What’s the difference between white vs wholegrain?
Do you notice after you eat, you can feel a bit lethargic and tired, your energy levels may crash and your mood may turn?
What you’re putting inside your body can be directly related to how much energy you have (or don’t have) and how you feel.
What’s the difference between white vs wholegrain?
Well, it’s quite simple really… the difference is FIBRE!
White bread has the fibre stripped away from it. Wholegrain, or brown bread still contains the fibre.
Look at the image below to see the difference between how wholegrain bread and white bread is made.
What is fibre?
Fibre is the part of the grain that has the majority of the health benefits. When the fibre is stripped away from the grain, you are just left with pure carbs which our bodies use for energy.
What is so important about Fibre?
We cannot rave about fibre enough! It is a super nutrient that impacts our energy levels, our mood and our health. It prevents diseases and it helps in more ways than you may think! Keep reading to find out.
How does fibre improve energy, tiredness & your mood?
To answer this question, firstly we are going to explain what happens when you eat white bread vs wholegrain bread.
White bread
Refined carbohydrates, like in white bread, digest very quickly through your body. What does this mean? Well because there’s no fibre to slow it down, the carbohydrates enter your bloodstream super quickly which gives you a quick energy spike. What comes after a quick spike? A quick drop! This means your energy levels plummet just as fast.
How does this make you feel? You may feel tired, lethargic, grumpy and irritable!
You may notice this when you eat other refined carbohydrates such as sugary foods, pastries, cakes, doughnuts etc.
Wholegrain bread
Wholegrains digest slowly through your body. This means carbohydrates enter your blood at a steady rate which gives you a steady release of long-lasting energy. Because of the steady release of energy, your mood is more likely to be stable and you’re less likely to feel brain fog.
You can also find fibre in fruits and vegetables, brown pasta, brown rice, chickpeas, lentils, beans, nuts and seeds.
What else does fibre do?
We are not done yet, there is still one extremely important thing we want to tell you about fibre. And that is GUT BACTERIA!!
You are probably aware that your gut is home to trillions of bacteria. These bacteria work hard to keep our mood happy by helping to prevent depression and anxiety. They also release a lot of good things in our body that help keep us safe from diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
What do your gut bacteria like to eat? FIBRE! Think of them as your pets and make sure you feed them regularly with fibre. Oh and you probably should know, they like a variety of fibre so make sure you eat a variety of fruits, veggies, wholegrains, nuts, seeds and legumes to keep them happy and thriving.
One more thing about fibre…
If you are having trouble when it comes to bowel movements, then we suggest you increase your fibre intake. Fibre actually helps you become more regular and bulks up your stool so everything comes out easier. We highly recommend giving it a try if this is an issue for you.
Want to add more fibre to your life?
Head to our recipe video hub – every recipe there has a good kick of fibre to help get you on your way to a healthier, happier, more energetic and more regular you!
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Sources:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/eating-to-boost-energy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4224210/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654909/
