'Grandmothers Meant Well': Pros and Cons of Home-Baked Bread

A new trend is gaining popularity in Russia: homemakers are increasingly rejecting factory-produced baked goods in favor of homemade baking. Whether there is a difference between bread factory products and a loaf baked at home was discussed not only by homemakers but also by famous scientists from Volgograd.

According to homemakers, the trend for homemade bread leads not only to savings in the family budget but also to a noticeable improvement in the quality of products served at the table.

— After we bought a bread maker, I no longer buy bread at the store, but make it myself. The recipe is quite simple: our Volgograd flour, vegetable oil, salt, sugar, water, and yeast. It turns out very aromatic bread with a crispy crust, which our family loves very much, — said homemaker Yulia.

There are a great many recipes for making bread, buns, and vatrushki (Russian pastries) at home. But is homemade bread really that healthy?

— We gave up homemade bread. Yes, it«s tasty and aromatic, but the thing is, as soon as we started eating it regularly, my family members gained weight sharply, and we all had to go to the gym together, — shares Tatyana, a resident of Srednyaya Akhtuba in the Volgograd region.

Natalya Latyshevskaya, head of the Department of General Hygiene and Ecology at Volgograd State Medical University (under the Russian Ministry of Health), Doctor of Medical Sciences, confirmed that there is little benefit in baking made from premium-grade flour.

— Every medical student knows this: white bread made from premium-grade flour is purely easily digestible carbohydrates that lead to rapid weight gain. There is little benefit in such bread. Therefore, it«s best to avoid baking from such flour, — says the professor.

According to the professor, ideal bread should be made from coarse-ground flour.

— Whole-grain flour contains vitamins, trace elements, and fiber. All of this will benefit our body. And bread with bran will be useful for those who have intestinal problems, — says Natalya Latyshevskaya.

Speaking about the difference between homemade and store-bought bread, the medical professor noted that both products can be equally beneficial or harmful. The issue is the quality of production.

— A conscientious producer will never add palm oil to the dough or do a second kneading. One needs to carefully look at the composition — preservatives, flavorings, and colorings certainly won«t benefit the body. From this perspective, bread baked at home will, of course, be more beneficial, — agreed the scientist.

At the Scientific Center for Agroecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), they confirmed: the recipe for ideal bread is not in chemical additives at all.

— The most delicious and healthy bread was baked by our grandmothers in a Russian oven. And grandmothers, as we know, never wished us harm, — advised Alexander Belyaev, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, professor, corresponding member of RAS, director of the Center for Agroecology at RAS. — Their recipe is simple: flour, water, salt, and yeast. Representatives of the older generation had robust health and lived to a hundred years. That«s what we should strive for!