More On Julian Bakery's Bread

Submitted by Dana on Wed, 2010-09-01 18:14

I was trying to decide what to blog about today, toying with the idea of writing about chicken keeping and how cool it is, when I got an email from my long-time low carb cyberpal Kathy Miller. (I knew Kathy back in... what, '96? Back when nobody was low carb, and we were on an email support list. Remember email support lists?)

Kathy bought the Julian Bakery Smart Carb Bread and tested her blood sugar after eating it. She was, to say the least, unhappy with the results. She sent me her email exchange with Julian Bakery, and suggested I share it with you:

What's your name? * Kathleen Miller
What's your email address. * kathy.miller@gmail.com

So what can we do for you?

Last month I ordered 4 loaves of low carb bread from your bakery. I was SO EXCITED because it has been months since I have had bread. My blood sugar is too high and so is my husbands. The day I got the bread I had 1/2 of a piece at 4 PM in the afternoon. My blood sugar prior to eating it was 89 and 1 hour after it was 145!!!! It has taken me a month to get up my nerve to eat a piece again, so I did tonight- again a major spike in blood sugar. I have no idea WHAT you guys are putting in your bread for this to happen, but I am extremely disappointed in your product. I suggest you all do some MAJOR research on these issues. I will have to throw all this bread away.

Kathleen Miller

*From: *Julian Bakery Sales >
*Date: *August 31, 2010 9:06:34 PM EDT
*To: *kathy.miller@gmail.com
*Subject: **Re: Contact Julian Bakery [#310]*

I am not sure what to say to you as we did extensive testing with Type 2 Diabetics that had a minimal spike. You can read about one Type 2 Diabetics experience here: http://plainolfood.blogspot.com/2009/04/julian-bakerys-smart-carb-1-bread.html
Two weeks ago we also changed our recipe for the Smart Carb bread adding Inulin to minimize any sort of blood sugar spike.
I am sorry you had an the experience that you did and would be more than glad to send you a free loaf of our new
Smart Carb Bread to see if you do well on it.

Please provide your address and I will send you some tomorrow you want as we tested our Smart Carb # 1 bread extensively with Type 2 Diabetics.

Thank You!

Kathy's email to me:

I've been reading online on several places that this bread is causing BG spikes just like mine. Makes me angry that this bakery is charging what they are for a loaf of bread and it obviously has ISSUES! What DOES one do with this kind of info? One gives it to Dana! :-))) Kathy

So I am duly reporting Kathy's experience, and many thanks to her for the valuable feedback. This is how the low carb community protects its members.

Two thoughts:

1) While my blood sugar rose more than the labeled claim for carb content would have predicted after I tried the Julian Bakery Smart Carb Bread #1 (and my original calculations were embarrassingly inaccurate), it did not rise nearly as much as it would have with standard bread, even whole grain bread. I am not a diabetic; this may make a difference. But it also indicates that this is very likely a "your mileage may vary" issue.

2) I know from the reports I have gotten from people testing their blood sugar after eating Dreamfield's pasta that not only do the results vary from person to person, but that often the same person got differing results on different occasions, and especially depending on what else they had eaten. That Kathy got a big blood sugar spike from this bread twice says to me that she'd best not eat it at all. But it's possible that some folks may find that the Julian Bakery bread works for them under some circumstances, or as an occasional treat. Me, I have long treated all low carb bread as a treat item, eating it far less frequently than once a month.

Share this
»

Smart Carb bread made my blood sugar go down!

Submitted by charlesarcher on Sun, 2011-04-10 22:27.

I recently tried your Smart Carb #1 bread, and I am very impressed with the FIBER content, quality, and texture. In short, it tastes great!
Because I am a Type 2 Diabetic, finding your Smart Carb bread is of even greater importance to me - because it actually seems to help lower my blood sugar!

I have been a Type 2 Diabetic for 15 years, and it has been difficult (until now) to find bread (or other foods) that I can eat which contained as much FIBER (good Carbohydrates) in them.
Any "regular" bread (English Muffin, etc.) sends my blood sugar soaring up to 140-160 or higher, soon after breakfast.
This is because those "other" breads are loaded with sugar, sweeteners, corn syrup, and such carbohydrates - yet only have 1 or 2 grams of FIBER. Your bread has none of this.

I experienced the effect of 12 grams of FIBER (in your Smart Carb #1 Bread) on my blood sugar after eating one delicious slice of it at breakfast one day.
Before breakfast, I had tested my blood sugar. It was 124. About two hours after breakfast, I tested my blood sugar again. It was 109! It had actually gone DOWN from 124 to 109.

This had rarely happened before. It most often goes UP after breakfast - as high as 140, 160 or higher.
I attribute (part) of this amazing result to the addition of the 12 grams of FIBER (a good carbohydrate) in one slice of your "Smart Carb #1 Bread" - to what I had for breakfast.
The 12 grams of FIBER in your bread are much higher than the fiber content in "other" breads - which typically have only 1 or 2 grams of FIBER (plus sugars and starches; the "other" two carbohydrates).

However, please note that my blood sugar reduction (noted above) does NOT happen every day. Further, it is NOT solely one slice of Smart Carb Bread that is responsible for reducing my blood sugar.
As any doctor will tell you, it is the combination of things that you eat and do that will help lower your blood sugar - and keep it at a low level.
This includes minding what you eat, and doing regular exercise to boost your metabolism.

