To Dough or Not To Dough: Does It Make Me Fat

Bread, pizza, pretzels, or muffins you need for your daily diet. The dough is where your meal starts, be it day or night. The wide range of food you can make from dough is endless. From sour to sweet to salty, the flavors and cooking methods are so varied, you never run out of options to make tasty meals from the dough.

To Dough or Not To Dough: Does It Make Me Fat
[ image: freepik by kamaranadinov ]

Bakery products are mostly made from dough. There is the never-ending debate of whether they are healthy or harmful to health. Some ingredients make them unhealthy, and then there are alternative, more nutritious ingredients that make healthy bakery products.

What is dough anyway? The dough is a mixture of flour and other ingredients like egg, oil, butter, sugar, etc., depending on what you are making.

Will dough increase the weight of a body? Livetray has put together the explanations, possibilities, and myths to come to a clear response to this ceaseless question about the dough.

 Clear Those Myths

● Dough products cause obesity: This is a very common belief or misconception. However, there is no scientific evidence that supports this. Any diet that includes dough products like bread is not associated with an increase in weight. Consuming white bread instead of whole-grain bread has shown an increase in the circumference around the waist.

● Eating bread will increase your weight: Eating bread will not increase your weight, but excess intake of bread will. Just as in the case of any food that you eat, the excess intake will either make you gain weight or have other harmful effects on your body. Both white bread and whole wheat bread has the same amount of calorie in one slice. Since whole grain bread has more fiber, it will leave you feeling full sooner than other dough products. 

How to Choose the Right Ingredients to Avoid Weight Increase

When it comes to trimming down your waistline, the first thing you remove from your table is bread. It doesn’t have to be that way. You have to buy smart, bake smart, and eat smart.

● Choose whole-grain: There is a general misconception that whole wheat grain bread has fewer calories than white bread. The truth is they both have the same amount of calories, but since whole-grain bread has more fiber, it leaves you feeling full sooner than white bread. Any dough product that has ingredients starting with whole grain or whole wheat should go to your cart. Ingredients that begin with sugar, fructose, wheat flour, etc., are to be avoided.

● Consider the 10:1 rule: A simple way to shop smart is the 10:1 rule, especially when you are looking for bread. It means there should be one gram of fiber for every ten grams of carbs.

● Don’t go by the color: Generally, whole grain products are darker than flour products. There is a chance that food manufacturers may add food coloring and molasses to give a darker hue to refined flour products. Take your time to read the ingredients before tossing them in your cart.

● Pick the fermented dough: The fermentation process gives many healthy bacteria to the dough, balancing the digestive system. These bacteria also manage your metabolism, which is good news for your diet plan. Whether you are buying or making bread, go for the fermented dough to boost your health.

● Opt for barley, rye, and bran: Any dough product that contains bran, rye, and barley is rich in fiber. The soluble fiber has beta-gluten in its composition that takes time to be digested and, in turn, prevents a sudden spike in blood sugar. The longer your food takes time to go down, the lesser your cravings will be.

● Choose coconut flour over white flour for baking: The main advantages of coconut flour over white flour are, it is gluten-free, has more fiber, and fewer carbs. Coconut flour has complex carbohydrates that take a long time to break down.

● Dip your dough slices in oil: This may sound unconventional. When you dip your bread slice in healthy fats like butter, olive oil, or coconut oil, it will not just slow down your intake but add taste as well. The combination of oil and bread will stop the over-consumption of the dough product.

● Darker floors are better: If you are baking bread at home, go for darker flour made of brown rice, fonio, and tapioca. They are gluten-free flour, and the dark shade implies the presence of antioxidants in your bread. You can easily buy gluten-free flour from IYA Foods at a reasonable price.

● Add nuts and seeds to your dough: Nuts and seeds are packed with nutrition, and they have the property to fill your stomach with a small amount. Adding this to your dough will decrease your intake of slices. The nuts and seeds will not just leave you feeling full, but the taste and texture of your bread will be better.

● Bake with unsaturated fats: Tweaking your ingredients is exciting and is better for your health. Use unsaturated butter or oils while baking as these are healthier and do not change the taste. Unsaturated fats actually give it a more light texture to dough.

● Replace buying with baking at home: The best way to eat dough products is to make it at home. With the number of ingredients that you prefer and which is right for your health, you can bake healthier bread.

●Buy frozen bread: Those loaves of bread sitting in the grocery contain preservatives, sugar, and sodium to prolong its shelf life. Sprouted grain bread in freezers includes enzymes that are released. The carbohydrates and proteins in frozen bread have been broken down, which makes it easier to absorb the nutrients and digest as well. They do have gluten, which may not be suitable for people who have a sensitivity to gluten or wheat.

With this simple and comprehensive guide by Livetray, choose and make your dough to avoid weight gain with the right flour, the right amount of ingredients, and the right intake of slices. Remember, whatever food you eat will not directly cause weight gain. However, over-consumption of any food will add weight to your body mass.