WATCH THE SPREAD, NOT THE BREAD

Bread always gets a bit of a bad rep when it comes to weight loss. Some say it leaves them feeling bloated while others are convinced it contains too many kilojoules.

The result? Bread ends up getting cut out of the diet completely.

But a nutrition expert says there’s no need to fear the humble loaf. In fact, no nonsense health and fitness guru Graeme Tomlinson – better known as The Fitness Chef – says bread doesn’t make you fat at all.

Explaining his ‘bread theory’ in an Instagram post, he said: “When trying to reduce or maintain body weight, many continue to assume that bread must be abolished from their diet.

“In terms of energy, there is no difference between white or brown bread.

“And whilst the latter contains more fibre, which may increase satiety (the feeling of fullness), one would be better placed to evaluate total ingredients consumed with bread in order to determine a more holistic perspective. Not least because bread is rarely consumed alone.”

So, essentially he means it’s not the bread itself we need to focus on when it comes to kilojoules, but what it’s paired with instead.

To demonstrate this, he shared an infographic of a slice of bread at 397kJ compared with a slice topped with 40g of peanut butter and 30g jam.

These additional ingredients take the food’s energy level to 704kJ, which he said “more than quadruples the total calorie content of the consumed food”.

“Consequently, all of a sudden the debate is not about consumption of bread in the first instance, or its colour in the second.”

He went on to explain that the theory applies to other foods – not just bread.

“This principle can be applied to one’s rationale when assessing and addressing their overall diet,” he says.

“In doing so, one can move away from unwarranted demonisation of a food which can be utilised as energy like any other.”

The Sun