The smell of freshly baked white bread is fantastic, isn't it? A crusty slice of white bread covered in butter and jam...wow! It's difficult to imagine that anything so tasty could be bad for you, but don't be fooled!
Across the globe everybody is eating more and more white bread and it is causing a big problem - weight gain.
There are two problems with white bread. The first is that it's made with refined flour. Nothing wrong with that, you might think, but that's not the case. 'Refined' means that most of the goodness has been taken out. In the refining process, essential minerals, vitamins and fiber that we need have been 'refined away'. What we're left with might taste good, but its nutritional value is low. All that white bread does is to keep our jaws busy.
The fact that white bread contains white flour means that it is no longer behaves like a complex carbohydrate like wholemeal bread, for example. It is more of a simple carbohydrate, like sugar. It has a high glycaemic index which means that it encourages your body to produce insulin which in turn increases your appetite. You could say that white bread actually makes you hungry!
If that were not enough, white bread contains a huge amount of salt. The next time you pick up a loaf of white bread, have a look at how much salt there is in one slice of bread. Bread constitutes over 25% of our daily salt intake. (Your daily intake of salt should be 4g and never above 6g).
A depressing fact is that too many of us get a large proportion of our daily energy intake from white bread.
A high level of salt is not good for us for a number of reasons. First, it encourages your body to retain too much fluid. This in turn causes high blood pressure, bloating and a significantly increased risk of stroke and heart disease. It also causes you to be thirsty and all too often we answer the call for liquid with food. The result is obvious - weight gain.
The best thing to do is to get into the habit - the slim habit, of not eating white bread. Eat bread if you have to, but not white. If you keep to the slim habit of not eating bread, it will help you to lose weight, and that's got to be good!
About the Author:
A Well known speaker, author and commentator on diet and health matters, Henry John's particular interest is permanent weight loss and behavior change. He is committed to helping people with weight problems achieve permanent weight loss
. If you would like learn more about how to lose weight permanently visit www.slimhabit.com
