Industrial Bakery: Why Is It Unhealthy?

Products from industrial bakery are not healthy because they can cause health problems due to their high content of calories, trans fats and sugar, among others.

Industrial pastries are appetizing to eat because of their irresistible sweetness and ease of access. But, we know that this type of food is not beneficial for our health. Do you want to know why industrial bakery is not good for your health? Here are some reasons to avoid this kind of consumption.

Why is industrial bakery bad for your health?

What do we mean by industrial bakery? This product group includes sweets of different types, buns, cakes, cookies, breakfast cereals, bars, chocolates, etc. All of these foods have several characteristics in common. Indeed, they are rich in:

• Calories
• Refined flour
• Poor quality vegetable oils
• Trans fats
• Sugars

Now let’s see what are the components of industrial pastries and why it is dangerous to consume them.

It is a real explosion of calories

Industrial bakery is characterized by a large amount of calories concentrated in a small volume. Indeed, a portion of 100 grams of industrial pastries provides us with an average of 450 calories. This is equivalent to ingesting 600 grams of potatoes or 16,000 grams of green beans. It is also the equivalent of an hour to burn it. This amount of kilocalories represents 30% of the total calories that a person consumes per day.

The calories from industrial pastries that do not add anything to our body are called empty calories. In other words, a lot of calories for a few nutrients. Indeed, they do not contain good quality proteins, nor healthy fats, no fibers or micronutrients. Except salt, which is usually found in high amounts.

Industrial bakery contains hydrogenated or trans fats

Hydrogenated or trans fats  are produced by a chemical process that has many benefits for the food industry. Mainly the cost, because they are cheaper.

In addition, the industry introduces hydrogen in certain ingredients which naturally contain liquid fats, such as oils, at very high temperatures, to transform them into solids.

Thus,  these foods last much longer. They are also more appetizing. Consuming just 5 grams of trans fat is already considered dangerous for your health.

It has an excessive sugar content

According to the WHO,  the sugar in our diet should not exceed 5% of daily consumption. Or about 7 pieces, or 30 grams for adults. And 4 pieces, or 19 grams for children. For example, just by eating four chocolate cookies, which contain about 34 grams of sugar, equivalent to 8.5 pieces, we already exceed the daily limit.

Refined sugars and simple sugars like  sucrose, glucose or invert sugar produce dramatic increases in insulin levels  in the blood. The risk is to suffer from type 2 diabetes.

Industrial bakery contains a lot of salt

The content of vitamins and antioxidants is practically zero in products from industrial bakery. This will then promote the production of free radicals. On the other hand, the presence of minerals is very low. Sodium being the mineral salt that we find, and in excess. Finally, high salt intake can lead to high blood pressure.

It contains refined flour

Refined flours are flours that are subjected to a chemical process in which finer and smaller particles are created by removing some of the essential components of the whole flour. Thus, this gives rise to an ingredient which is more digestible and which allows it to be used more easily in pastries.

Therefore,  this chemical process removes the bran and germ from these flours,  where vitamins, minerals and fiber are found.

Industrial bakery presents poor quality vegetable oils

One of the reasons industrial pastries aren’t healthy is because of their poor quality vegetable oil content . These are  refined oils that are extracted from, such as flour, vitamins and minerals.

The industrial process involves heating the oils to very high temperatures. This produces oxidation of fats and chemicals. This type of oil  improves the taste of food making it tastier and lowering production costs. For this reason, they replace other quality oils, such as olive oil.

Industrial baking can cause health problems

The industrial bakery seriously harms our health because of all the ingredients it contains. Here are some of the consequences of its consumption.

Industrial pastries generate an addiction

The degree of transformation of a product as well as the combination of fats and sugars it contains makes  us want to eat more as well as the feeling of never being full. This  study published in PlosOne  shows it.

In addition,  sugars reduce stress in our body by lowering cortisol levels  in the blood. So when we are stressed, we resort to industrial baking and can become addicted.

The industrial bakery: one of the causes of obesity and diabetes

Due to its high caloric intake and the rest of the ingredients, industrial baking makes us gain weight. Also, as we’ve commented before,  not getting full and stimulating our appetite easily makes it easy for us to eat a lot more than we should.

Since these products contain a high glycemic load, the consumption of industrial pastries  is associated with a greater likelihood of suffering from type 2 diabetes.

Increased risk of cardiovascular disease

Consuming trans fats, refined oils, and salt increases your risk of having high blood pressure and cholesterol. This leads to an increased danger of cardiovascular disease. Indeed, these compounds  contribute to the oxidation of LDL lipoproteins, inflammation and the rise of triglycerides  in the blood.

Conclusion

Finally, industrial pastries bring us no benefit. You might as well eliminate them or reduce their consumption as much as possible and  opt for the preparation of homemade and healthy treats.