What Happens To Your Body When You Eat Bread Every Day

If you're like most people, you love to eat bread. According to Statista, 9.77 million Americans bought five or more loaves or packages of bread in 2020. There's just something about the fluffy freshness of it that fills you with joy and makes you satisfied. Whether it is a tasty sandwich, a cheesy pizza, a juicy burger, a breakfast bagel, or an avocado toast, that bread base is everything. But while there are a lot of health benefits that bread provides (beyond its deliciousness), there are also a number of downsides to eating bread every single day. It can be fine in moderation, of course, but it can also take a toll on your health if you eat too much of it.

So before you reach for that extra slice, take a moment to read how bread affects your physical and mental health. Without further ado, here are some of the surprising ways eating bread every day can impact you.

You have probably heard it before, though research is indeed conflicting: Bread can cause weight gain, according to Healthline. We're talking about white bread, in particular. This is because white bread, specifically, is very refined and, most of the time, it contains significant amounts of added sugar. In fact, one study of over 9,000 people published in BMC Public Health found that eating just two slices of white bread (or the equivalent of 120 grams) per day is linked to a 40% increased risk of weight gain and obesity. So there you have it.

While the right kinds of carbs are good for you in moderation, like all nutrients, you should definitely be careful about how much of them you consume. Or, if you are going to eat bread (because, let's be honest, who can really give it up?), perhaps trade in the white bread for a more nutritious kind.

It's no secret that bread can make you feel really great in the moment. Who doesn't love some warm, freshly baked, and buttered bread? It's the best comfort food that there is, point blank period. 

Nevertheless, too much bread can have adverse effects and lead to depression. According to a study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, bread is an "edible agent of mental disease." According to the research, "bread (1) makes the gut more permeable and can thus encourage the migration of food particles to sites where they are not expected, prompting the immune system to attack both these particles and brain-relevant substances that resemble them, and (2) releases opioid-like compounds, capable of causing mental derangement if they make it to the brain." Although not everyone agrees, the researchers in this particular study went so far as to say that a grain-free diet could improve the mental health of many people.

Contrary to popular belief, bread is not all bad! According to a study published in ARYA Atherosclerosis, oat bread, in particular, has an advantage. "Oat bread consumption could significantly reduce total cholesterol," the report reads.

"According to the American Heart Association, your body makes all the cholesterol you need and circulates it through your bloodstream. Cholesterol is found in the structure of all cells in the body," the University of Iowa explained. "It helps digest fat and produce vitamin D and hormones such as testosterone and estrogen." It's worth noting that there are two types of cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein (HDL), aka "good" cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), aka "bad" cholesterol. The latter can narrow your blood vessels and lead to heart disease.

Thankfully, though, oat bread is here to help."Since hypercholesterolemia is a proven risk factor for endothelial dysfunction [a type of heart disease], hypercholesterolemic patients can hence be advised to eat oat bread," the aforementioned study concluded.

While some bread (we're looking at you, white bread) can make you feel lethargic, other bread (we're looking at you, whole grain bread) can give you an energy boost, according to The Nutrition Source, a Harvard publication.

"Whole grains offer a 'complete package' of health benefits, unlike refined grains, which are stripped of valuable nutrients in the refining process," explained the site. "A growing body of research shows that choosing whole grains and other less-processed, higher-quality sources of carbohydrates, and cutting back on refined grains, improves health in many ways."

One of those ways is by providing you with "sustained energy" so you can feel empowered to tackle your day (via American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics). That's why a slice or two of whole-grain toast can be really great for breakfast, for example. If you are going to eat bread in the morning, skip the plain white bagels or toast and opt for whole grain.

Sure, there are a lot of reasons why you should probably cut back on how much processed bread you eat. But whole-grain bread, in particular, is a great source of fiber and other nutrients (via Medical News Today). 

"We have conducted several meta-analyses on whole-grain consumption and health outcomes like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature mortality," Dagfinn Aune, a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, told Quartz. "When looking at specific sources of grains, whole-grain bread, whole-grain breakfast cereals, brown rice, and wheat bran were all associated with reduced risks."

Interestingly, Aune's research, which was published in The BMJ, found that eating the equivalent of 7.5 slices of whole-grain bread every single day is ideal for one's health — quite the opposite of what we often hear. Since the benefits appear to come from the nutrients in whole-grain bread, you won't be able to achieve the same benefits by eating white bread.