That said, the 12 grams of FIBER in Smart Carb #1 Bread is a BIG HELP.

Breakfast for anyone is usually a great meal, and very tasty for most people.
My typical breakfast includes scrambled eggbeaters, with a slice of fat-free Borden's American cheese mixed in (to make them creamy).

I include some pan-grilled (heated) sliced turkey or chicken breast (for protein), along with variable combinations of tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, black beans, etc.
While these menu items vary for breakfast and other meals - I never eat potatoes, rice, or beef, processed food, or any food with sugars, starch, corn syrup, or excessive salt; and very little saturated fat.

Most Heart and Health specialists believe that FIBER goes a long way toward controlling blood sugar. In fact the AHA recommends 25-35 grams a day.
So Smart Carb #1 Bread was perhaps, literally, a "life saver" for me - because now I can enjoy (Smart Carb #1) bread with my food choices, without worrying about the effect on my blood sugar.

Thank you, Julian Bakery, for having the insight to develop and market this bread.
It costs a bit more than "regular" breads, but I feel my health is worth a lot more than the cost.
Besides, eating bread is a taste I have been missing for so many years - and now I can look forward to eating it every day.

Sincerely,
Charles A
Chandler, AZ.

Type 2 Diabetic : Recommends Smart Carb

Submitted by merryg33 on Sat, 2010-11-13 21:30.

This bread is Absolutely FABULOUS!!! I'm a diabetic who must attempt to keep her daily carb intake below 10 gm. Virtually impossible. I really missed bread. Until I found this Smart Carb Bread with 1 net carb I had been going without. I am proud to say I am a regularly customer of the Julian Bakery's SmartCarb No.1 bread. I am so happy with it and will continue to make it a part of my low carb diet that is so vital to my health considering I am a type 2 diabetic. Thank You - Merry G.

BALONEY WITH THE NO AND 1 CARB BREADS

Submitted by jerry3673 on Sun, 2010-09-12 10:49.

THERE PURE BALAONEY,I HAVE ONCE SLICE OF BREAD FROM JIKKIANS OR SUGAR FREE XPRESS IN TONKERS AND MY BLOOD SUGAR GOEWS UP 40 POITSMAND THIS HAS HAPPENED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS.EVEN AFTER EATING ONLY THE BREAD WITH NO TOPPINGS.I WROTE THE AUTHOR OF "FAT TO SKINNEY WITHOUT DIETING.AND HE SAUD IT WAS BU--------- WITH THE LOW CARB BREADS,APPARANTLY THE FDA DOES BOT REQUIRE THEM TO BE ACCUARTE OF CLOSE TO ACCURATE SINCE IT IS A SPECIALTY PRODUCT.WHEN I CUT OUT THOSE BREADS.MY WEIGHT LOSS DOUBLED AND MY DIABETES IS UNDER CONTROL,AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE

low carb bread

Submitted by nmarsh2k on Thu, 2010-09-02 16:54.

This happened to me as well and I had to throw away 6 loaves of bread. I should not have bought so much, but was trying to pay less for shipping. They responded to me telling me I had NOT bought Smart carb #1 or #2 and I MUST have bought the regular breads. Liars. I did buy the smart carb and took a picture of the wrappers and emailed them the picture. They did not respond.
I will not buy from them again. I wonder what their ingredients look like now. They used to have Spelt in their low carb breads which has a very high glycemic index and is high in carbohydrates.

Yes this is true.

Submitted by BikeCommuter on Wed, 2011-03-30 09:33.

I am diabetic. I have the exact same experience with this so called Low Carb Bead from Julian bakery. I bought 6 loves to save on shipping too. For me one slice of this bread is even worse than any normal bread. My blood sugar went way up, and stayed up for a long time. It literally wrecked my diabetic control. This bread is a big fat lie.

Spelt

Submitted by Dana on Thu, 2010-09-02 17:07.

Spelt is a variant of wheat, nothing more or less. Grown a lot, according to Wikipedia, from the Bronze Age through medieval times. Now seen as a specialty grain, since it's been supplanted by other breeds of wheat for most purposes.

Lowcarb Bread

Submitted by iamkathy01 on Thu, 2010-09-02 16:31.

All in the name of science, I will try a piece on my husband and see what happens with him! :-)) I drink whey protein shakes pretty much every morning of my life, and will check those levels too!! Thanks for your help! Now that I am thinking about it though- I just received some Quest Bars (new product- www.questpoteinbar.com) and they are whey protein and I think an excellent product! No sugar alcohols and all ingredients that you understand! :-)) Kathy

Yes, there could be just one

Submitted by Rishara on Thu, 2010-09-02 06:19.

Yes, there could be just one ingredient in the bread that she is very sensitive to. I notice that the bread has whey protein isolate. When I originally tried to go on the 6 Week Cure diet, I found my blood sugar spiking drastically, despite having the protein shakes that were extremely low-carb. After several rounds of eliminating this ingredient or that ingredient to try to figure out what was causing the issue, it all came down to the whey protein powder. It was a brand that had no added sweetener or anything, so it wasn't due to that. I finally figured out that I cannot eat whey protein powder at all without a violent blood sugar spike. I switched to egg protein powder and was fine after that. Perhaps this reader has a similar issue. It seems that some people's livers are just really good at converting whey protein into glucose. :(