Groceries

How to choose bread & other baked goods

Most baked goods are made predominantly from refined carbohydrate (white flour). Some contain just a bit of whole grain and make sure to let you know by advertising the words “whole grain” in large letters even if there is very little in them. Others, such as tortilla chips made from corn, are made from the entire corn kernel and are therefore technically “100% whole grain” but actually digest very quickly and are low in fiber so that their health value is little more than white flour.

How to choose a breakfast cereal

The BEST cereals contain NO artificial sweeteners, NO high fructose corn syrup and have EITHER
(1) At least 20% (1/5) of their carbohydrate grams as fiber with less sugar than fiber OR
(2) At least 15% of carbohydrate as fiber with NO added sugar (pure grains, oats).

You must put an emphasis on vegetables

f you do not eat at least ¼ the volume of your lunch and dinner as vegetables you are either over-eating or you are hungry, or both. It is not possible to optimize health and recovery without the full spectrum of nutrients and antioxidants contained in vegetables. Whole grains (bread, etc) and fruit have twice as many calories and half the nutrient density per gram compared to vegetables.

All carbohydrates are sugars

Whether a carbohydrate is sweet (like table sugar or in fruit) or not (such as in bread or vegetables), all carbs are made from sugar. Sugar chains more than 2 sugar molecules long are not sweet on the tongue, whereas single sugars and pairs of sugars are sweet. Fruit is not sweet before being ripe because the sugars have not broken down into the individual sugars yet. Usually the single sugars and pairs of sugars are simply referred to as “sugar” whereas longer chains are referred to as “complex carbs.”

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