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Bread is such an omnipresent staple of western diets. Since their invention in the 18th century by the eponymous Earl, sandwiches have become the default lunch for many, with a staggering 11 billion consumed each year in the UK. Such is its popularity, it would be considered unrealistic for many to eliminate suddenly bread from their diets.
At JB Personal Training, we advise our clients to follow 3 simple rules on how to incorporate bread into a sustainable eating pattern compatible with fat loss:
1) Never have more than 2 slices of bread per day.
It is very easy to consume significantly more than this, especially if you have toast for breakfast and as a snack
2) Always choose wholemeal bread
This means not granary, not "brown", and NEVER white.
3) Count the Ingredients
Always choose the least processed wholemeal bread possible. Flip the bread over in the supermarket and have a look at the ingredients. You may be surprised to learn that even seemingly healthy choices like wholemeal wraps have a list of ingredients as long as your arm. Take Mission Wholewheat Tortillas, for example:
Contrast this with Asda Wholemeal Pitta Bread:
The number of ingredients is a very simple indicator of how processed the bread is. So the fewer the better. A long list like the Mission Tortillas above is highly likely to have an ingredient that is damaging to one's health. A great example in this case is the presence of hydrogenated fat (Hydrogenated Soybean Oil and/or Palm Oil). This is a type of "Trans Fat", consumption of which can lead to high cholesterol levels in the blood and subsequently heart disease, heart attacks and strokes.
So next time you are shopping, take a little extra time to check the label. Don't assume that a product marketed as healthy is genuinely so - unfortunately, often the opposite is the case!
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