Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Beware Ezekial Bread!

I’ve gotten a few questions lately about this stuff called Ezekiel Bread, which a type of bread that’s made largely from grains and beans that have been sprouted. The entire ingredient deck from this particular form of bread includes various organic sprouted grains (wheat, barley, spelt and millet), something called organic malted barley (which acts as a source of sugar and is used to feed by beer brewers to feed yeast), sprouted beans (soy and lentils), water, yeast and salt, Ezekiel bread is named for the prophet Ezekiel, who in the bible was given a recipe for making bread. Ezekiel 4:9 says: “Take also unto yourself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make yourself bread of it…”
The manufacturers of this stuff follow the recipe and make their product which they call Ezekiel bread. It’s a good thing they didn’t read any further when they came up with the recipe because three verses later in Ezekiel 4:12 we learn that God wants to add other stuff to the recipe. Specifically human feces! The exact line from the bible reads:
“And thou shall eat it as barley cakes, and thou shall bake it with dung that cometh out of man…”!!

It cannot be argued that sprouted breads are healthy choices when compared to regular bread. The minerals in the grains are more available to the human digestive system and they contain more protein. But that does not mean that these types of bread are overall healthy foods, especially if you have sugar problems.
The difference between sprouted breads and regular bread is mostly in the fact that while the latter is made from wheat flour, which is ground up wheat kernels, sprouted bread, is made from wheat kernels that have already sprouted. Because sprouts use up the sugar in the wheat kernels to make protein, Ezekiel bread has less sugar and more protein. But, because the kernels are typically not sprouted all the way, there is still sugar in Ezekiel Bread, not as much as there is in regular bread perhaps, but unless the kernel is completely sprouted and there is nothing left but the shell, you are still getting sugar. Just check out the nutritional facts that are printed right on the label. Every slice of Ezekiel Bread has 15grams or three teaspoonful of sugar in it. And most people are eating 2 or 3 slices. That means you’re looking at 6 teaspoonfuls of sugar if you’re eating a couple of slices. If you eat 3 or 4, that’s 9 to 12 teaspoonfuls of sugar. It’s not ordinary “table sugar”, its starch but it’s still going to get turned into sugar in your body, and it will raise blood sugar and create an insulin response.
One of the most obvious red flags when it comes to sprouted breads like Ezekiel Bread is that fact people really like it! And what is it that makes Ezekiel Bread such a popular alternative among the blood-sugar -conscious folks who try it? It’s probably not the fat because there’s only about ½ a gram of fat per slice of the stuff. And it’s probably not the protein, because there’s isn’t a lot of protein either. There’s a little fiber, but people don’t exactly go crazy about fiber. And you don’t see a lot of folks going out looking for sprouted barely or millet either. The reason people like Ezekiel Bread is the same reason people like most of the foods they eat. It’s the carbs! And the carbs in this sprouted bread are the same as the carbs in any kind of bread, (although the fiber, can slow down the release of the sugar).
Any way you describe it, the facts it is carbohydrates mean sugar! An average slice of white bread has around 20-25 calories, but an average slice of Ezekiel bread has 80 calories. There are over 3 times more calories in a slice of Ezekiel bread then there is a slice of white bread. And these are sugar dense calories. In fact NOT including the fiber (which is non-caloric), almost half the calories from Ezekiel Bread come from carbohydrates/sugar. It may not be pure sucrose or table sugar. It may be in the form of starch, but it will still have an effect on your blood glucose. 3 teaspoonfuls of sugar per slice! Ezekiel bread does have some protein value, so it’s not as bad as white bread or cake or pasta, which are awful and empty foods, but it’s still a load of sugar; sugar that you don’t need.
This is why we have to be savvy, why we have to be nutrition label readers. No one can deny that sprouted breads are better that regular bread, but if you are diabetic or concerned about blood sugar I’d avoid them. And, if you have leaky gut problems or Celiac Disease, or any digestive issues, it important to recognize that sprouted bread still contain gluten and allergenic proteins.
Sprouts are great, but Ezekiel Bread isn’t sprouts and it doesn’t taste anything like sprouts In fact it looks and smells and tastes like bread. A heavy, thick somewhat unusual bread but a “bread” nonetheless.
If we’re having blood sugar problems, and we know we should be getting off the bread, we’re kidding ourselves if we think the solution is to start eating a different type of bread, Ezekiel or otherwise. What we should be attempting to do is wean ourselves off of the bread habit and the bread taste. I’m not beating up on Ezekiel or any other sprouted bread. I’m just saying let’s not be fooling ourselves. Look on the nutrition facts. If it’s says carbohydrates, that means sugar and that means elevation in blood glucose and insulin and that means beware if you’re a diabetic or pre-diabetic. There’s just no other way you can slice it.

