5 Reasons Why Eating All The Bread Isn’t As Bad As You Think

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Over the years, bread has become the enemy of most healthy diets. Between the increasing awareness of celiac disease, gluten intolerances, and protein or plant-focused diets, a lot of us have turned our backs on bread. However, by doing that, we’re forgetting one important thing: a solid diet is all about moderation and variety. Not to mention, there’s a huge difference between enriched bread that you’d find bagged up in the cereal aisle and a fresh loaf from the bakery. So, instead of categorizing all bread under one demonized umbrella, consider the following five reasons why bread really isn’t all that bad.

1. Certain types of bread are high in dietary fiber.

Some types of bread are actually really good for you, like Ezekiel bread, which is made from sprouted whole grains. Ezekiel bread is loaded with nutrients, has no added sugar and the sprouting process increases its fiber, vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene content. You could also go for flaxseed bread, rye bread or sourdough as healthier bread options.

2. Your body can most likely handle bread in moderation.

Look, if you don’t have a problem with gluten, your body can most likely handle a slice of bread when you feel like having one. Of course, there’s a difference between eating an entire order of garlic knots every night and having a high-quality sandwich once in a blue moon. But if you’re really that concerned, make sure you read the labels on your bread before buying it.

The first ingredient listed on a nutrition label is always crucial. If the label says “enriched bleached flour,” you can’t expect much nutritional benefit. Your best bet is to look for a label that says “100 percent” of a specific ingredient or flour.

3. You’ll control the size of your meals.

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In a way, bread is like a safety net. When you’re making a sandwich, you can only fit a certain amount of ingredients on the bread before things start to spill out. When there’s no bread, you have no limits. So, if you’re worried about portion control, making a sandwich might be the answer to your problems after all.

4. You’ll fill up faster.

Think about it. When you go out to eat and start off by chowing down on the warm bread basket, you get full pretty quickly. So instead of going out of your way to avoid bread entirely, maybe have one slice of sourdough or whole grain bread to fill yourself up and then call it a day. Because if you’re just going to end up snacking like crazy on everything but bread, is the exclusion even worth it?

5. Bread makes you happy.

One of the most important things to remember is that bread is delicious, plain and simple. And it has the power to make people really happy. If your body can handle gluten and you don’t have any specified dietary restrictions, why deprive yourself?  If you let yourself indulge on occasion, maybe you’ll be more inclined to eat other healthy and more nutritiously dense foods the rest of the time.