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White Bread Can Be Healthier For Some

Now if only we can figure out which type we are.

For years, it seemed no matter how you sliced it, white bread was always the bad guy, but now researchers are saying different people have different reactions to processed white bread — and some of those reactions are actually good!

The new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, looked at how the bodies of 20 healthy subjects reacted to processed white bread and artisanal whole wheat sourdough. Over the course of two weeks, the participants were asked to increase their bread consumption from 10 per cent of their calorie intake to 25 per cent, with half consuming white bread and the other half consuming sourdough.

They were later asked to consume the other type of bread for another two weeks. During this time, researchers examined the microbiones of the participants.

"The initial finding, and this was very much contrary to our expectation, was that there were no clinically significant differences between the effects of these two types of bread on any of the parameters that we measured," said senior author Eran Segal in a press release.

Later the researchers noticed half of the subjects had a higher glycemic response to the white bread and the other half had a higher response to the whole wheat sourdough.

Glycemic responses are the measurable effects of food on blood sugar levels. While all types of bread impact blood sugar levels, this study shows some have less impact than others.

“The findings for this study are not only fascinating but potentially very important because they point toward a new paradigm: different people react differently, even to the same foods,” another senior author said.

Unfortunately, the scientists say more research is required to determine how the different types of bread affect different types of people.

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