The Lemon Fool

As a rule, I like a decent bread. For example, a granary loaf or a crusty baguette are a real pleasure. As are many fancier breads that feature in, for example, Indian or Italian cuisine as seen in Blighty.

But I generally try to avoid wholemeal. Sadly I picked up a loaf last week: one of those accidents that happens when impaired by a covid mask. Yesterday and today I used it for lunch sandwiches and felt bloated and lethargic all afternoon. Today also rather feeble: a regular and very modest walk was hard work.

Any nutritional experts here? What is it specifically in wholemeal bread but not in other breads that causes this (admittedly mild) adverse reaction?

Not exactly an answer, but as as DIY bread baker myself, my few forays into world of brown bread making have been confusing at best. There seems to be little consensus on the meaning of terms like wholemeal, brown and granary when applied to bread, so have a look at any contents label that came with the loaf.

Many brown bread recipes seem to contain a significant proportion of white flour too. Was this a supermarket loaf or from a proper baker's shop?

I don't suppose that helps much...

Not sure that I qualify, but here is my take.

Wholemeal bread is made with the "whole" of the wheat seed, while white bread has significant parts removed. In particular the wheat germ or part that will start to sprout. Bran is also removed, which provides "roughage".

I heard the suggestion that wholemeal bread may contain more gluten, wheat germ certainly does, which could trigger issues with some.
I have also heard that it's roughage qualities may cause problems with those who suffer from Cron's disease. They are advised to eat refined flour products like bread or pasta avoiding the wholemeal varieties.

Granary, which you are ok with, contains both white refined flour and wholemeal. So your problem may be the amount rather than eating it at all.
Brown bread may be made using white flour, with the bran added back in.

My experience is that white bread causes my stomach to be uncomfortable, whereas wholemeal doesn't. In fact, any white flour product does this.

As a regular granary loaf buyer, the first thing I notice when I'm reduced to eating mere wholemeal is that it doesn't have much sweetness in it. Secondly, that it doesn't have the structure of a granary (or similar "seedist" loaf) - instead, it's more crumbly and it'll hold a sandwich together less well.

And thirdly, that it's often rather dry. Less oily, perhaps?

That's when I start to remind myself of all the reasons why a slightly malty, grainy, oily, damp, fibrous and generally more fattening bread should be so much more satisfying than even a good wholemeal. And then I reach for the butter, which some say I shouldn't be eating. And I reflect on how it's not all about living to be a thousand. It's about the journey, not the destination.

BJ

I look for the four words "Stoneground", "Organic", "Wholemeal" "Strong" when purchasing flour for bread. This provides the highest amount of nutrition (nothing taken out, nothing added, and the nutritional value not diminished by the heat from steel rollers used in most flour milling). Bread made solely with this flour is rather heavy and worthy: a delicious nutty flavour when freshly baked, but sadly only suitable for toasting after a day or so.

So I generally use a mix of flours: white, wholemeal and rye flour, all organic and stoneground. To help the dough rise and to counteract the lack of gluten in rye flour, I add a little gluten flour (maybe 10% of dry ingredients). To make more nutritious, I add about 12% dry weight of mixed seeds. The health aspects are important to me as I am Type 2 diabetic, and want to minimise the rise in blood sugar levels after eating bread.

Sometimes, I increase the proportion of rye flour and add 15 to 20g of caraway seeds to a total dry ingredient weight of 500 to 600g, emulating the rye breads of Eastern Europe. This bread will not rise very high, sadly, but is lovely as an occasional treat.

The lightest texture comes from white flour: the finest flavour comes from wholemeal flour. I constantly look for the best compromise between the two. Having said that, bread making is a mystery to me: sometimes, the stars align and a perfect light, flavoursome loaf comes out the oven. Sometimes, the dough will hardly rise whatever I do, and I end up with a recalcitrant heavy brick of a loaf.

Thanks for the replies, though they seem more incremental to understanding than revelatory.

One contrast: I also eat lots of pasta (far more than bread). With pasta I like wholewheat and have no problem at all. Typically I like wholewheat pasta if taste matters (e.g. with a salad) or white pasta if it's getting a tasty cooked sauce.