Jordi Morera: "Good bread is not the devil of food; it doesn't make you fat, nor does it have bad carbohydrates."

Vilanova i la GeltrúBread has become the scapegoat because carbohydrates and gluten have become the villains. "Good bread isn't the demon of food, it doesn't make you fat, and it doesn't have bad carbohydrates, as misinformation spread through social media would have you believe," say baker Jordi Morera and nutritionist Anna Grífols, who have just published the book Long life in bread. Healthy carbohydrates (Efadós publishing house) to defend it.

It's Friday morning, and at the Espiga de Oro bakery in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Plaça Soler i Gustems), they've met for breakfast and to prepare the book launch, which will take place that same evening at the Ona bookstore in Barcelona. "We met because we had a mutual friend, and I asked him for advice on making a protein bread, especially for athletes," explains Jordi Morera. Anna Grífols has her practice in Calafell; Jordi is from Vilanova, where he owns the family bakery, a tradition that goes back to his grandfather. The bread was made with a high percentage of chickpea flour, with added chia seeds, quinoa, and turmeric with pepper, a spice that activates the turmeric. "When we did it, we realized that we were both concerned about food myths, about misinformation, which has especially affected bread," says Morera, who adds that he encounters this daily when selling: "Customers tell me they've heard that bread has carbohydrates." And at this point, the nutritionist adds that she knows "many weight-loss diets have recommended not eating bread; and this is completely outdated," she says.

Debunking the myth that bread makes you fat

And that's why they wrote the book. Because they both needed to put certainties into writing and debunk myths. Like what? "Eating bread makes you fat," one of the most widespread. The baker and the nutritionist argue that "the overall excess calories, not just from bread, are what cause weight gain." Another: "Gluten is bad for everyone." They respond: "It only needs to be eliminated in cases of celiac disease, wheat allergy, or diagnosed sensitivity." A third: "Bread raises cholesterol. The problem is what we add on top." To continue, there's another issue that has also spread in recent years linking bread consumption with an increase in the glycemic index. "If you're a healthy person, there's no problem with it raising your blood sugar, but your body will regulate it, depending on what you eat," Grífols points out. And this point is important to explain, because bread, like rice, has come to be called "white poison" precisely for this reason. "Food, like society, has become polarized, and in nutrition there are no good or bad foods, but rather combinations, the way in which they are combined. For example, with vegetables or legumes, it's a very good food; the same happens with white bread, which, when eaten with tomato, arugula, or hummus, reduces the glycemic index," says the nutritionist.

Following this line of thought, Jordi Morera refers to the diet of our grandparents. "They ate legumes four times a week, green salad was a staple at the table, oily fish was a common meal, and bread was always present," he says, adding that "if there are health problems due to diet, it's because of processed foods." The nutritionist agrees, adding that there's also the fact that very few vegetables are eaten, when they should always make up half of the main meals of the day.

The breads made by the baker from Vilanova i la Geltrú are wholemeal and semi-wholemeal. "Made from two ingredients, flour and water, and with a generous amount of sourdough starter, also made with flour and water." Supermarket breads, which have labels with more than two ingredients, "are a different story; nothing like the same thing." And the baker and nutritionist elaborate on the topic of wholemeal. "We know that whole grains contain an antinutrient called phytic acid, which is a chelator, meaning it steals good nutrients from the body. But if whole-wheat bread is made with too much sourdough starter, it reduces it, because sourdough is key," they explain, adding that, "Legumes themselves also contain it, but it's reduced when we soak them for hours; then we're helping to digest them better."

Finally, a bit of history, because they've also dedicated a chapter to it in the book, and it's precisely one of the strengths of baker Jordi Morera's knowledge. "We've always known that bread is linked to Neolithic man, 12,000 years ago, but 30,000 years ago humans already had a relationship with grains, and we know they ground them." Clearly, grinding them doesn't make bread, but a transformation process already existed. It was in the Neolithic period that this grain was fermented. And thanks to fermentation, bread was born, and also beer, which is the liquid version of bread. A note about white bread: it originated with the upper classes, who wanted a more refined and easier-to-eat bread. These wealthy people who began demanding refined bread, equivalent to our current semi-wholemeal bread, were the Romans. From then until commercial yeasts many years ago, but they were the forerunners. However, refined flours and commercial yeasts are modern inventions. "My father and grandfather didn't see much of a mother, because when yeast was invented, it swept everything away; its overuse has been the biggest problem for bread."

All of this has changed a lot. "The bread of the future will be the vehicle for eating good grains, legumes, and vegetables," says Jordi Morera, who explains that in the same field where he grows grains, he also plants legumes because they complement each other. "We shouldn't have to go looking for soybeans on the other side of the world, because we already have complete foods at home." And most interestingly, there's a type of bread for every person: for athletes, sourdough white bread because the carbohydrates provide quick energy. For those who want to feel full for longer, rye bread, which is high in fiber and has a very low glycemic index.