4 Lessons Learned from Eating Bread (And Why You Simply Shouldn’t)
It’s Monday, and finally lunch time. You had a big weekend, hit snooze too many times, got ready in a flurry and yes, you could have put more thought into your outfit.
There was no time for coffee because you needed fuel, or you wouldn’t get to work, at all. Luckily, the coffee at the servo does the job.
Waiting for the last drips of energy in a cup, you think oooh… what’s that over there? Sandwiches that don’t look like yesterday’s…
You can’t remember the last time you ate a sandwich, it’s been so long. You’ve worked hard to cut carbs, you’ve also read that bread can cause a long list of issues in your body — and you’ve been on a mission to feel better each day.
So, you wouldn’t normally be tempted …
But it’s bloody Monday. Surely one sandwich can’t hurt.
And now, as your salivary glands glisten, is that a hush that just descended over the lunch room? Hard to tell over the crinkling sound of the plastic box of deliciousness you’re forcing open.
Ah, egg and lettuce on fresh white bread. Come at me, baby.
Just about to take the first bite… and you notice others look away, with that look your mother gives when you’ve disappointed her. Isn’t it you that’s always banging on about the evils of this staple of our nation?
Or maybe they’re suddenly disappointed with their salad, secretly wanting a fresh sanger, too. That’s it, you tell yourself as you bring the ‘forbidden fruit’ to your lips and think…
Screw them, I need comfort food. Screw them and the fact they know I’ve given in. Besides, I’m sure I’ve read that some bread is good for you.
Or is it?
Here’s what I’ve learned about being prepared to NOT eat bread, even on those inevitable, nasty Mondays.
#1 You Don’t Have to Be Celiac to Have a Problem
We all know someone who is gluten free, and we all know someone who thinks it’s just a fad, saying things like…
We’ve been eating bread for hundreds of years, yet suddenly, every second person has an issue with it. Because it’s fashionable. It’s all in their heads.
The truth is, as science and our understanding grows, the links to an over-reactive immune response and disease-causing inflammation are becoming clear.
Many — if not more — people experience issues with the gluten in wheat (yes, from the Latin word for glue) that are not diagnosed with celiac disease.
And it’s known as Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity (NCWS).
What is becoming increasingly clear is that it’s not all in your head.
Also, it can manifest in the body and cause issues, such as…
- weight gain
- high blood sugar
- inflammation
- bloating
- gas
- stomach gurgling
- bowel cramps
- constipation
- diarrhoea
- joint pain
- acne
- rashes
- psoriasis
- brain fog
- fatigue
- hunger
- cravings
- pain
- headaches
- dizziness
- itchiness
- increased heart rate
- joint pain
- swollen hands, feet, face
- hives
- vomiting
- insomnia
- depression
- anxiety
- stuffy nose
That’s quite a list, no?
I didn’t make it up. It’s what sufferers have said, over and over.
And what you might not feel, is the damage it’s causing to the permeability of your gut lining which now allows bacteria and food substances into your bloodstream — where they are causing problems.
This Leaky Gut Syndrome sets you up for the symptoms above — and for developing more food sensitivities. And even worse, autoimmune diseases.
Did this syndrome set me up for weird-arse food sensitivities like celery — among the long list that the test results said I, supposedly, have? Probably.
Celery. FFS.
But I do know that it’s true. Every time I eat it, my gut churns for hours … and then the farts come. Farts you could gauge with a tape measure they’re soooo long.
Did this syndrome set me up for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Type 1 Diabetes? Probably. My endocrinologist told me the other week that as far as understanding the immune system, we are still a little 19th-century, but a correlation between processed food and chronic illness is definitely a thing.
Dang.
There are other factors, of course, that lead to the perfect storm, which then signals your blindfolded immune system to wildly attack your organs with a samurai sword. But here, we’re talking about bread — all things gluten — but for today, bread.
Gluten sensitivity is now estimated to affect up to 30% of the population, says Dr Amy Meyers, and what’s worse, an estimated 99% of people with celiac or gluten sensitivity are never diagnosed.
So why didn’t this happen to our grandparents?
Because they didn’t mess with the biological structure of the grain back then. And we eat way more wheat than they did. The variety of processed food has exploded — along with our waistlines and medical bills.
But at least it’s not cake, right?
#2 You’re Not Eating What You Think You Are
An egg and lettuce sandwich is a seemingly wholesome lunch. And while it’s certainly better than a piece of cake, which you know would just leave you hungrier later, let’s go back a few chews and break it down.
