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FYI, The Onion isn't a real newspaper.
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http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...ust+antioxidant
There you go, smartass.
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Ok, I was just messing around, but that's actually really interesting, you win sir. It seems to all point to just this one pair of scientists and pretty recent research, so we should wait a few years to see if it's actually significant, but yeah, it shows that the Maillard reaction in the crust actually does significantly change some of the proteins.
Once in a while the old "common wisdom" actually comes from centuries of figuring out what's good for you, but I'm guessing in this case the old wives tale that the crust is better just came from nonsense and it's a total coincidence that it might actually be better for you.
Also Re: the calories, it sounds silly, but you are right that as much as 40% of the calories can be in the crust. That's not because the crust is different per se, but mainly because the crust is about 40% of the weight of some breads (breads where the inside is really light and airy but the crust is dense). Obv if you want to reduce calories you can also make a huge dent just by cutting the slice thinner.