Does Eating Bread Make You Gain Weight?

Along some dietary concerns placing carbohydrates as a weight gain factor, bread has become a diet no-no among 43% of Australian women looking to lose those extra pounds. Other people however believe bread in itself or even pastry is not the sole weight culprit. A rising scale simply points to the excess calories you eat. So does bread or pastry really make you gain weight?

Calories In vs. Calories Out

The answer actually depends on how much calories you burn. If you burn more than you chew, the amount of bread and pastry you ingest won’t make you fat. What will make you gain poundage is the eating style of biting off more kilojoules than you expend...do this and almost any edible thing can just set up home in your thighs.

The measure of calories varies with each kind of food. Chocolate cake can be crammed with more kilojoules per slice than a piece of yoghurt cake, which goes to show that no two food kinds are created equal in terms of calories. The same reasoning applies to bread and pastries.

Generally, bread can make you fat if you consume more than you burn through movement or exercise. The ubiquitous white bread made from refined flour packs more calories than the fibrous, wholegrain brown bread; so eating white bread can increase your chances of gaining weight more than the wholemeal kind.

A Chunk vs. a Slice

Another factor to consider is portion size. Just how much bread or pastry are you eating? Munching through more than three thick slices of white bread in a day over a period of time may take your scale’s needle up a few notches if you don’t watch your calorie intake and expenditure. Multigrain breads made of wholemeal flour may afford you more slices but going overboard with it can still make you gain weight. Again you have to watch those calories.

Not All Carbs (And Calories) Are Created Equal

Many people tend to avoid carbohydrates while dieting to lose weight. This practice is not a very good idea as carbohydrates are an important macronutrient that supplies your body’s needs for energy.

Instead, know which carb laden food to avoid and what you actually need to chow down on. Complex carbohydrates from whole grain bread, brown rice, fruits, oats, and vegetables do contain calories but its fibre-rich content makes you feel full on small portions. Simple carbohydrates one the other hand is simply sugar... brown sugar, glucose, corn syrup, and the like. Simple carbs in foods such as soda, cookies, pies, cereal, and juice need to be eaten in large portion sizes to reach the eater’s satiety level. This carbohydrate type also triggers food cravings which make a person eat more than he should, drive up his calorie intake, and subsequently gain weight. Ditto on the third carbohydrate type, refined carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates, of which white bread is a good example of, tend to drive up one’s weight with the same effect simple carbohydrates render.

So Do Bread and Pastries Make You Gain Weight?

If your bread or pastry is comprised of ingredients based on refined and simple carbohydrates, then the answer is yes, these can if you eat more than you should. The sugar and refined flour in white bread and pastries simply makes you crave for more high caloric foods, encouraging you to consume more calories than you eat.

White bread and pastries made of refined flour also contain high amount of calories for small portions (1 slice, 35 g. of white bread =82 calories; plain muffin, 65 g. =140 calories). In comparison, wholemeal bread and pastry made of wholegrain flour has slightly lower calories (1 slice, 35 g. Of wholemeal bread = 75 calories; wholemeal muffin, 65 g. = 129 calories).

In addition, the wholemeal variety is packed with more nutrients than its refined counterpart, making wholemeal breads and pastries the better choice.

Again, when it comes to weight gain, it is all about the calories. Whether you choose to eat white bread or wholemeal bread, these particular foods will not add to the pounds if you eat the portions within your caloric limit for the day. Increase your portion sizes and that’s when trouble begins.

Nutritionists however advocate consuming bread and pastry made from whole grain flour and less sugar as these pack more fibre, vitamins, and minerals per calorie than the common variety made from refined flour. In addition, bread and pastry made from whole grain flour meet one’s satiety with small portions and do not trigger food cravings which increase appetite and subsequently result in weight gain.