Purple Bread Is the Latest Weird Fad for People Avoiding Carbs

Oh bread, where did it all go wrong? We used to be so good together. Toast in the morning, a nice cheese and pickle sandwich for lunch, and maybe a crusty roll or two at dinner.

Then the gluten-free brigade arrived and we all got scared wheat would give us crippling digestive issues and had to pretend we felt bloated after eating half a bagel. Really, we felt momentarily elated at the interplay of cream cheese and deliciously pillowy carb—and then guilty.

A Singaporean food scientist may have the key to restoring our relationship with the beloved carbohydrate. Bonus: it also comes in a funky colour.

Professor Zhou Weibiao from the National University of Singapore has created a "purple bread" he claims is made entirely from natural compounds and rich in cancer-fighting antioxidants, allowing us to enjoy our loaves without the unhealthy side effects.

Professor Zhou Weibiao started by extracting anthocyanins, the natural pigments found in foods like grapes and blueberries, from black rice and infused them into bread. The rice's starch properties were left behind but its well-documented antioxidant qualities were preserved in the crust when baked. These anthocyanins also gave the bread a distinctive purple colour.

Weibaio explained to CNN: "The challenge was to see if we could change the formula of bread, without changing the smooth texture of white bread that people really love. Despite its antioxidant capacity and associated health benefits, the knowledge of using anthocyanins as an ingredient in food products is very limited."

Weibaio claims that as well as matching your purple cabbage coleslaw sandwich filling, purple bread is digested 20 percent slower than regular white bread, due to a chemical reaction between the anthocyanins and starch enzymes.

This is good because one of the problems with white bread is how quickly we digest it. Its sugars go straight into the bloodstream and create unhealthy spikes and crashes in blood sugar levels, causing us to eat more. This may be why sales of white bread have declined in recent years, with one British supermarket even giving up on selling it altogether.

Weibaio added: "If you want to enjoy the texture of white bread and slow down digestion, this is probably the best formula. And the colour isn't bad, either."

The scientist also claims that the nutritional level of purple bread is similar to its normal-coloured counterpart but that it provides a better energy boost.

He explained: "You are eating the same amount of starch and wheat flour so the nutritional value is the same. The key idea here is slowing down the energy release, so you use those calories over a longer period of time."

Unsurprisingly the bread is already being touted by some as the next "superfood." As well as controlling obesity, anthocyanins can help prevent cardiovascular and neurological diseases and cancer—basically everything your cheese toastie doesn't do.

The bread isn't yet commercially viable but Weibaio says he has already been approached by major food manufacturers.

In the meantime, an easy way to turn your standard white bread purple could be to simply slather it with a good layer of blackcurrant jam.

Probably tastes better, too.