Most of us have heard that sugar is bad for us. I say sugar is nobody’s friend, but I can quite easily sit and watch others eat it. Just because it’s there, it doesn’t mean we have to have it. Just like you don’t have to have everything in the supermarket that you see.
But food is addictive, especially sugar. Like any addiction, it can be broken. Some people need to wean off it, while some can go cold turkey.
But sometimes we don’t even know that we are still feeding the cravings …
Here’s what sugar really looks like:
There are three types of carbohydrates…
- Sugar — Simple and compound sugars found in fruit, vegetables, dairy, and grains that germinate from seeds
- Starch — Complex sugars found in vegetables that grow beneath the ground, and others like peas, beans, and corn — and grains (wheat, rice, oats, barley)
- Fibre — Complex sugars that may be soluble (usable by the body) or insoluble (great for gut health, but more on that later)
Here’s the kicker: Your body rapidly absorbs simple sugars. Digestive enzymes break down compound sugars into simple sugars. And guess what? Yep, complex sugars are also broken down into simple sugars — the fibre makes the sugar absorb more slowly, but they all still break down into simple sugars.
The amount of sugar doesn’t change.
Therefore, your blood sugar will still rise.
If your pancreas is working optimally, it will release exactly the amount of insulin you need to push that glucose into your cells and not have it floating around in your blood stream to cause an A-Z list of complications in years to come. Okay, maybe not X,Y, and Z. But unfriendly things like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and neuropathy — which has too too many symptoms to list here.
The bad news is that what may start as a kick-arse pancreas — producing enough of its fat storing hormone, insulin — can get weary, and often does in susceptible people.
Also, if your cells are insulin resistant from being constantly bombarded with too much carbohydrate too often, a whole other cascade of health decline begins, known as metabolic syndrome.
If only our organs had weariness gauges.
But enough of reality, let’s get back to the bread and why it — and it’s carb cohorts — are sneakily undermining your health
What Really Happens to Your Blood Sugar?
So, we wouldn’t pretend that a piece of cake is a substantial lunch because we know that it is sugary. But, in one serving, would it surprise you to know cake has about 15 teaspoons of sugar?
Insane.
Hard to imagine eating that much sugar, and you certainly wouldn’t add that much to your coffee.
But did you know that white bread, which varies between supermarkets and bakeries, has 3.5 to 5 teaspoons of sugar — 5.5 for wholegrain barley — per slice?
That’s what Dr David Unwin reported on Diet Doctor.
Would you add 7 to 10 teaspoons of sugar to your coffee? No? Then a sandwich might lose some of its appeal, too.
But how do you know what to eat, then?
Apps like Carb Manager (my favourite) and FatSecret are simple to use when you want to know how many grams of carbohydrate is in your food. To get the teaspoons of sugar, divide that number by 4. Sometimes having a visual, like a teaspoon, is a great help.
Being a Type 1 diabetic, you might think it’s easy for me to eat something like bread. I just inject enough insulin, right?
If only it were that simple.
My Personal Experiment
Normally, I would inject 1 unit of fast acting insulin if my meal had a little carb, like sweet potato or a nectarine. I would also inject 2 units of intermediate acting insulin to cover the protein rise which comes later.
Generally, that works, as you can see below — it started as a fairly standard day, although I could have done better in terms of tight control (the flat lines that are achievable if you pay close enough attention to what you are eating and injecting).
So, all was okay, until that night, when I conducted my experiment and ate two pieces of toast with 4 units of fast acting insulin. That’s a lot for me, but the goal is to cover it well, but not have your blood sugar plummet too low later.
Very tricky business.
The carb rise made me so sleepy that I was sound asleep before I knew I was even going to — to wake in the middle of the night to a frightful number on my metre.
So I injected 3 more units — straight into my thigh muscle.
My endocrinologist’s eyes popped when I told him that, but the insulin works faster and better into a muscle, so yes, you do have to be careful doing it. I did it because the longer my blood sugar stays high, the more damage it is doing to my organs.
That worked, but that’s 7 times the amount of fast acting insulin I’d normally inject for a meal — for just two pieces of bread! Yes, I may have needed 1 or 1.5 units less if I’d prevented the rise rather than trying to correct it, but blood sugar lows are a real danger.
And I don’t want to wake up dead.
