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Walk down the bread aisle of almost any supermarket and you will see the same promises printed on the packaging. Whole grain, high fibre, good for your heart. For years, swapping white bread for brown has been one of the first changes people make when they decide to look after themselves, and it comes from a genuine wish to do the right thing.
So it can come as a real surprise to hear a cardiologist question whether those grains are as kind to the heart as we have been told.
Dr William Davis is a cardiologist and bestselling author, and he is one of the more than 40 experts featured in The Untold Story of Heart Disease, a 9-part docuseries by filmmaker Matt Carter. In the series, Dr Davis explains how wholegrains can set off a cascade inside the blood vessels.
That is a bold position, and it runs against much of the advice you will find on food labels. It is well worth hearing him explain it in his own words in the series, because he walks you through his reasoning step by step, and it gives you something concrete to discuss with your own doctor.
To understand why this debate exists at all, it helps to look back at how our diets changed. For decades, fat was treated as the main enemy of the heart. The first episode of the series, "The Big Fat Cover Up", tells the story of how fat came to be demonised.
As people cut fat, food makers needed to fill the gap. Wheat, sugar and other grains often took its place, and products such as bread, breakfast cereals and snack bars became the foundation of what many people thought of as a healthy diet. The experts in the series argue that these low-fat products may be part of the problem.
Fred Pauser, one of the survivors featured in the series, did everything mainstream advice suggested. He avoided fat, ate lots of whole grains and was very active. One morning he woke with stabbing chest pain and could hardly breathe, and his doctor told him the main arteries to his heart were almost completely blocked. In the changes he made afterwards, he did not follow a low-fat diet. He used food swaps, botanicals, specific supplements and sunlight, alongside other lifestyle changes. He went on to drop 20 pounds, his cholesterol was normal and his doctor said he was no longer at high risk. Your results may differ from Fred's, but his story is worth hearing in full.
Matt Carter himself ate wholegrains, exercised and took his medications daily, believing he was living healthily. Even so, he was overweight and struggling with brain fog, headaches, high blood pressure, acid reflux and joint pain.
None of this means you need to empty your cupboards tonight. A sensible first step is simply to pay more attention to what you are eating and how you feel afterwards.
Start by reading the ingredients on the bread, cereals and snack bars you buy. Many people are surprised by how much added sugar turns up in foods sold as healthy. Notice whether certain foods leave you hungry again soon after eating, or whether you find them hard to stop eating once you start. Food addiction is the subject of its own episode in the series, and bread is one of the foods discussed in it.
If you are managing diabetes, heart disease or any other condition, talk to your doctor or a qualified dietitian before making big changes to your diet. They know your history and can help you make changes safely, especially if you take medication that depends on what and how much you eat.
The question of whole grains is only one part of a much bigger story. Heart Disease Code brings together the full 9-part docuseries, about 10 hours of interviews with experts including Dr Davis, Dr Mark Hyman, Dr Stephen Sinatra and journalist Nina Teicholz, along with the Heart Disease Code ebook and its 9 steps to fight and prevent heart disease naturally.
The bonuses make it practical. The Heart Healthy Cookbook has over 50 easy recipes from an in-house chef, and The Top 50 Foods for a Healthy Heart ebook helps you see which foods to put on your plate in place of the ones you are rethinking. You can see the full Heart Disease Code package here.
It costs $19.95 as a one-time payment, down from $99.95, and comes with a 60-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. If you have always trusted the healthy-looking loaf in your trolley, this is a fascinating way to find out what one cardiologist and many other experts think about it. Watch The Untold Story of Heart Disease and decide for yourself.