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Bread for weight loss, anti-diabetes

By Reggie Aspiras
Philippine Daily Inquirer

When it comes to excellent bread, John Lou Koa comes to mind—the man behind Lartizan and French Baker.

A few months back, over a cup of coffee, he told us how he was in the process of perfecting his 100-percent whole grain bread. Now the perfect loaf is here for those who want to watch what they eat.

Koa says this loaf is considered a vfflow-GI (glycemic index) product.

He explains: “This means that the glycemic index is significantly lower than that of white bread, even when compared to those which claim they don’t add cane sugar or those that use sugar substitute in the vvfrecipe.”

White bread has a GI index of 100 compared to whole grain bread’s 50.

“White flour in white bread packs a lot of starch after baking. Starch metabolizes into glucose after eating. Even without additional sugar in the recipe, the starch is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. This is what diabetics or heart patients want to avoid. Spiking of blood sugar causes the pancreas to pump more insulin to arrest the spiking sugar. This will weaken the pancreas in the long run.

“For heart patients, elevated blood sugar causes the heart to beat faster, which will also damage the heart in the long run.”

The product also has sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, wheat and rolled oats to create a complex taste.

Koa also used French levain or sourdough starter plus a little rye flour.

For the last six months, he’s been testing the bread among friends and family. He says, “So far, we’ve been getting a good response. Diabetics told us their blood sugar didn’t spike after eating the bread. They were able to achieve our goal.

“Think of whole grain bread as [containing] some sort of ‘time-release’ carbohydrates, as they take a much longer time to digest the fiber and the seeds found in the whole grains. Whole wheat flour contains ‘complex’ carbohydrates. White flour contains ‘simple’ carbohydrates as a result of milling.

“Complex carbohydrates take more time in our system to be broken down into simple forms of sugar before the bloodstream can absorb it.”

Koa explains that when one eats whole grains with low glycemic index, one can actually take on other food high in GI and still be able to achieve a moderately high GI without causing too much of a spike in the blood sugar. “With whole grains, you can actually spread a thin layer of strawberry jam or butter and still come out okay.

“The idea of planning one’s food intake based on GI is fast catching up as more and more consumers discover the benefits of choosing food that will not ‘harm’ them. It’s not just ‘slimming bread’ per se, it’s a bread that promotes wellness

 

 

Koa shares his favorite sandwich recipes:

Oeuf a la Coque

In an oven toaster, warm up or toast one slice of 100-percent whole grain bread. Cut it into several elongated pieces. Cut off top portion of soft-boiled egg. Dip toasted bread strips in egg. No need to salt egg as the bread is already very flavorful.

Low GI tuna melt

Combine the following to make a tuna salad filling: 1 c flaked canned tuna; ½ c diced celery or cucumber; 2 tbsp each of lemon juice and olive oil; 1 tbsp of chopped chives, parsley or cilantro; salt and pepper to taste.

Use a slice of whole grain. Top with lettuce, a portion of the tuna salad filling and grated or sliced mozzarella, cheddar, gruyere or your favorite melting cheese. Put in an oven toaster and broil until the cheese is melted and golden.

Croque Monsieur

Lay two slices of whole grain bread on a work surface. Spread a thin layer of butter on one slice, and Dijon mustard on the other. Top thin slices of ham on buttered slice. Cover with remaining slice to make a sandwich.

Warm up the sandwich in an oven toaster for two minutes just before the bread becomes crunchy. Remove from the oven toaster, turn the sandwich over and top with grated cheese of your choice (mozzarella, cheddar, gruyere, quick-melt).

Return the sandwich to oven toaster, cheese side up, and continue to toast it until the cheese is visibly melted. Cut into halves, quarters or serve whole.

Call the French Baker customer care hotline at 6353125.