In search of the Wholey Grain (Day 11)
My weight dropped 0.4kg today to 68.7kg. However my Body Fat went up 0.5kg to 18.5kg. My Body Water went down to 56% and my Body Muscle dropped 0.2% to 42.4%.
For breakfast I had a fresh lemon hot drink and muesli with blueberries, blackberries and almonds.
Green lentils, almonds and lemon zest
Beetroot juice
For lunch I had wholemeal couscous with green lentil curry, almonds and lemon zest with a vegetable juice (beetroot, cucumber, carrot, celery, ginger).
We were running out of food so I went to Sainsbury’s. I bought Sainsbury’s Taste the difference soft wholemeal multiseeded batch, its only 3p more than the white bread version. It doesn’t taste as nice as the white version though. Maybe I just need to get used to wholemeal bread.
Trash all breads and starchy carbs?
After all the confusion with breads last week, my initial findings led me to believe the best bread is wholemeal bread. While writing this I thought I’d check the Glycaemic Index (GI) of breads. White bread, as expected, has a high GI of 70. Wholemeal bread has a GI of 69. 69! That’s just one GI less than white bread! And all this time I thought wholemeal bread was way healthier than white bread. Granted, because it’s less processed, wholemeal bread has more nutrients in it. However its effect on insulin levels is virtually no different than white bread. If you eat bread, white or wholemeal your insulin level will shoot up. If your body doesn’t work well with insulin, e.g. you’re diabetic or insulin resistant then it seems eating either is probably a bad idea! From past experience I have personally noticed that my waistline does not respond well to bread. I had hoped wholemeal was going to be different. At this point it seemed reasonable to me, that if you’re going to indulge in bread you may as well just take the one that you like the taste of as there is only one GI difference between white and wholemeal bread. Maybe we should just trash all bread!
Holy Grail
Wholey Grain
Stop! The search for healthy bread is really like the search for the Holy Grail. It’s a long journey with many twists and turns. There are many deceptive imposters which pretend to be the real deal when they are not. So I have continued to search and here is what I have found.
It seems the lowest GI bread is Bürgen Soy Lin, however it’s targeted at women due to the plant-oestrogens in it. It is currently on offer at Sainsbury’s for a £1. Bürgen do other breads all with low GI.
The Wholey Grain of Breads? Burgen Soy Lin Low GI Bread
Stone ground whole wheat bread tends to have lower GI values than just ordinary wholemeal bread. If it’s got whole seeds and nuts in it as well, then it’s even better. For example Cranks Organic Honey & Sunflower (available at Sainsburys) is made from stoneground (not stonebaked!) wholemeal bread and has sunflower seeds in it. I’m not sure what its Glycaemic Index is though.
Here are some other low-medium GI breads to consider.
Food: Pumpernickel Bread, Glycemic Index: 41, Glycemic Index Rating: Low
Food: Buckwheat Bread, Glycemic Index: 47, Glycemic Index Rating: Low
Food: Oatbran Bread, Glycemic Index: 47, Glycemic Index Rating: Low
Food: Wheat Bread, Glycemic Index: 53, Glycemic Index Rating: Low
Food: Pita Bread, Glycemic Index: 57, Glycemic Index Rating: Medium
Food: Rye Bread (Whole Wheat), Glycemic Index: 58, Glycemic Index Rating: Medium
It looks like another trip to the grocers is due to find myself a “Wholey Grain.” I’ll let you know in due course if I have any luck!
I started an experiment today to compare the effects of working out whilst being fuelled versus working out on an empty stomach. I limited the experiment to cardio. For today’s workout I did the two laps in 58:25 and cross trainer for 11 min 11 sec. I weighed myself immediately before and immediately after the workout. I did the workout in the evening, an hour or so after eating. My readings stayed constant at: Weight: 69.6kg; BF: 18.0%; BW: 56.3% and BM: 42.6%. Nothing changed immediately after the workout. The rest of the experiment will be conducted tomorrow morning.
I noticed that I still had some problems with liquid in my lungs. On my way to the park I was feeling really good and positive. However by the time I finished I noticed my mood had swung completely the other way. I was grumpy and clumsy when I got home (spilled carrot juice all over our new kitchen units). Mood swings are apparently a common experience during a detox.
Carrot juice
When I got home I had a carrot juice and protein shake. For my evening meal I had corn on the cob, cottage cheese and some celery.
Corn on the cob