I’ve made a rather odd and counter-intuitive discovery. White bread is better for my body than all those other whole-grain breads. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom and confirms a rather controversial thing I read recently: fiber is bad for some people.
One thing the clean/raw diet taught me was that it is far better to help my body get done with the work of digestion so it can move on to other things. The specifics of what to eat weren’t some gimmicks, they were based on which foods digest well together rather than prolonging digestion resulting in gastrointestinal stress and even food fermentation. The take away is simple: less time digesting is good.
The clean/raw diet (which really isn’t a diet) is the polar opposite of the “eat conflicting macro-nutrients at the same time to prolong digestion” that was the basis of all the Zone diet bullshit in the 90s and 2000s. In fact, I am pretty sure I permanently damaged my gut following that completely stupid thing. All endurance athletes did.
What does that have to do with white bread and fiber?
The entire idea of fiber being “good” for you is that it “aides in digestion” by somehow sweeping up stuff and helping you have better stuff in your gut to process. But the dirty secret of fiber is that you cannot digest it at all. Too much fiber can stop you up and slow digestion at ever level—most importantly food in the stomach.
Bread that is the simplest to digest makes it through your system faster and is easier for the body to process. Eat enough to regenerate blood sugar levels and you have a solution that is slower than raw sugar (never fructose) but easier on your body than all the rest. Taking a slice of homemade white bread on the bike keeps me fueled and full without making me throw up. Rice cakes have the same effect. In fact, I used to think I was gluten intolerant but I really am not, I’m slow-digestion intolerant. Since I’ve started eating clean white bread as a source of carb for my exercise I don’t have as much gas, I have more power when I need it, and I save a lot in food costs.