41 comments:

  1. great info Ben! Any chance you can do a salt/digestion piece? Been sending prospects/downline to your site & to the 8 chapt of nutrition video you did last year...great stuff too! Thanks!

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    1. That misleading information is a crock of human feces the prophet Ezekiel almost used to cook the bread as fuel. He refused to use human feces and God accepted his refusal and granted him cow manure for fuel, instead. Where are you getting your sources from bud? This bread makes a complete protein and it's high on fiber which slows down the metabolism of carbohydrates into sugar formed physiologically in your body with a low glycemic index suitable for people with diabetes. The bread has 0 grams of dietary sugar. You're a clueless man misleading people out there and you need to stop!

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    2. I teach nutrition. I'm with you, Anonymous. Obviously, he only uses what is helpful to his cause.

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    3. The stupidity comes when "god" is thrown into the picture. THEN you have a problem.

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    4. Name on store-bought "regular bread" that contains 20-25 calories a slice. The reduced calorie breads available in stores contain 45 calories per slice, at minimum.

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  2. I've argued with a "raw" friend about Ezekiel a lot. She initially told me she thought Ezekiel was raw, and then she argued in favor of how much better it was than other breads. I've stood by my stance that bread is bread from the beginning, and I'm sending her a link to this right now.

    I really appreciate that you've chosen to share your knowledge in such an easily accessible way with your radio show (and I just found your blog today). I'm finding nutritional answers to my depression, ADHD, anxiety, IBS, dandruff, immune system issues, and everything else. I'm happier thanks to finding you.

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  3. Stephen
    Congratulations on winning that argument. I hope your friend realizes how wrong she was and how right you were when she reads the link.

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  4. Not ADD human feces... cook it by using it as fuel for the fire. Doesn't necessarily make it any more appetizing. Just understand your source before you use it to make a point.

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    1. Perhaps, but why would you use human excrement to make a fire? Was there no other sources of fuel? is dung especially good for making a fire to bake bread with? Also the quote from the NT says to bake it with dung ( And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight), not to cook it over dung...

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    2. Yep. Definitely agree with Anonymous above. Using dung as a fuel source was not uncommon.

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    3. Using dung is still not uncommon in 3rd world countries.

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    4. Great point, Anonymous! Any intelligent person should have been able to figure out that dung was used as a fuel source, not included with the other ingredients in the recipe. Also, the Bible never implies that Ezekiel bread is the only food that humans are supposed to eat. Our diets should of course include fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, and all the other good natural foods God gave us to eat before men started processing, refining, and genetically modifying them. Look on the grocer's shelves if you want to find and criticize the foods that are killing us, not in the pages of the Bible.

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  5. The regular bread has no sugar in it. Nutrition Facts states 0g sugar. I dont get why you say it has 15gs

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    1. Here's my source, thanks for writing!

      http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/custom/2129099/2

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    2. Everything you eat is turned to glucose...SUGAR. It's just how quickly it is turned to glucose. The reason whole grains, beans and lentils are better is because they are slower to turn to sugar. Wake up people.

