The launch of Powered By Bread is the latest in a series of campaigns run by the nation's bakers - the Federation of Bakers and the Flour Advisory Bureau - promoting the benefits of sliced bread among young women. We caught up with Sport's Nuritionist Anita Bean about the importance of bread in a vegan diet and why carbs are good!
Anita Bean
Please can you tell us about the new campaign you're working on to put an end to the recent anti-carb messages.
I think this campaign is great because it does encourage young women to reconsider bread and eat a balanced diet. Hopefully it will steer them away from these low carb diets and food fads.
Why can bread be such a beneficial part of a vegan diet?
Bread does supply many important nutrients- the biggest plus is its carbohydrate content. This fuels your daily activities and exercise. It's actually the body's preferred fuel. We need carbohydrates for the brain, the heart, the nervous system. The type of carbohydrates in bread are what we call 'slow release carbohydrates' so they provide you with sustained energy. This makes bread a good fuel for pre-workouts, as well as post workout recovery.
It also provides protein and getting enough protein can be a problem for vegans. We know that plant foods contain incomplete proteins- which means they don't all contain the perfect amount of amino acids. Vegan needs to eat a variety of foods that contain protein, which includes bread as well as other cereals nuts and pulses. The great thing about bread is that it's very versatile- you can add other plant proteins to it such as beans, nut butters and hummus. It's a good way of getting your protein up.
It's a really important source of fibre and we know the government has recommended that we eat 30g a day. That is very difficult to obtain without grains such as bread. Bread's fibre content helps us to meet our daily target. I've worked out that bread contains 3g per slice so three slices would provide almost a third of your daily fibre requirement.
There are also vitamins and minerals in bread; it's an important source of iron, B vitamins, folate, zinc and calcium of course. Those are important nutrients in a vegan diet. Vegans can struggle to get enough of certain vitamins and minerals.
There are many different varieties of bread- some with oats, seeds, wholemeal and white- so which type of bread would you say provides the most of what a vegan needs?
Each type of bread has different benefits- wholemeal bread will be higher in fibre, iron and zinc. Bread with seeds is also beneficial because the seeds provide extra iron, zinc and omega 3s so that's a good one to include. Oaty bread contains more oatmeal so that is a source of soluble fibre. Even white bread is fortified with calcium and provides b vitamins and iron, so it's not redundant- it's not just pure carbohydrates. They all have their benefits so it's unfair to say which is the best one for vegan needs.
Other than bread- what vegan carbs would you recommend as part of a vegan lifestyle?
Bread obviously supplies nutrients other than carbohydrates. Other types of carby foods that I know are good for vegans are quinoa- it's not a grain, it's a seed, but it's high in carbs, beans and lentils are a good source of carbs too. Oats and barley, brown rice, wholegrain rice- the key thing is that the foods you eat are rich in other nutrients- not just carbohydrates.
Do carbs slow down weight loss for vegans who are looking to shed some pounds?
There is no evidence that any particular food would cause weight gain- it's excess calories that cause you to put on weight. Whether it comes from carbohydrates or fats- it's not linked with any particular food.
A lot of people think that cutting down on carbs will melt the weight or help shift weight quicker. That may work in the short term but it's rarely shown to be successful long term. All that is happening when you are cutting carbs is you are cutting calories. For most people it's an unsustainable way of eating. It's quite difficult for people to put it into their lifestyles long term. You can end up feeling tired; if you exercise, you can feel fatigued. Your performance can actually go down rather than improve. Following a low carb diet long term is not recommended from a nutritional point of view or a fitness point of view.
How much bread should we be having in a day- is there a limit to how much we should be eating?
There are no hard and fast rules and no official recommendations- it's important that bread is seen as part of a healthy diet bearing in mind that it is a good way to meet your fibre needs. It's like with anything- it's moderation. Don't cut it out but on the other hand- don't go over the top!
Why is there a misconception that bread is unhealthy?
I think a lot of it is driven by social media trends. Over the last few years we have seen a very marked trend in cutting carbs because people believe it's going to help them shed weight faster- that's misguided. There is this association with weight gain and weight loss but the truth is it's your overall calories that really matter. I know it sounds like a very unglamorous message but there is no scientific reason why carbs would be converted into body fat any more readily than the other nutrients. It's your total calorie intake.
A lot of breads do contain a long list of ingredients could this be putting people off who are trying to eat a cleaner diet?
What's really important are the main ingredients in bread- flour, water, yeast, a tiny amount of oil or fat and a small amount of salt. The packed breads will contain emulsifiers and preservatives, which I agree with you- might put some people off who are trying to eat clean. They have to bear in mind that those ingredients are there for a reason- usually to improve the keeping qualities of the bread or the textural qualities of the bread. The main thing is that there is a choice and a variety out there for people.
What would your top tips be for vegans who want to live as healthily as possible?
My daughter is actually a vegan and she is in this age group as well. She was a vegetarian and recently became vegan. The main thing is to make sure you are eating a wide variety of different foods. If you are cutting out food groups- in this case it meat, fish, dairy and eggs- those need to be replaced with other foods. Include a wide variety of beans, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, different types of grains, seeds and nut butters. Be as adventurous as you possibly can with your cooking and your food choices, and remember to have a good variety of fruits and vegetables in there too.
'Powered By Bread' is a unique brand of high street active wear designed to remind young women when it comes to doing exercise, bread is the perfect workout partner. The limited edition collection of leggings and vests uses tongue-in-cheek slogans including 'I Run on Bread' and 'Eat, Sleep, Toast, Tone' to put bread in the spotlight as a healthy carbohydrate to help fuel an active lifestyle both inside and outside of the gym.
Readers can win the limited edition clothing via the @WeHeartBread Twitter handle
Tagged in Vegetarian Vegan