bread world. I'm here to help you find it and make you feel less guilty about how your kids eat and help you make little tweaks that can make a big difference in those foods that they consume daily. So hopefully that's given you a bit more insight into bread.
I'll wrap things up now. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to this podcast. And once you've listened to a few, if you're really receiving some value, then please leave me a review because that helps get the podcast out to more people. Please let me know what you'd like me to discuss. I'm always up for a chat. Bye for now.