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In Spain you eat pan. There’s no doubt. It also seems almost omnipresent in all our meals of the day: we like to have breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner with bread, still always asking ourselves the same thing: does bread make you fat? The truth is that we should clarify this question: Are all breads equally healthy to take care of our weight or do they have the same benefits for our health? All these questions are answered with a “no”.
On whether bread is fattening or not, we must know that one food alone will never make you fat magically. “Weight gain is related to an imbalance in the energy balance, so that when more energy is ingested than is expended, weight is gained. What matters, therefore, is the amount of energy ingested in the total diet and that this is in accordance with the energy that is expended throughout the day, “explains laSexta Dra. Beatriz Navia Lombán, professor of the Department of Nutrition of the Complutense University of Madrid.
Bread is a food rich in carbohydrates (4 kcal / g) and low in fat (9 kcal / g), so it has a moderate caloric content
However, and focusing only on bread, the expert points out that “being rich in carbohydrates (4 kcal / g) and low in fat (9 kcal / g), it presents a moderate caloric content, providing around 250 kcal per 100 grams, which represents around 10% of the average energy needs of an adult with moderate activity (2500 kcal) ”.
The benefits of whole grains
On a nutritional level, white bread and whole wheat bread have nothing to do with each other. It is true that in Spain and in our culture, we are more used to eating white bread, but it is also true that it is much less healthy than whole wheat bread.
The difference is in the flour that is used. As Navia Lombán explains, White bread It is made with flour from the grinding of the cereal to which the bran and the germ (the outermost layers of the same) have previously been eliminated, while the flour with which the pan integral It comes from the grinding of the whole cereal grain, that is, including its three parts: endosperm, bran and germ.
Whole grains in general, and not just whole wheat bread, have been shown to have great health benefits: as different studies have shown, “its consumption is associated with lower mortality, with a reduction in the risk of suffering from chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, in addition to contributing to body weight control”, points out.
Consumption of whole grains is associated with lower mortality and reduced risk of chronic diseases
Thus, research centers such as the Center for Biomedical Research Network on the Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN) have shown these benefits of whole grains in recent years. For example, in 2017 it was published that “the consumption of quality whole grains, such as those present in bread, pasta or rice, it is associated with a decrease in mortality rates and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and probably colorectal cancer”. And at the end of 2020, this entity demonstrated that in general, “The higher the quality of carbohydrates, the lower the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women.”
Helps regulate weight
One of the most important characteristics of whole wheat bread, and in general of whole grains, is its fiber content. “The highest content of fiber of whole grains promotes satiety and reduces energy intake, which helps control weight, “explains Navia.
Moreover, “the consumption of these whole foods contributes to bringing the diet closer to the standards of the balance diet in terms of carbohydrate, protein and fat intake, which is also associated with benefits in weight loss and prevention of weight gain “, he adds.
There is no recommended amount
To have a healthy and balanced diet, bread is not essential, that is, no need to take bread if we don’t want to or don’t like it; but it is important to eat cereals and, as we have said, better whole grains. In the group of cereals we find foods such as bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals such as oats or corn.
The Spanish Healthy Food Pyramid establishes a consumption of 4-6 daily servings of cereals
“It is not necessary to eat bread to have a balanced diet, in fact, the dietary guidelines, the recommendation they give is for the group of cereals and derivatives as a whole. Spanish Healthy Eating Pyramid establishes, in particular, a consumption of 4-6 servings / day of cereals and potatoes (which is included in the recommendation due to their similarity with cereals in terms of complex carbohydrate content), adjusting the amount consumed according to the degree of physical activity “Navia explains.
In this way, as such there is no recommendation for the consumption of bread “Since this consumption will depend on the number of servings / day consumed from the rest of the foods included in the group, the variety being the most advisable,” he concludes.
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