Bread and pasta myths debunked: enjoy carbs without the guilt

A few years ago, there was a media frenzy about gluten, believed to be responsible for abdominal obesity and skin allergies. However, scientists have since debunked this harmful myth.

Despite this, many people still avoid gluten-rich products such as bread and pasta. Are you planning to go on a diet and can't imagine a day without a slice of bread? You don't have to give it up. Listen to the opinion of an experienced dietitian.

Bread is one of the world's most popular and oldest food products. The ingredients are simple: flour, water, and either yeast or sourdough. Depending on the flour used, a slice of bread has between 40 to 90 kcal, which makes it a high-calorie product similar to pasta. Pasta is made from durum wheat flour and water. In 3.5 oz (100 g) of pasta, there are over 300 kcal.

Do bread and pasta make you gain weight? It turns out they do not. This is a myth debunked by dietitians. Due to their high flour content, both bread and pasta are primarily composed of carbohydrates, one of the three main macronutrients alongside proteins and fats. Carbohydrates provide energy and strength for action.

The "harmfulness" of carbohydrates is often associated with the growing popularity of the ketogenic diet, which emphasizes protein and fat. People on a ketogenic diet deliberately eliminate carbohydrates to induce a state of ketosis in the body, where energy is derived from fat instead of sugars, thereby "burning" excess body fat.

Summer is approaching. In just a month, we'll be blissfully lounging on the beach. No wonder so many people decide to go on a diet. Don't give up bread or pasta if you want to lose a few pounds by summer. Otherwise, you risk a deficiency of B vitamins, which are essential for the proper functioning of the body.

However, there's a way to make pasta and potatoes less fattening. After cooking, allow them to cool completely, then reheat them in a pan or microwave. This process is called retrogradation. Reheating makes the starch more digestible and does not cause blood sugar spikes. After eating the reheated dish, you won't be hungry for a long time, so you'll eat less.

Remember, maintaining a caloric deficit is the only way to lose weight. You can eat anything if you do not exceed your daily caloric needs. How do you calculate it? Use a calorie calculator. You will get information about your daily caloric needs after entering your height, age, and weight. Subtract no more than 500 kcal from it. Stick to this number, and you'll notice the first weight-loss results within a month.

Source: Gazeta.pl