Can You Eat Bread Every Day?

3 Minutes Read

10 Random Facts about bread.

1. Charred crumbs of flat bread were found in an archaeological site in the Black Desert of Jordan. This site was dated between 14,600 to 11,600 years ago.
2. The Egyptian pyramid builders were paid in bread. The ancient Egyptians also used mouldy bread to treat infected wounds. This was early penicillin.
3. Did you know that the word ‘companion’ is from the old French ‘compaignon’ literally, ‘one who breaks bread with another’ based on the Latin ‘com’ meaning ‘with’ and ‘panis’ meaning ‘bread.’
4. Bread was used as an absorbent plate (trencher) in medieval times. After a meal, the trencher could be eaten, given to poor people or fed to dogs.
5. I’m sure you would have heard of the old wives’ tale which says that eating a bread crust makes a person’s hair curlier.
   • ‘Sandwich’ is named after John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich who started eating beef between two pieces of bread in 18th century Britain. These days, about 12 billion sandwiches are eaten every year in the UK; that’s 380 eaten every second.
6. The Great Fire of London started at a bakery.
7. Before erasers were invented, soft bread crumbs were used to rub out pen marks.
8. In 1928, sliced bread was invented in the US, by Otto Rohwedder through his special machine which sliced loaves.
9. The longest loaf of bread ever baked was 1.2km long. This happened in Milan in 2015. Check out this YouTube video for more. Guiness World Records judge certifies world’s longest baguette at Milan Expo – YouTube

The pros and cons of eating bread.

Let’s start with the pros of eating bread.

An average slice of bread contains 1g of fat and 75-80 calories. Bread also provides over 10% of an average adult’s intake of iron, zinc, magnesium, protein, potassium and B vitamins and calcium.

It is low in fats, sugars and salt.

It isn’t fattening and doesn’t lead to obesity. Apparently, those people who are obese eat less bread than those who aren’t.

It is healthy to eat as part of a balanced diet.

The cons. Well, if you eat whole grain, granary, brown and seeded varieties of bread, there aren’t any. (Unless you have coeliac disease or a wheat intolerance.) A diet low in whole grains is associated with imbalances in your gut microbiome. This could lead to diseases like IBS and IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease). The above breads contain prebiotic fibre that feed your healthy microbiome which has positive effects on your gut bacteria.

However, white bread is a different matter. It has a range of vitamins, minerals, folic acid and iron added to it but contains less fibre than whole grain or brown bread. Therefore, it doesn’t fill you up enough so you would eat more.

Another effect that white bread has on your body is that it could spike your blood sugar. This happens because high doses of simple carbohydrates in refined grains are absorbed into your bloodstream much more quickly than the complex carbohydrates in whole wheat. These spikes could lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and being overweight.

Can you eat bread every day?

Yes, you can, as long as it’s not white bread. In fact, it’s advised that you eat brown, whole grain bread etc. because of all the important nutrients that it contains. Up to 4 slices is ok and if you don’t want to give up eating white bread, then limit it to about 2-3 times a week.

Bread with sprouted grains is even better for you because it has more protein, fibre, vitamin C, iron and other nutrients. The grains in this bread have been repeatedly soaked and rinsed over a few days which makes it more digestible and improves the nutritional value of it.

Finally, if you are concerned that you may have a wheat intolerance/ allergy, then speak to your doctor.

Thank you for reading.

Rachel x

Sources: historyofbread.com, oxford languages, specialitybreads.co.uk, nutrition.org.uk, buzzingbeebakery.com, nhs.uk, eatthis.com, medicalnewstoday.com, healthline.com, medicine.net