What happens to your body if you eat one piece of bread a day? Here’s how to choose “good” bread →

Bread is a must-have for many workers for breakfast. It is convenient to eat, saves time, and is economical. Moreover, for many "bread lovers", one piece of bread a day is a good way to "satisfy their cravings".

Image source: pexels

So, besides being filling, what kind of nutrition does bread have? There is a rumor that eating bread can cause cancer. Is this true? This article will answer your questions and finally tell you how to choose a "good" bread.

Which is more nutritious, bread or steamed buns?

Bread and steamed buns are both very soft staple foods, and are also fermented foods. The difference is that bread is made with high-gluten flour as the main raw material, and is added with eggs, salt, sugar, oil, etc., while steamed buns only need ordinary medium-gluten flour.

Based on the difference in raw materials, although bread and steamed bread are both staple foods rich in carbohydrates, there are many differences in nutrition. From a nutritional point of view, the calorie, fat and salt content of steamed bread are lower than that of bread. The advantage of bread is that the protein content is generally higher than that of steamed bread.

Comparison of nutritional content of steamed buns and bread (representative data from e-commerce platforms)

What would happen if you eat one piece of bread a day?

There are many people who eat one piece of bread a day, but nowadays there are many kinds of bread on the market, and eating bread is a "skill". If you eat pure whole wheat bread, it can not only fill your stomach, but also increase dietary fiber, protein, B vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. It is also a relatively healthy staple food. However, if you eat the wrong bread, it may harm your health.

1

Not conducive to blood sugar control

Beware: Honey buns, stuffed bread

Most of these breads are high GI foods, and the ingredients often contain a lot of added sugar. Eating them often not only increases the risk of tooth decay, but is also not conducive to blood sugar control.

Figure: E-commerce platform

If blood sugar is not well controlled, in addition to increasing the risk of diabetes, it will also make us prone to acne on our faces and worsen our skin. This is because studies have shown that eating too much added sugar will stimulate the secretion of insulin, increase sebum secretion, keratinize hair follicles, and increase the risk of acne on the skin.

The pimples on the face can affect your mood. Many people have the bad habit of picking pimples. Our hands are dirty and have a lot of bacteria. If we are not careful, we will get infected or leave scars, which will affect our appearance. In addition, eating high-sugar foods frequently will promote the glycation reaction of the skin, which will lead to decreased skin elasticity, dark yellow color, spots, and easy aging.

2

Induce cardiovascular disease

Beware: Shredded buns, croissants, coconut bread, chocolate-filled bread

Most of these breads contain high fat. For example, the two croissants in the picture below have an astonishingly high fat content, which is 2 to 6 times that of ordinary bread. The calories are not low either. If you eat 100 grams of such bread, you will consume nearly 450kcal, which is equivalent to two or three bowls of rice. It is really fat, and obesity can also induce a series of cardiovascular diseases.

Figure: E-commerce platform (croissant 1)

Figure: E-commerce platform (croissant 2)

Moreover, the fats contained in them also include saturated fatty acids or trans fatty acids. Butter and coconut flakes are usually contributors of saturated fatty acids; shortening, margarine, artificial butter, and chocolate spread with cocoa butter substitutes are not only contributors of saturated fatty acids, but may also contain trans fatty acids.

Figure: E-commerce platform

Figure: E-commerce platform

Figure: E-commerce platform

Figure: E-commerce platform

The intake of saturated fat should not exceed 10% of the daily energy supply, which is equivalent to 17~21g for the average person. Eating one large puff pastry or two or three croissants is likely to exceed the limit. Excessive intake of foods containing saturated fat will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease; frequently eating processed foods containing trans fatty acids will increase the risk of coronary heart disease and promote the occurrence of inflammatory responses in the body.

3

Not conducive to blood pressure control

Beware: meat floss bread, cheese bread, bread + ham sausage

Most meat floss and cheese have high salt content. Bread also contains some salt. The sodium content of ordinary bread is generally around 300mg/100g. If more meat floss and cheese are added, the sodium content will increase a lot. For example, the figure below is a nutritional ingredient table of meat floss cheese bread. The sodium content is 620mg/100g, which is almost double that of ordinary bread.

Figure: E-commerce platform

If you eat 100g of this bread, you will consume about 1.6g of salt. Some people are used to the combination of bread and ham, and 1 ham contains about 2g of salt. The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" recommends that the daily salt intake should not exceed 5g. Bread + ham will consume about 3.6g of salt, which directly accounts for 72% of the upper limit of the recommended salt intake. It is too easy to exceed the salt limit throughout the day.

