Bread is a food that's quite available for us nowadays and it has been in our diet for a while now. Nowadays there are many types of bread, many flavors sweet, savory mixed with chocolate, high in fiber, low in fiber, buttery and on.
Because of the high availability of bread, there are many options, but which one is more healthy?, should I prefer one over another?, is there something we should keep an eye on when buying bread?, is sourdough bread better?
There are a LOT of types of bread, and the quality and benefits will depend on where, how, when and what type of bread you are buying.
White
Integral Bread
Sourdough bread
Sweet Bread
Italian Bread
French Bread
We can delve into each group, wherethere is greater variety of bread, but let's better see what we should consider when chossing a healthier bread:
RED FLAGS in BREAD
Added Sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
The reason why this ingredient is added is to have a better taste on bread, normally we like much more high carb foods and sweets so this makes the bread more palpable. With the addition of this we are adding much more fructose in our diet, that is more easy to absorb, that may have a bad effect on liver, fat gain, glucose metabolism, and insulin sensitivity.
High in sodium.
The added sodium is to add more flavor to a food, normally when fat, fiber and/ or sugar is removed but it doesn’t have any benefit to your health, it can cause cardiovascular problems.
0 grams of fiber.
White bread is one of the most commonly used, normally it has added sugar, sodium and 0 grams of fiber. The fiber is important for a healthy diet, it helps you feel more full, reduces cholesterol levels, and helps you go to the bathroom. There are cases where bread is marketed as “integral bread” but the quantity of fiber is quite low, they just add coloring to fool you.
Added artificial colorants.
Red dye 40 (allura red), Blue Dye 1 (brilliant blue), Yellow 5 (tartrazine), are ones of the most common colorants that have toxic and allergenic potency. It has no other benefit just to give a better color to the food, but a high consumption can have a toxic effect and kids can have an allergic effect.
Added Monosodium Glutamate
This additive is used to add a better flavor, and to keep choosing the same food brand. The high consumption can have a toxic effect, so its better not to have it on the ingredient list.
Green FLAGS in BREAD
Fiber.
Integral Bread and higher bread can around 1g to 3 grams of fiber per serving. The better option is that this fiber is of natural origin.
Natural ingredients and a small list of ingredients.
As low as the ingredient list is the better, like sourdough bread it has 3 ingredients, water, flour and sourdough starter. It can have other ingredients like nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, apples, etc. But the less ingredients the better.
Natural Fermentation Process.
It can be yeast or sourdough bread starter. The natural fermentation process like sourdough has many probiotics and prebiotics that are healthy for the gut, and more easy to digest, so we reduce bloatedness.
Which to choose?
Have you ever felt bloated after eating bread? It may not be my allergy to gluten, but a sensitivity to colorants, additives and conservatives. So choose the most natural bread, from french, italian bakeries, or sourdough bread where they use natural yeast, sourdough starter, this will reduce bloatedness after eating bread because of its natural fermentation process.
If you don't have any effects when eating bread, you have to consider all the red flags and green flags above to choose one that's near you. But here are some options that we consider the best option:
If you want any more sweets like pastry, you can have them, the only thing you should consider is the frequency of consumption of this food and quantity. It won't affect your progress if you don’t have them as frequently, like on weekends. But if it's something you are craving on daily here are some recommendations to have something sweet and it won't affect your progress:
HOW much should I eat?
The only one who can answer this is you.
It's out of the question that we need carbs to have great health, so bread, pasta, corn, potatoes are needed in the diet.
You can have bread on the daily and in every meal if that is the only source of carbs you are having. But if you also have other foods with the main source of carbs, you can have them on one meal every day or every 2 or every 3 meals, it depends.
So you have to see where your carbs are coming from, and if you want to keep eating bread on a daily basis, see where and how to mix it on a meal that has enough protein and fats as well. You can replace other high carbs foods with bread if that is what you desire or just place a day where you can have bread. This is on YOU.
Enjoy your BREAD!