What giving up bread really does for your health

 Bread is my weakness. Sliced white toast, bagels, sourdough, rye bread, crusty white rolls, I love it all. This does not make me original. We Britons eat 37kg per person per year (the equivalent of 46 large sliced loaves) and we buy 11 million loaves each day, with white bread accounting for 71 per cent of total bread consumption.

Personally, I have no off switch, and what’s worse is that it’s never satiating. Instead it’s like a gateway drug that soon leads to biscuits and then straight into the arms of Mr Kipling.

I’m not allergic or even intolerant to wheat or gluten but I feel I could do with a reset. Caren Richards, a registered nutritionist, agrees that would be a good idea for many of us. “Bread is an easy reach if we are in a rush – a slice of toast for breakfast or a quick sandwich for lunch. I think having a reset can make you think a bit harder about your food decisions with a view to not relying so heavily on bread.”

Why is bread so unhealthy?

There’s a good reason we all love bread. Carbohydrate-rich foods such as bread trigger a strong release of ‘feel good’ hormone dopamine. Richards explains: “This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective as high energy foods are valuable and seeking them out would have been beneficial.”

Unfortunately bread causes our blood sugar levels to spike with knock on effects which explains my mini-Battenberg problem but also how I can get on top of it. “Bread can disrupt our blood sugar balance so getting it back under control means that you will have more consistent, stable energy through the day. Swapping your lunchtime baguette for a more balanced meal means you are also less likely to have a mid-afternoon energy crash.”

On top of all this, most supermarket sliced bagged loaves are prime examples of ultra-processed foods which are low in fibre and contain a cocktail of additives including preservatives, emulsifiers and stabilisers. Studies have shown low-fibre, processed bread to be among the chief culprits of foods “significantly associated” with increased cardiovascular disease and death. And if you think you can hide behind a wheat-free loaf, beware. These can contain similar amounts of additives “as they are trying to replicate the texture and visual appeal of a wheat loaf,” says Richards.

Does giving up bread make you lose weight?

“If you’re trying to manage your weight and your diet contains high levels of processed wheat products it’s an easy place to start,” says Richards.

The first week I swap my lunchtime sourdough and roast beef roll for a green salad, two hard boiled eggs and an entire packet of Sainsbury’s bresaola. I am still extremely hungry. It turns out I have fallen into a classic trap. Richards points out that giving up bread without replacing it with anything else sufficiently filling is a common error and a recipe for misery. I follow her advice and am soon having porridge oats with banana for breakfast and a hearty soup filled with beans and pulses for lunch. I’m less hungry overall and am managing to give Mr Kipling a swerve. I also lose a couple of pounds. So why would I lose weight eating porridge oats – a carb – but not bread?

“There are a few reasons why the consumption of bread could contribute to weight gain,” explains Richards. “Bread tends to have a high carbohydrate density which means that per serving we get a relatively high proportion of carbohydrate. And carbohydrates from bread may not be as satiating as those from whole, minimally processed foods. For example, eating root vegetables, beans and lentils tends to promote a longer-lasting feeling of fullness due to their fibre, water content and bulk.”

As usual it’s all about the fibre and lack of processing in whole foods.

“Bread is not inherently worse than other carbohydrate sources. However, when compared to unprocessed carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, quinoa or brown rice, bread (even wholegrain) often has less fibre and can be easier to overconsume.

The key difference is that whole food sources tend to be more nutrient-dense and more filling, which may help with satiety and weight management in the long run.”

How does bread impact your gut health?

So, is it true that bread causes bloating even for people who are not allergic or sensitive to wheat? I want to know because it certainly has this effect on me. Richards says that gluten can be a difficult protein to digest even for people who are not gluten intolerant. In addition, the digestive process is affected by stress. “As an example if you’re on holiday, relaxed and enjoying life, eating French bread, pitta or focaccia might be no problem, but at home if you’re busy, stressed and not taking care of yourself a sandwich eaten in a rush at your desk might sit in your stomach all afternoon and leave you feeling bloated.”

And gut health, increasingly lauded as the key to so much of our wellbeing, is improved by eating more fibre than the typical slice or two of bread contains. “A lot of the bread that we’re eating is stripped of any sort of fibre. So we’re not looking after our gut with the diversity of foods that we’re eating. By replacing bread with nutrient dense legumes, beans and root vegetables you will support your gut bacteria leading to better digestive health.”

Meanwhile, gluten is more difficult for the body to break down even if you’re not allergic, although more and more people are becoming intolerant. “So if you have these horrible digestive symptoms, taking out gluten just gives the body and the digestive tract a bit of a break,” says Richards.

Does this apply even to posh breads like sourdough?

“Sourdough is going to be easier on the body, in terms of nutrition and digestion, than a processed white loaf from the supermarket. But if you’re eating a lot of it, you might still find that the body is saying, hang on a minute, I’m really struggling with the gluten content here.”

The other problem with our over reliance on bread is that inevitably it is pushing some other valuable nutrients out. “If you’re having bread every morning for breakfast, that means you’re not having oats or chia porridge, or an omelette.”

It makes sense: a diet which is reliant on one type of food is not likely to be as healthy as a diet that has a broad range of foods and therefore a broad range of nutrients.