Iron Corn

Iron Corn

Bread Can Do You In

The Bible calls bread “the staff of life,” and you still hear good things about it. Especially the whole grain versions.

Well, not so fast, Chester. They’ve gone and turned the staff of life into a weapon against us. Eating bread is dangerous for your health nowadays.

First off, in the 1980s, bakeries changed from their more-than-a-century-old practice of conditioning Bread Dough with iodine, which is good for us, to conditioning it with bromine, a fire retardant which is bad for us.

The reason for the change seems lost to history, but I’d guess it involved a dollar sign somewhere along the way.

Anyway, bromine pushes iodine, which we need, out of the body–and things quit working. For one thing, we get cysts on various and sundry body parts. For another, our thyroid gland goes into a big-time swoon. And on. And on.

Iodine is huge, and we’re all deficient. And the more bread you eat, the more iodine deficient you become. Who thought that was a good idea?

One interesting thing about that thyroid business is blood tests don’t catch it. Bromine and iodine are chemically similar, and blood tests can’t tell the difference. But your body sure can, and it’s not at all happy about it.

But, wait, there’s more!

I learned that Pepperidge Farm still conditions their bread dough with iodine. Eureka! I could eat bread again! I raced to the store–only to read they fortify their bread with iron. Yikes!

Bread companies advertise this fortified-with-iron business as a big time health builder, but most of Europe banned the practice. A big study in Sweden found that iron-fortified bread tripled the incidence of liver cancer. Are you catching a clue that iron-fortified bread is a bad deal?

Iron is the only mineral we get too much of. Studies say 91% of us have too much. Problem is, iron oxidizes–that is, rusts out–our innards. You can’t get enough antioxidants to counteract an overabundance of iron.

And even people who need iron don’t want the kind that’s in iron-fortified bread.

Then there’s that teensy problem that today’s bread also contains high fructose corn syrup, which our bodies have no idea how to handle, and which causes inflammation. In turn, inflammation causes disease. Heart disease, cancer, pick a disease, any disease, and it grows better with HFCS.

So when your diet guru promotes bread, think at least twice about it. Or, better yet, just say ‘no.’

About the Author

Confused about what vitamins and minerals you need? Not certain about what to look for in nutritional supplements? Bette Dowdell dug herself out of a really deep health ditch, and she wants to use her years of study to help you do the same. Don’t go dragging through life when you don’t have to. Bette’s e-book Pep for the Pooped: Vitamins and Minerals Your Body Is Starving For helps you build a solid health foundation–and takes you directly to the right brand, the best type, at the lowest price. Save time and money–plus get the knowledge you’re on the right track. Real help is waiting for you at http://PepForThePooped.com

Corn Star Media Episode 11 From Iron Man to Iron Corn