A high-salt diet is not good for blood pressure control and will increase the risk of hypertension, which is an important risk factor for stroke. Currently, stroke has become the second leading cause of death in the world, second only to ischemic heart disease.

4

May be malnourished

Many people are too busy to eat anything, so they just eat a large piece of bread and drink a bottle of water, and that's it for a meal. Eating bread alone for a long time is likely to lead to malnutrition and is not good for your health.

If you are busy and can only eat bread as a staple food, you should prepare some easy-to-eat fruits and vegetables and protein foods for yourself, such as cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, kiwis, oranges, milk, boiled eggs and other foods to get richer nutrition.

Image source: pixabay

Two soul-searching questions about bread

1

I heard that eating bread can cause cancer?

The truth is: don't worry. The reason for this is that bread is rich in carbohydrates, and the temperature of baking bread is generally higher than 120℃, which will produce a certain amount of acrylamide, which is what everyone calls a "carcinogen."

In fact, we don't need to worry so much about acrylamide. It is a Class 2A carcinogen, which means it has been proven to cause cancer in animals, but there is limited evidence that it causes cancer in humans. If you want to reduce your intake of acrylamide while enjoying bread, don't eat the burnt part.

2

Is whole wheat bread really whole wheat?

Whole wheat bread is considered healthy bread by everyone. At present, there is no mandatory standard for whole wheat bread in my country, nor is there any regulation on how much whole wheat flour must be contained in whole wheat bread. Therefore, the quality of whole wheat bread on the market varies greatly. Many of them are "pseudo whole wheat bread". Some have very low whole wheat flour content, and some have added sugar and oil to neutralize the taste.

If you want to buy real whole wheat bread, you have to be smart. In addition to looking at the appearance of the bread, you also have to look at the ingredient list and nutritional label.

Real whole wheat bread will not be white in appearance. Most of them are brown or dark brown. They look rough and rough, and some even have intact grains and bran visible.

Whole wheat flour/rye flour ranks first in the ingredient list. If the content is marked, it is better to choose the one with a content ≥51%. This is because in 2021, the Chinese Nutrition Society formulated the group standard T/CNSS008-2021 "General Rules for the Determination and Labeling of Whole Grains and Whole Grain Foods", which stipulates that the whole wheat flour content in whole wheat bread must not be less than 51%.

Figure: E-commerce platform

In the nutritional information table, you should choose those with relatively high dietary fiber and protein and lower sodium content. For example, the A in the picture below is more recommended than the B.

Figure: E-commerce platform

How to choose a "good" bread?

Since there are so many ways to eat bread, how should workers who work "hard" every day choose a "good" bread? In fact, it is not difficult. I have summarized the following 5 points for your reference!

① Look at the types: If you want to eat bread without gaining weight, choose more whole-wheat bread, alkaline bread, bagels, baguettes, and black bread. These breads are processed with fewer ingredients, basically flour, yeast, water, and salt. Whole-wheat bread can also provide more dietary fiber, B vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, and has a strong sense of fullness. Choose less stuffed bread, hot dog bread, croissants, hand-torn buns, coconut bread, meat floss bread, and honey buns.

② Look at the ingredient list: try to choose one with a shorter ingredient list, and it is better to avoid shortening, margarine, cocoa butter substitute chocolate, butter, white sugar, and high fructose corn syrup.

③ Look at the nutritional ingredient table: If it is ordinary bread, choose one with relatively low calorie and sodium content and relatively high protein content; if it is whole wheat bread, you must also pay attention to the dietary fiber content and choose one with a high content.

④ Choose small packages: It is easier to control the amount of bread in small packages to avoid eating too much at one time.

⑤ Pay attention to the combination: Don’t eat bread and ham, it’s really unhealthy! If you want to have both bread and health, then pair it with natural foods. Cherry tomatoes, fruit cucumbers, tomatoes, kiwis, oranges, milk, sugar-free yogurt, boiled eggs, chicken legs, etc. are all good choices.

Friends who love eating bread, don’t just focus on the taste and fillingness of the bread, health is equally important!

References

[1] Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table 6th Edition Volume 1 [M]. Peking University Medical Press, 2018 [2] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Nutrient Reference Intakes for Chinese Residents (2023 Edition) [M]. People's Medical Publishing House. 2023.8

Author: Xue Qingxin, member of Chinese Nutrition Society, registered nutritionist, health manager, public nutritionist

Audit丨Gu Chuanling, Director of Capital Health Nutrition and Gourmet Society, Registered Nutritionist