Great Harvest Everett

Bake Like an Egyptian

People have been munching on grains longer than we've been living in houses. As early as 73,000 BC, ancient cave dwellers in Asia were mixing together an oatmeally-mush of bread's two basic ingredients: water and ground grain.

Somewhere between 4000 and 2000 BC, people learned to cook this mush into bread-like matzo and pitas, but it wasn't until several centuries later that the ancient Egyptians discovered yeast and began using it to make the kind of bread we know today. (The ancient Egyptians were also the first to knead dough with their feet. A little known fact.) Since the Egyptians, bread-making has gone through many changes.

At Great Harvest, we combine the best of the new, like using ovens, with the best of the old, like using only the simplest ingredients and personally grinding our own whole wheat flour (we decided to take a pass on kneading dough with our feet.)

Uncle Sam Says, "Eat More Bread"

Okay, we hate to say we told you so but, hey, we did! For 30 years now, Great Harvest has been telling anyone that would listen, that whole wheat is good for you. In addition to being just plain tasty, whole wheat bread also contains a lot of complex carbohydrates (the body's best energy source), as well as soluble and insoluble fiber. Scientists have found that soluble fiber may help decrease cholesterol levels and prevent heart disease, while insoluble fiber cleans out the digestive system and may help prevent colon and breast cancer.

That's a big reason why, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) redid its nutritional recommendations for Americans, it made grains the base of its Food Guide Pyramids and recommended that we all eat between six and eleven servings of grain a day (the American Diabetic Association recommends three servings of whole grain). Luckily, a one-inch-thick slice of Great Harvest bread that contains our whole wheat flour equals two servings of grain.

Of course, not all breads are created equal and not many can match up to ours. We pride ourselves on baking very tasty bread, and we do it without adding any fats, oils or preservatives. That means Great Harvest's bread is better for you than most of the bread on the market. And it tastes fantastic!

Still More on Why Whole Wheat Bread is Special

During the milling process, a wheat kernel splits into three parts: bran, germ and endosperm. The bran is the outer covering of the seed, which, when eaten, cannot be completely broken down by the human digestive system. So, when bran moves through your digestive system, it acts kind of like a broom, sweeping out particles and leaving your intestines "clean."

The germ is the part of the kernel that actually sprouts when the kernel is planted in the ground, and the endosperm is what fuels that development. Because it has to nourish a sprouting stalk, the endosperm contains the most protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins of wheat kernel. A lot of companies will remove the bran and germ during the milling process, leaving just the endosperm in the flour. When you buy white bread, you're buying a loaf that was made with only the endosperm, and when you buy whole wheat bread, you're buying a loaf that was made with - you guessed it - the whole wheat kernel.

We like white bread, but we love making whole wheat bread because it has better texture, tastes wheatier, gives you more energy and helps keep you healthy.