bread myths Archives | Eat Bread 90

June 22, 2017August 7, 2017 by Lin Carson

Is it Important to Eat Bread in Your Diet? Day 78 and 79

I’ve heard that over and over again from people who are trying to lose weight. It is really misleading when someone says that the simple act of cutting bread out of your diet will magically make you lose weight. The immediate follow-up statement usually goes like this: “carbs are bad for you.”

Carbs are not bad for you. Based on a 2,000 caloric intake, a daily intake of 300g worth of carbohydrates is recommended. Everyone should at least eat 120 – 130g each day to meet the minimum required for your brain to function. In bread talk, that’s about 3 slices of bread a day.

It’s true, if you cut something out from your diet, you will lose weight because your daily habits surrounding that food changes and your consumption becomes more limited. This can be applied universally to all types of food, not just bread.

Why keep bread part of your diet?

Bread should be part of everyone’s diet because it is a conveniently nutritious product. If you followed my journey, you would have noticed that I consumed bread that is healthy and easily obtained off the supermarket shelve. You do not need to make these breads yourselves, nor do you have to specially order it.

Why are you eating a loaf? What are you trying to prove?

If this journey said, “I’m eating 3 slices of bread a day, and bread is not killing me” would you believe me? But I ate a pound of bread a day, 12-14 slices, and still, it hasn’t done anything bad to me or my weight. Now do you believe me that bread is not bad for you?

How do you eat so much bread in one day?

I’ve pretty much spaced out my bread eating all throughout the day. Anyone in our office will tell you that I’m stuffing my face with bread all the time. My children will tell you that all I eat is bread at the dinner table. If the clock is ticking, and I’m not in bed, I’m eating bread.

Don’t you get sick of eating so much bread?

Never been and never will. My critics, or the Bread Police (they seem to be hanging around in the office) keep asking me that question in hopes of seeing a white flag. I think the answer is pretty simple. I’ll never get sick of something I love eating. I’ve been loving this journey, and will continue to love eating bread, even after 90 days.

My days worth of delicious rolls with a beet salad.

Here’s what I ate on Days 78 and 79 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 78
Bagel	2 (100g)	420
Fritatta Croisant	80g	300
Purple Wheat Raisin	5 slices (39g)	400
Ravioli and Sausage	1 C	300
Canale		200
Steamed Brocolli	1C	30
Orange	1 orange	45
Total		1695

Day 79
Bun Rolls	1lb	1200
Beet Salad	2C	250
Croissant		240
Pork Watercress Noodles	1C	200
Marie Biscuits	5	100
Cherries	1C	74
Run		-200
Total		1864

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June 12, 2017August 10, 2017 by Katie Jones

Hold the Salt! Sodium and Bread in Your Diet

On days six and seven of Dr. Carson’s bread diet we were faced with a bread myth we had hoped to bust – the high salt content in bread. It is a known fact that processed foods contain hidden salt. While most of us will not be consuming a pound of bread a day, adding spreads, deli meats, cheese, or soup can push our sodium intake over the limit of what’s healthy.

The result could mimic the effects of gluten intolerance than have led many to eliminate bread from their diets. So, let’s take a closer look at salt.

Why is there even salt in bread and how much is safe to consume on a daily basis?

Salt and Baking

Flavor enhancer – I think all of us are familiar with salt’s ability to bring out the flavors in baked goods. Sugar seems a little sweeter when salt is added to a recipe. The natural flavors developed during bread fermentation from the yeast and flour are enhanced by the addition of salt. Bread without salt tends to be a little bland.
Dough strengthener – Gluten, the protein in bread, becomes stronger when salt is part of the mix. A stronger gluten structure enables the dough to hold the carbon dioxide gas released during fermentation. This adds volume and texture to your loaves.
Slows fermentation – A slow, steady rise during proofing gives uniform crumb to bread. Faster fermentation can create large air pockets and cause blow outs in finished loaves.
Extends product shelf life – Salt is a known preservative. It increases shelf life of loaves by decreasing staling. Salt is hygroscopic and attracts water from the environment keeping bread softer longer than bread baked without salt.