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  6. " An average slice of white bread has around 20-25 calories, but an average slice of Ezekiel bread has 80 calories."

    I'd like to know where I can buy that white bread which has 20-25 calories per slice.

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    1. My bad anonymous, Thanks for catching that An average slice of white bread has 66 calories (http://www.livestrong.com/article/318637-how-many-calories-are-in-white-bread/)
      my apologies bro, and thanks for noting!

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  7. Ezekiel bread when digested takes longer to get the sugar into the blood stream not causing a spike in blood sugar. Yes you get sugar from it, but not much and slowly evenly distributed into the blood stream. It would be like eating an apple, the complex sprouted grains slow the digestive process so it does NOT spike blood sugars. Maybe you should try pricking yourself and checking your glucose level after eating it, before making assumptions because you see carbohydrates and automatically assume it spikes blood sugar.

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  8. I'm bewildered about where you get your data. I have three Ezekiel products in my freezer and all of them say 0g sugar. Where in the world do you get 3t per slice??? I understand the carb aspect, but that's not what you're referring to there. Further, as some of the above posters mention, products made without refined flours affect your blood sugar differently. I've never seen a slice of white bread with 20 calories. Can you follow up, please, with explanation on where you got these numbers? Thanks.

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    1. Digestible, non-fiber carbohydrate basically means sugar and according nutritiondata.self.com each slice of Ezekiel bread contains 15 grams of it. True various sugars in foods affect blood sugar differently and certainly the EB fiber slows down it's release, but if you eat two or three pieces of Ezekiel Bread (and it's not unusual for people to eat more) IMO, you're getting lots of sugar you probably don't need. Also, as I've noted, my bad on the white bread, a slice of has 66 calories. Thanks for pointing that out, my apologies!

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    2. I don't eat bread bc of what the food industry has turned wheat into. It's disastrous. And with Monsanto taking rein it will only get worse. My understanding is there's no wheat in this bread?

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  9. Ezekiel 4:12 we learn that God wants to add other stuff to the recipe. Specifically human feces! The exact line from the bible reads:
    “And thou shall eat it as barley cakes, and thou shall bake it with dung that cometh out of man…”!!

    Ben I feel bad for you misleading people with the above. I hope people are reading the bible verse for themselves not matter what version bible is used.

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  10. Ben Fuchs, I think is your name I believe. That misleading information is a crock of human feces the prophet Ezekiel almost used to cook the bread as fuel. He refused to use human feces and God accepted his refusal and granted him cow manure for fuel, instead. Where are you getting your sources from bud? This bread makes a complete protein and it's high on fiber which slows down the metabolism of carbohydrates into sugar formed physiologically in your body with a low glycemic index suitable for people with diabetes. The bread has 0grams of dietary sugar. You're a clueless man misleading people out there and you need to stop!

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    1. It's funny you berate someone by saying it is a crock....WHEN you mention "GOD" Seriously??????? How is that NOT a crock. Good grief!!!

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    2. God is not a crock! Just because you choose not to believe in Him, is no reason to cop an attitude. It is insulting to those of us who do believe in HIM. Stick to talking about bread! That's what this article is about, not your theological, or lack of, belief!

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  11. Perhaps I'm mistaken but this is is a cut and paste from the King James Version of the NT:

    Ezekiel 4:12
    King James Version (KJV)
    12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.

    Rudy and anonymous how would you interpret this...

    Also, according to nutritiondata.self.com each slice of bread contains 15 grams, that's three teaspoonsful of carbohydrate (sugar) which is quite a bit. True, the fiber slows down the absorption, but IMO that much sugar hardly qualifies EB as a healthy food...

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  12. If this were a blog of a layman, I would understand these misstatements and retractions. However, you suggest that you are a nutritional pharmacist.

    You basically make two arguments against the bread in your article. The first regards the kcal value of a slice of ezekiel versus "white bread,." You have made your mea culpa, as rather than "three times" the amount of kcal, there are 14 more kcal in a slice of ezekiel bread. This 14 kcal difference.

