From breakfast rolls to sandwiches in the evening – bread is a real all-rounder and one of the most popular foods in Germany.
According to the German Bread Institute, around 21 kilograms per person are consumed on average per year – that’s three to four slices daily.
Experts recommend: This is how many carbohydrates you should eat per day
According to the German Nutrition Society (DGE), this amount is absolutely within limits. Depending on body size and activity level, she recommends a daily dose of carbohydrates equivalent to four to six slices of bread.
However, other grain products such as potatoes, rice or pasta are also included.
But despite all its popularity, there is also a real bread dispute: Many diets such as low carb swear by avoiding carbohydrates and bread, and intolerances such as celiac disease ensure that bread, which often contains gluten, has to be completely eliminated from the diet.
Is bread healthy? It depends on the preparation
Many gluten-intolerant people avoid bread completely. But if you feel unwell after eating bread and get flatulence, for example, you don’t necessarily have to be gluten intolerant.
Many types of bread contain wheat, which can cause pain or bloating in people with irritable bowel syndrome, for example. A study by the University of Hohenheim shows that the resting time of the bread dough before baking plays a significant role in the subsequent discomfort.
Wheat in bread can cause flatulence
Wheat dough in particular contains special sugars, so-called FODMAPs (fermentable oligo-, di- and monosaccharides and polyols). These can only be processed poorly by the small intestine, which is why unpleasant gases are formed during digestion.
But the longer the dough rises before baking, the easier it is to digest. After just under four and a half hours, the analyzed dough only contained ten percent of the original FODMAP content, and after two hours it was only 75 percent.
Smaller, traditional bakeries offer this preparation even more often than large chains, where things usually have to be done faster. If you buy it here, the bread can be more digestible.
Those who eat whole grain products live longer
Whether it’s a fattening food or a nutrient guarantee – the type of grain plays a big role in bread consumption.
White flour products such as toast or croissants are popular, but contain little fiber. After eating, blood sugar shoots up, but drops almost as quickly and the feeling of hunger returns.
This not only makes you hungry faster, but also means you eat more.
Whole grain bread is therefore the healthier choice because the fiber it contains swells in the stomach, you feel full more quickly and you stay full longer.
In addition, a review study from Harvard University shows, among other things, that eating whole grain products can even lead to a longer life.
Whole grains prevent common diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. The researchers found that subjects who consumed 48 grams of whole grain products daily had a 20 percent lower mortality rate than subjects who consumed little or no whole grain products.
Healthy snack: choose the right toppings
In addition to the type of bread, the topping is also important. Of course, sweet spreads such as jam, nut nougat cream and the like taste good. However, they are also high in fat and sugar and should not necessarily be present every day in a balanced diet.
Healthier yet tasty alternatives include hummus or cottage cheese. Garnished with a lettuce leaf and a few slices of tomato or cucumber, the dinner is not only more varied in terms of taste, but also visually.