White vs. Wheat - Does it matter?

I had RNY nearly 2 years ago and have done well. Of course, I've had to make lots of changes. I don't eat a lot of white bread, white rice, or white pasta. I do eat wheat bread, brown rice and wheat pasta, and try to buy the stuff with the highest fiber content, just like my nut said to do. I've heard recently that brown rice can be even worse than white rice on the glycemic index. IS THIS TRUE??? I mean, really, do I have to cut it out? And what about the wheat bread? I buy Nature's Own double-fiber wheat bread, stays fresh forever, don't know why and don't want to know. I also eat pasta a couple of times a week but I've turned to wheat and like it just fine. Does anybody know for sure if it's OK to eat these things and if it makes a difference as opposed to the white stuff?

Sometimes understanding the manufacturing process helps to make the right decisions.  All the bread products you listed (white bread, wheat bread, pasta, etc) starts out as the same raw produce -- wheat.  The difference is that with 100% whole grain bread/pasta actually uses the entire kernel of wheat.  Whereas white bread/pasta strips away the outer part of the wheat kernel where the fiber and protein resides and uses only a portion of the kernel.  When making "white" stuff they process the wheat so much that there's not much nutrient left, so they have to "fortify" it by adding back artifically made nutrients to the mix. Also "white" foods often have bleach added to the manufacturing process to make it white. So obviously the less the kernel is processed, the closer the food is to a whole food... and the healthier it is for us.  Here's an article about whole grains: http://www.ific.org/foodinsight/2005/ma/wholegrainfi205.cfm As for white rice vs. brown rice on the glycemic index scale here are the facts (remember that the lower the number, the better): White Rice: 64 Long Grain Rice: 56 Brown Rice: 50 Here's a great website to learn about glycemic index load.  Near the top of the page in the yellow box there's a link to a MS Excel Spreadsheet that lists thousands of foods and their GI.  It's interesting to compare different foods.   http://www.mendosa.com/gi.htm I say stick with the whole grain choices you've been making.  I avoid white-foods as much as possible and would rather give my body the healthier choice. Pam

Thank you so much for the info - I'm going to check out the web sites as soon as I have some time.

This is an excellent question - I've kinda been wondering the same thing.  But now I am wondering, is wheat better than white even if its not whole grain? Is this correct - white (bad), wheat (better) and whole grain (best) - or am I way off base here?? Thanks to anyone who can clear this up!

I'd like it cleared up as well. For instance, when you're trying to pick the best tortilla, planning to make a high-protein, high-fiber, healthy wrap, there's light tortillas, spinach tortillas, low carb tortillas, whole wheat tortillas, whole grain tortillas, and black bean tortillas. It's easy to look at the calories, but that's not always the most important thing. There's a diet program called "Thrive" and the guy that wrote the book actually has an office here in little Rome, GA. One thing they do is take you through the grocery store and tell you what to buy. I'm thinking of investing the $150 or so to go on the program. I don't need to lose any weight, I just want to make the best choices. If I do, I will share all my learnings with all of you. :)

One thing I do when looking at labels is to check the ingredients.  If one of the first 3 ingredients is "Enriched Flour" then I avoid it.  I would rather see "whole grain" or 100% whole grain.  Enriched is just another word for white flour that's been stripped of all it' nutrients and then "enriched" with vitamins added back in.  I'd rather they didn't take the nutrients out in the first place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enriched_flour http://www2.oprah.com/health/yourbody/slide/20060501/yourbod y_20060501_350_203.jhtml so even "wheat' bread will most likely have enriched flour as its first ingredient.  Make sure you are reading label carefully to find out exactly what you're eating.  And if you don't understand what an ingredient means, come home and Google it.  Or check the Worlds Healthiest Foods website - www.whfoods.org