Tuesday 14 July 2009

Why Bread WON'T make you put on weight

I hear a lot of clients say to me “Bread makes me put on weight” or “I’ve eaten too much bread this week”. Here’s the deal with bread.
It’s what you put on or serve with your bread that can make you pile on the pounds.Plus it’s the type of bread you eat that counts.

The butter, margarine, jams, cheese you put on your bread is fattening, not the bread itself.Fat is fattening – fact you cannot argue with! Here’s why - Carbohydrate (bread, cereals, rice, pasta) has four calories per gram. Protein (fish, meat, eggs) contains four calories per gram. Fat has more than double at NINE calories per gram.
So, you can see which food group is really fattening!

Bread is a source of fibre and complex carbohydrates, it is low in fat. This means it will fill you up, without lots of calories - so you are less likely to snack too often. Plus it aids digestion and reduces sweet cravings.

Norwegian scientist Dr. Bjarne Jacobsen found that people who eat less than two slices of bread daily weigh about 11 pounds more that those who eat a lot of bread.

Certain research from Michigan State University shows that certain types of bread actually reduce the appetite. The research compared white bread to dark bread and wholegrain, high fibre breads (with small nuts and seeds). The students who ate daily slices of dark high fibre bread felt less hungry on a daily basis and lost five pounds in 8 weeks. The others who ate white bread were hungrier, ate more fattening foods and lost no weight.
Plus, as well as not sustaining the appetite, white bread will give you a very short term energy ‘buzz’ but you’ll actually feel lethargic pretty quickly and want another ‘pick me up’.

So you’d want to choose to eat dark, rich high fibre breads – pumpernickel, wholegrain, mixed or multi-grain or granary. The average slice of wholegrain contains only 60-70 calories and will provide you with a steady release of energy and combat any lethargy for the day.

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