    Through some brief research I located the "66 calorie white bread slice" on one of the many calorie counting websites. However, they did not list a serving size in grams other than a 100 gram sample. As a slice of ezekiel bread is somewhat large and/or heavy (34g), I thought this might deserve clarification. As the 100 gram sample of white bread had 266 calories, the slice of white bread equivalent in mass to ezekiel bread actually has (266)(.34)= 90 calories, or 10 more calories than an equivalent slice of ezekiel bread.

    Now that the issue of white vs ezekiel is completely sorted (which once again is somewhat shocking considering you are apparently a physician, and one that specifically focuses on nutrition), there is the issue of your second argument, regarding the "sugar" in ezekiel bread. I have a package of the bread in front of me that I just bought. It states that there are 15g of carbs per slice (34g), and 0 grams of sugars. What this means is that there are ZERO grams of free monosaccharides or disaccharides in a slice of ezekiel bread. This is what the FDA considers a "sugar" for the "Nutrition Facts" labeling. Clearly there are 12g of carbohydrates that are not dietary fiber that still exist in the bread, but they are natural polysaccharides, and not simply "added sugars". The FDA recommends that AT LEAST 1/3 (if not far more) of the human caloric intake come from carbohydrates, and all carbohydrates will contain sugars in one form or another. Further, if this article was intended primarily for diabetics (which is unclear), you neglected to mention that the glycemic index for ezekiel bread is 36, less than an apple, an orange, or a tomato, but rather the same as lima beans and chickpeas. The glycemic index for "white bread" is 95! Ninety-Five...

    So, the BIG QUESTION... What is the point of your article? You clearly were mistaken or misinformed about white bread. The link you provided to ezekiel bread doesn't work anymore, but I will tell you from looking at the package that there are 15 grams of carbs, 3 grams of dietary fiber, so a net of 12g polysaccharides (another slight error above, as you stated there was 15g of "sugar," which I can only interpret as the amount of carbs after dietary fiber is removed). You mention "the carbs in this bread are the same as in any kind of bread," and this is the most interesting thing you said. I would LOVE to have clarification on how the polysaccharides in ezekiel bread are better or worse for the human body than those found in other breads. This is information I can't find out by using google for a few minutes (like all of the other information above). As a layman I have to believe that the glycemic index of 36 (vs white breads 95) suggests that the sugars in ezekiel bread ARE different, but I am not a doctor, you are, I am not a pharmacist, you are, I am not a nutritionist, whereas you apparently are.

    Please utilize your expertise to explain why I should BEWARE ezekiel bread to other breads? Or in general? Please assume that I am smart enough to read the nutrition facts label, and I know this is not a magic food with zero calories and zero sugars and will solve all my problems. I bought the bread because I wanted a healthier bread, and I would love it if you could evaluate that.

    Of course, all discussion of the Bible and feces is completely irrelevant, at least to me.

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    1. Hi Ethan, thanks for your note.

      Your comments are interesting and well written,here's my reply....

      All carbohydrates (with the exception of fiber) spike insulin to a greater or lesser degree. Twelve grams of carbohydrates is a bit over two teaspoonfuls of insulin spiking sugar and if you eat two or three slices you will be essentially ingesting up to 7 or so teaspoonsful of sugar. That's alot for a healthy person and can be especially problematic for a diabetic thus the somewhat hyperbolic headline that included the word "Beware". While it's true carbohydrates are a must have in the human diet, the point I was trying to make with the article is that caution needs to be used when using Ezekiel bread as a source of calories or nutrition. Carbs are carbs, they're handled via the body's sugar metabolizing biochemical systems, which can be easily overloaded by the Standard American Dietand EB carbs are not better or worse than any other carbs. The higher fiber content of the Ezekiel bread (as compared to white bread )slows down their release and this is the reason for the lower glycemic index.

