Should I eat bread?
The low carbohydrate movement has demonized bread. But is bread fattening? Does it cause inflammation? And if so, why do we call bread the Staff of Life?
The Staff of Life
Imagine calling white bread the staff of life. And yet bread is more responsible for humans ending a nomadic existence. The cultivation of wheat and barley, both in the Nile and in the Euphrates/Tigris rivers, led to civilization.
Calendars, Art, Religion
Not having to forage meant there was time to build a more permanent shelter. It also meant a steady supply of food.
This also meant a calendar was needed because when is the optimal time to plant?
The calendar helped predict when the rivers would swell and recede. The bottom land, with its rich topsoil, is ideal for growing crops.
When you don't need to spend time looking for food, you have time to develop other things:
- Make a religion around grains - the god of the weather, of the earth of the river
- Grain can become the first currency, facilitating trade
- Art because you spend less time seeking food
- Storage systems to overcome times of famine.
- Mathematics, weights, and measures are needed to buy and sell grain
- Writing to make contracts and facilitate trade of the grain
- A government is needed to settle disputes
Storage Systems
Harvested grain can be stored. Storing grain in Egypt was easier because of the dry climate. Joseph, of the Hebrew Bible, prophesied to the Pharoh of an upcoming famine. As a result, the Pharoh built silos and stored a portion of each harvest. Seven years later, the harvest failed. But
The silo system was complex. Filling from the top and arranged in a way that winds would keep the grains cool. Where did Egyptians get the idea for such an invention? From bees. You can see the bees' natural ventilation system here:
Bees were the symbol of royalty in ancient Egypt. Their honey was tears from the sun god. Bee architecture was copied for the ventilation system for the silos storing grain. Thus, the storage of grain allowed society to thrive during the time of famine.
Bronze Age to Iron Age
Bread was portable. Served as currency. Allowed armies to march. Facilitated trade between city states. The grain rich regions of the Nile produced grain traded with Mycennians for olive oil and wine.
The Roman emperors gave bread to the poor as welfare. Part of the bread and circus program to keep Romans happy. Bread was imported to Rome, and ultimately, Roman citizens were given "their daily bread."
Rome fell, but bread continued to be important.
Bread until 1920
Grains, including bread, were the major source of calories for most of Europe. From the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages, bread was the main source of calories, along with other grain products.
Bread in the Industrial Age
White bread was considered pure, hygienic, the whiter the better. Brown bread could be contaminated. The ability of mills to separate wheat from chaff, and to make bread without a human hand touching it was irresistible. Industrial bread slicing resulted in "best thing since sliced bread."
White bread became the preferred style of bread from the 1920s until 2009.
Fortification of bread with vitamins in the 1940s made bread a health food. Pellagra (vitamin B 3 deficiency) and beriberi (thiamine deficiency) had sadly become common in the US and were eliminated by fortification. So it was indeed revolutionary, but calling it a health food? Even the Federal Trade Commission had issues with this "12 ways campaign" and sued Wonder Bread. The Feds lost.
Age of Aquarius Beats Bread
In spite of the world loving white bread,
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