But I equally don’t want to die blind or missing feet, so I eat low carb and watch my sugars carefully. Occasionally, I slip, though. Or eat toast in the name of science.
And then came the aftermath, the next day, when my blood sugar just wanted to keep edging up. The dots are finger pricks, the blue squares are injections. The numbers on the far right are correction needles. To the left of them is food needles.
Eventually it worked, but I ended up with a low. At least the rollercoaster was over — 24 hours later, though.
The point of me sharing this is that your blood sugar and insulin does the same, and it’s taxing on your organs — and your energy.
Not to mention that sugar and leaky gut drive inflammation, and inflammation is the leading cause of disease.
#3 The Battle of the Body’s Bugs Needs Your Help
Sugar also feeds the bad bacteria in your gut — your second brain, which tells your body how healthy it’s going to be.
Wait! What?? There are bugs in my stomach?
Yep, about 40 trillion it’s estimated, and most of them in your intestines.
The aim is to have the balance firmly favouring the good ones, though.
The good bacteria thrive on whole foods, fermented foods and drinks, and insoluble fibre, which makes it all the way down to your small intestine. Basically, you need to eat a wide variety of anything that isn’t processed.
Which bread is — processed, I mean.
Without assisting the colonisation of the good bacteria, the bad will flourish. It’s that simple.
#4 The Invisible Effects That Are Even More Debilitating
Skin issues are visible; I’m talking about brain fog, fatigue, depression, and pain.
These are the issues that truly rob you of life.
Every day is beyond difficult.
Getting through the day is a struggle, let alone the thought of having to give to anyone else — in social and even family situations.
You don’t want to go out. You don’t want anyone at your place. You want to sit and stare at the wall, hoping you wake up feeling better tomorrow.
You miss out. Your family and friends miss out.
Even attempting to change the situation feels beyond you.
You’re drowning.
And it’s no fun.
You know it’s no way to live, but you feel that you have no choice.
Except that you do.
One choice at a time.
There are lots of grain-free bread recipes out there, and I’ve tried many. Often they have an ingredients list as long as your arm. And often, they taste not a lot like bread. But that’s okay.
Because we are focussed on health, not what we are missing out on.
Each step towards feeling better will give you the strength for the next step.
Try this
Just in case you haven’t seen it, here is a slightly different recipe for the famous 90 second keto bread — with 1 gram net carbs. It has 5 ingredients and is super-dooper easy.
The texture was just like bread! And not eggy tasting like many others.
The magic is in the tiny bit of psyllium husk powder. Some brands turn purple upon cooking — which could be fun — but I used Macro brand, which is easily found in Australian supermarkets. And it looked like this when I’d finished:
It’s Worth Doing and Easier Than it Sounds
So. Maybe, in the lunch room, they looked away because they know you don’t want to hear it, especially on a Monday. Maybe they know you’ll kick yourself tomorrow about the quality of fuel you are giving your body to work with, and they don’t need to tell you.
Maybe you know what it’s like to have your resolve weaken. Or maybe you’re reading this because there’s someone else you wish would listen to you.
For their sake. Or yours. Or both.
Whether it’s the sandwich or the salad fork in your hand, bread is nobody’s friend. We all have different goals, but feeling good is a pretty standard one.
Without bread, you delight in how flat your stomach feels — as well as the other issues you eliminate by avoiding it, as the first step towards a happier you.
You love bread, most of us do, but chances are it doesn’t love — or even like — you.
You wouldn’t stay in that kind of relationship with a person; you have more respect for yourself. While stress, tiredness, or a hangover can weaken your resolve, keeping the truth in mind about bread’s fluffy temptation will keep you motivated to make changes, one day at a time.
And more importantly, resist.
Slips happen.
But take careful note of the consequences in your body. Listen to what it’s telling you.
Start today, choose one lesson above to focus on, out of respect for the incredible workings of your body, despite the challenges you throw at it — more often than you’d like.
The seemingly small decisions we make each day can have an enormous effect on our weight, energy, and comfort levels. When we make the best decision we can, with the information we have at the time, we end up exactly where we should be.
No regrets. Just a stronger resolve to do better next time.
Don’t let all the conflicting information out there derail you. Your body will tell you what works for you. And chances are, bread simply doesn’t.
Sure, it tastes good, but greater satisfaction comes from better choices.
In no time, you’ll wake up more easily, feeling clearer and bouncier, and every day will be much more bearable.