What is low-carb bread and what’s in it?

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What is low-carb bread? What exactly is in it? Does low-carb bread fit into your diet and budget? You’ll find out here!

How low is “low-carb” bread?

Legally, we should speak of “bread with fewer carbohydrates” as the term “low-carb bread” is not allowed according to the Food and Commodities Act [1]. To meet the term “bread with fewer carbohydrates,” a bread must contain at least 30% fewer carbohydrates than comparable and common types of bread.

Despite the legislation, we still often see this type of bread appearing under the term “low-carb bread.” Because of the popularity of that term in everyday use, we will use it here.

Does low-carb bread fit into your diet?

Every diet is personal, or should be. Therefore, we must always be careful not to label certain foods as “good” or “bad.” They are good or bad for you, under certain circumstances at certain times. However, we can identify where most people go wrong in their diet and assess the food in question based on that.

The most common mistakes are, of course, eating too much in general and specifically too many carbohydrates, including fast sugars. In that context, it is not difficult to understand the appeal of low-carb bread.

Low-carb doesn’t mean low-calorie

Note: Low-carb does not mean low-calorie in this case. Low-carb bread usually contains just as many or even more calories. However, that does not make them less interesting in a diet aimed at weight loss and/or improving health. After all, you could have just eaten less bread. Low-carb bread offers the same energy and possibly longer satiety by replacing some of the carbohydrates with proteins, fats, and adding dietary fibers.

The main rule in weight loss is that less energy must come in than your body consumes. Normally, replacing carbohydrates with nutrients that provide the same amount of energy is not the fastest way to lose weight. However, there are several reasons why such an adjustment could be beneficial for most people.

More proteins in low-carb bread

First of all: Balance is the most important thing when we look at a healthy distribution of macronutrients in a diet. A healthy balance between carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Looking at practice, we see that cases of imbalance often lean towards an excess of carbohydrates. Also, the increase in the number of people with type 2 diabetes is largely attributed to an excess of carbohydrates in the diet [2].

Various studies have shown that a diet with a calorie deficit can lead to more weight loss when relatively more proteins and fewer carbohydrates are eaten. Proteins promote a higher feeling of satiety in different ways. Proteins also require more energy to be used as fuel. In addition, muscle mass is better preserved at the expense of fat mass. This means it takes longer before the resting metabolism slows down due to weight loss [2,4-8].

But sometimes you are satisfied as you are and you just want to prevent weight gain. You therefore eat with a focus on energy balance and ensure you consume approximately the same amount of calories as you expend. In those circumstances, a diet with relatively more proteins, according to some researchers, would decrease the chance of overeating [3]. A diet low in proteins would increase this chance.

More fats in low-carb bread

People may have reservations about adding fats to low-carb bread. However, nowadays we are a bit more nuanced and attach more value to the difference between various types of fats. In that respect, we can rest assured that low-carb bread usually contains healthier fats.

Such as in the example next to this. For example, we see flaxseed, rich in the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid. But also sesame seeds, a source of the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid. Sunflower seeds contain, in addition to linoleic acid, the omega-9 fatty acid oleic acid. Finally, rapeseed oil contains a very high content of saturated fats.

How good are those “good fats” in low-carb bread?

However, it is too simple to call these fats “good fats.” It rightly distinguishes them from the bad trans fats, but says little about the correct balance of different fats.

For example, it is often recommended to consume about 3 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids [9]. However, in practice, we often consume much more omega-6 fatty acids and less omega-3 than the recommended ratio of 3:1.

Since the exact amounts per type of fat are not mentioned, you cannot assess the ratio of fats here. Therefore, you also cannot estimate how they would fit into your diet.

Prefer low-carb or low-fat?

When it comes to weight and health, it is now clear that fats and sugars each bring their own risks. However, it is important to note which types of fats and carbohydrates we are talking about.

For example, mice on a high-fat diet do not show an increased risk of type 2 diabetes [10]. This was not the case for mice who received the same amount of calories, but mainly from fast sugars. For both diets high in saturated and unsaturated fats, it resulted in less weight gain than the diet high in fast sugars or complex carbohydrates.

Similarly, in studies with overweight people and those at (increased risk of) type 2 diabetes, improvements were seen by switching from high carbohydrate diets to high fat diets [11-13]. Weight decreased and indicators for (pre-)diabetes improved.

Like proteins, fats in food also provide longer satiety after eating, possibly leading to eating less [14].

The fibers in low-carb bread

Fibers are an important type of nutrient. Carbohydrates, especially complex/slow ones, are an important source of fibers. Eating fewer carbohydrates could therefore quickly mean that you consume fewer fibers [16]. The lowest scores for daily fiber intakes were seen in research in people with a diet consisting of less than 30% carbohydrates and containing a lot of fats [17,18].

To prevent this fiber deficiency, fibers are often added to low-carb bread. As a result, low-carb bread often contains just as many or even more fibers (see below).

Comparing low-carb bread

I have looked up a few examples of low-carb bread to compare the nutritional value, but also the price. Unfortunately, I could not give a price per kilo everywhere. For example, Jumbo only provides a unit price, but no total weight. At AH, I calculated this from the price per unit (22 servings of 35 grams).

The low-carb breads are at the top, with two ‘normal’ breads below for comparison.

The prices of the low-carb breads are close to the regular breads, but the slices of low-carb bread are smaller. So, you get less bread for your money. However, you would still get more bread if you compare the price per kilo. But it is, of course, more convenient to calculate the price per slice. If you only look at that, the price per slice of low-carb bread is almost twice as high as the two normal breads.

Low-carb bread from the supermarket

The following information comes from the product information provided by the supermarkets. Here we can find the composition per 100 grams. You can easily compare the composition this way.

At AH, the low-carb bread has 6.9 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams. This is slightly lower than the 7.3 grams in the low-carb bread from Jumbo. Of those 7.3 grams of carbohydrates from Jumbo, 3.8 grams are fibers. The low-carb bread from AH contains 9.5 grams of fibers. The bread from AH contains 12.4 grams of protein and 16.5 grams of fat. That is about twice as much as the 6.9 grams of protein and 9.2 grams of fat from Jumbo.

Both low-carb breads contain slightly more than 300 kilocalories per 100 grams. This is 10 to 20% more than the normal types of bread below. But it is also 10 to 20% less than the multigrain and whole wheat breads at the bottom. This clearly shows that low-carb bread is not low-calorie bread. But that doesn’t mean it’s less interesting for a diet.

It is also striking that the breads from Jumbo and AH contain less salt than the two other types of bread. Even the multigrain bread that does not contain added salt (but of course does contain salt naturally present in the ingredients) contains slightly more salt. The same goes for the amount of fibers. This is remarkable because the breads from Jumbo and AH contain more fibers than the two other types of bread.

Conclusion

The above example is far too small to make any firm statements about all low-carb breads available in supermarkets. However, it gives an impression of the possibilities in terms of composition and price. A low-carb bread could help you consume fewer carbohydrates, more proteins, and fats and possibly more fibers. But it does not necessarily make it a healthy choice for your personal diet.

Every diet is personal and should be adapted to your own preferences, goals, and circumstances. It is important to experiment with different food options and observe how they make you feel. Pay attention to your energy levels, satiety, digestion, and overall well-being. Consulting with a qualified healthcare professional or dietitian can also provide personalized guidance based on your individual needs and goals.

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