Consuming bread on a daily basis is linked with various diseases like obesity, heart disease, diabetes. Especially bread made of highly processed grains could cause blood sugar spikes which is quite harmful for a person with diabetes. However, using healthy ingredients like whole grains, fibre to make bread or adding protein, fat and fibre to your bread can lower the GI of food, providing more satiety and preventing sugar spikes. From adding loads of salad to protein sources like meat, paneer, eggs or legumes, one can make their sandwich healthier and even keep hunger pangs at bay for longer.
If you are someone who gets hungry too quickly after having bread in breakfast, you need to change the way you are having it and make it healthier.
“Bread has a high glycaemic index, just like sugar. By itself, bread will get digested quickly and you will be hungry again within an hour,” writes Nutritionist Bhuvan Rastogi in his latest Instagram post.
Rastogi says that one can add protein, fat or fibre to lower the GI of the bread and get more satiety from the same meal and lower any sugar spike.
Here are different ways to have bread to feel full and prevent sugar spikes as per Rastogi.
You can add fat options like oil or butter, salad dressing sauces etc. This will make the meal digest slowly and give more satiety. But this is the least preferred method as it has only fat and no protein or fibre, says the nutritionist.
Have your bread with lots of salads(Pixabay)
Rastogi says one can add two layers each of cucumber, tomato, and onions in the sandwich so that the meal has moderate amounts of fibre. This sandwich will have 3g of fibre which is still less than a whole wheat roti.
“This is a good way to go. It has high micronutrients, but since there’s no protein and just an average amount of fibre, it’s less preferred. Satiety will also be average, not great,” says Rastogi.
DENSE PROTEIN
Rastogi suggests adding a dense protein like Tempeh, egg whites, or chicken/lean meat, or have the sandwich with skim milk on the side. He adds that this option would provide better satiety than just salad.
PROTEIN-FAT COMBO
“You can also add a combination of protein and fat, like cheese and whole eggs for higher satiety. Even peanut butter is in this category; it has more fat, less protein,” says the expert.
LEGUMES
Rastogi says one can add a high-fibre option. “Legumes are high in fibre and moderate in protein. They provide high levels of satiety, so beans or hummus are great options in this category,” says the nutritionist.
HOW ABOUT MIXING IT ALL
“Best is mixing the previous options. My recommendation is usually a salad sandwich with legume or dense protein,” concludes Rastogi.