Sodium Intake and Health

When we talk about salt, sodium chloride, and our health, it is the sodium that we need to be aware of. Food labels list sodium rather than salt. 2.5 grams of salt contain 1 gram of sodium. Sodium is a known part of salt, but did you know it is also in Monosodium glutamate and baking soda? If you are not looking at every food label you could easily consume more sodium than you need. The World Health Organization recommends under 2 g/day sodium (5 g/day salt) in adults.

Reducing sodium has shown the following health benefits:

Reduced blood pressure
Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
Reduced risk of stroke
Reduced risk of coronary heart disease

Too much sodium intake makes your body hold water. Holding water can make you feel bloated or cause swelling. This is known as edema. On the other end of the spectrum too much salt can lead to dehydration. Symptoms of dehydration are extreme thirst, nausea, dizziness, stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. In both cases consuming more water will help flush the excess sodium out of your system.

sodium intake bread salt diet

Back to the myth that bread contains high levels of salt.

The nutritional label on a bag of whole wheat bread by a national bakery lists the sodium at 240 mg per serving. A serving is 2 slices of bread. Not bad. That leaves 1.76 grams for your sandwich meat or marmite spread.

For the average consumer two slices of bread would make up 10% of your recommended sodium intake. Eating a pound of bread a day is another issue. The estimated sodium intake is 1.3 grams without any toppings or dipping into soup. I think it is safe to say that under a normal bread eating situation the salt level is well within the guidelines recommended by the WHO.

The Eat Bread 90 challenge is all about transparency. The pain that Dr. Carson experienced due to high sodium intake definitely caused a shift in her diet.

Do you think we busted the high salt myth or not?

To read more about the function of salt in baking, go here.

To learn more about salt and your health go to the WHO web site and this article by the Harvard Medical School.

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April 17, 2017August 10, 2017 by Katie Jones

Bread Q&A: What Kind of Bread is Good for You & Other Questions

For a food as simple as bread, there are lots of questions about it! What kind of bread should I eat? How many kinds are there? Who came up with that whole sliced bread thing? Here are a few answers:

What kind of bread is good for you?

The key with picking out a healthy loaf is the ingredients. If the label says it has whole grains and seeds, then you are getting the most vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein that can be packed into bread. There are also breads that have lower amounts of sugar. However, generally speaking, bread won’t hurt you!

Will eating a loaf of bread a day for 90 days make me fat?

Maybe, it depends on what you are sandwiching between the slices. Are you slathering gobs of Nutella on every slice? Or buttering each slice? Or eating 8 tuna fish sandwiches every day? Or spending your days munching on peanut butter and banana sandwiches? Or crafting super cheesy grilled cheese sandwiches? The kind of bread influences some things as well.

How many types of bread are there?

There are endless varieties of bread. New forms of yeasty deliciousness are dreamed up by bakers all the time. Grocery stores typically have over 50 different varieties of bread on their shelves at all times. And that doesn’t include in-store bakeries.

What proves that bread is a staple of our diet?

Because of all the common expressions that involve bread. When we are not eating it, we are talking about it. Think about how many sayings have risen out of our obsession. No matter how you slice it…breadwinner…bread as another word for money…asking which side is your bread buttered on…and the list goes on.

How long has bread been around?

Bread has been around since the Egyptians invented a grinding stone to crush wheat into flour. Historians believe that the idea of combining yeast with the flour and other ingredients happened accidentally when a pot of hot wheat cereal was left over night and yeast naturally developed.

When did bread start rising in popularity?

Bread got its lucky break with the invention of the sandwich in the mid 1700s when John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, summoned his chef to put his steak between two slabs of bread so he only needed one hand to eat his dinner so he could keep playing cards and gambling with his friends.

Who invented sliced bread?

Sliced bread has probably been around since it was first baked in loaves. An official bread slicing machine was invented in 1912 in Iowa. And it took about 15 years after that in Missouri to set up the first production line for bread that included baking uniform sized loaves, slicing them, and bagging them for easy transporting and sales.

What do the colored tags mean?

Bread is delivered to grocery stores five days a week and the plastic tags are color coded by the day the bread was baked. The colors are alphabetized to correspond with the days of the week, so Monday is Blue, Tuesday is Green, Thursday is Red, Friday is White, and Saturday is Yellow. Now you know what to look for when you want to buy the freshest bread at the store.

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