      Also, while much of the gluten and lectins in grains are broken down by the sprouting process, is is likely that some remain and it possible for sensitive folks to react negatively.

      Yes, you are correct, Ezekiel bread is a healthier bread than white bread, but that's not saying a heckuva alot! In my opinion it's still bread, it will spike your insulin (albeit less than other breads), induce glycation and weight gain and is not a health food.

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  13. Thank you for your rapid response. That provides great clarification.

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  14. A slice of white bread has 70 calories according to the King Sooper's brand loaf sitting on my counter. Get your facts straight.

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  15. Lol, thanks Anonymous , but we already corrected that back in May. However, to reiterate, my addendum from May 25, 2013 (see above, a slice of white bread has around 66-70 calories per slice. However, kudos for your astute observation!

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  16. In the Bible the verse you are refering to reads"...bake it with", not make it with.

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  17. Haha who would think that you actually put the poo in the bread?

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  18. Yes, the remainder of the passage clarifies:

    "Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.”

    “Very well,” he (God) said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

    The remainder of the ninth verse says: "You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side."

    BTW - this is from the OT, not the NT. (Old testament.)

    The things people fall for! Are they going to lie on their sides for 390 days? Previous verses say: " “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel."

    Really, people?


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  19. I have to agree. I was quite disappointed that my blood sugar spiked after having a few slices. I don't know how they can advertise this as diabetic bread because it is not!!!

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  20. wow your an idiot to compare the bread to table sugar when they both differ greatly in the glycemic index.

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  21. As I read this stupid article. I saw many mistakes and I was going to address them in the comments section but after reading the comments I saw that people already addressed them.

    Instead of admitting that you misunderstood what the King James Translation Version states, you persisted to defend YOUR interpretation of what it states. God told Ezekiel to BAKE IT with human dung and NOT to MAKE IT with human dung. This translation of the Bible is hard to understand at times because it is NOT in modern English. Many people misunderstand what it states. All English translations of the Bible state the OPPOSITE of YOUR interpretation. Also, Ezekiel's book is in the OT (i.e. Old Testament) and NOT in the NT (New Testament).

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  22. "And thou shall eat it as barley cakes, and thou shall bake it with dung that cometh out of man"

    As in use the dung to build a fire. Not put it in the bread. I think I can safely think you're and idiot not.

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  23. I hope no one listens to you on this matter. Your information is completely false, and where is this mysterious 25 calorie white bread. That doesn't exist. Most slices of bread are 80 calories, and you'd know that if you did any fact checking before you decided to blog about a topic you clearly know nothing about. Number one thing I hate about the internet; any creep can run their mouth and pollute other's minds with their nonsense. You probably thing evolution is fake too...

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  24. You're information is wrong. The ingredients in the basic sprouted bread are as follows: Ingredients
    Organic Sprouted Wheat, Filtered Water, Organic Sprouted Barley, Organic Sprouted Millet, Organic Malted Barley, Organic Sprouted Lentils, Organic Sprouted Soybeans, Organic Sprouted Spelt, Fresh Yeast, Organic Wheat Gluten, Sea Salt.http://www.foodforlife.com/product/breads/ezekiel-49-sprouted-whole-grain-bread
    If you chose the cinnamon raisin bread, you do get 6 gms of sugar... from the raisins.

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  25. I am not diabetic or prediabetic, but I monitor and have tested my postprandial blood glucose for the last three years. I recently started eating 100% sprouted bread (not Ezekiel) and nothing added. It has consitantly sent my blood glucose through the roof. Carbs that are not fibre are effectively sugar. Slowing the digestion of carbs is good, but they still need and likely will be digested, adding to the overall daily load, causing in my case a later and sustained longer spike. Delicious dense and heavy bread - so easy to overeat. I might try sprouting my own grains and making my own bread to see if fully sprouting them uses up the carb content, but store bought bread I think will be a Christmas treat.

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