It’s long been believed that the darker the bread, the higher the health properties. But it seems that notion is just a myth, or so claim a group of food scientists.

Nathan Myhrvold recently released Modernist Bread, a book that delves into the science behind the carbohydrate favourite. “If you made a list of what everybody knows to be true about nutrition, one of those things would be that whole grain breads are both more nutritious and better for you, health-wise,” Myhrvold told Bon Appetit. “And, unfortunately, there’s no evidence of either one, and kind of evidence to the contrary.”

The team looked into the past 50 years of studies and determined that all types of bread have a similar effect on the human body. For those unfamiliar with the makings of bread – white bread is made by separating the bran (the outside of a kernel of wheat) with the germ (the inside). It is ground down in a flour mill and sifted apart, using only the endosperm for the end result. While, in comparison, whole wheat is separated in the process but mixed back together for the final loaf. It’s the bran that darkens the flour and is what was also believed to be the healthy component of bread thanks to a high fibre and vitamin content.

But it turns out that reality isn’t quite so black and white explains Nathan. “If you look on a nutrient-by-nutrient basis,” he says, “there’s a couple things that [wheat bread] would be slightly better on, but they’re generally not important in the sense that they’re not things most people run a deficit of.”

While raw grain may claim higher properties of vitamins and minerals, Nathan believes that human bodies tend not to absorb them properly. “Human digestion doesn’t break down [whole wheat] in the same way that a chemical analysis does,” he says. Similarly, the long held belief that wholemeal sustains blood sugar level consistency better than white bread is false. Nathan continues that wholegrain contains only 11 percent bran, believing that the resulting effect on blood glucose levels is minimal.

It’s important to note that any extra additions to your loaf tend to drastically decrease the health value of bread, no matter the colour of the grain. Beware the likes of sweeteners and preservatives that come in many a packaged loaf. When in doubt, stick with the homemade – while it may be a lengthier process than a trip to the shops, the piece of mind that comes with it will make it worth it.