Do you often find yourself munching on garlic breadsticks? Trust us; this delicious snack is a go-to pick for many people. So, you are not the only one! However, when you have too much garlic bread, whether garlic bread is healthy or not might go through the back of your mind.
Well, not compromising on food while staying healthy is the new-gen eating notion. So, you cannot blame yourself for having that thought. And let us face it, breadsticks smeared with generous garlic butter and perfect oven toast crisp are unavoidable. But are the garlic toasts healthy? Let’s find out!
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What Does Healthy Food Actually Mean?
While determining healthy foods, most of us would rely on the calorie count. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. The number of calories alone cannot determine whether a food is healthy.
Take oven-bake potato chips, for example. They contain significantly low calories compared to regular chips. And they are still considered to be junk food! So, instead, you need to consider the number of carbs, trans-fat, sugar, and other nutritional factors.
That said, a healthy diet will usually contain food that meets all of the nutritional criteria while offering your body the required amount of energy.
So, while you determine whether a food is healthy or not, you need to compare it with a proper diet. The food will be healthy for you if it does not make you exceed the daily number of sugar, fat, carbs, and other factors.
Additionally, you need to consider if it offers you the right amount of energy and nutritional goodness.
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Nutritional Values of Garlic Toasts
Now, let us focus on garlic bread. So, what does the average nutritional value of garlic toasts look like? For this, we will take a standard store-bought version. And here is the list for one serving (24 grams):
- Fat: 4.1 grams
- Sodium: 123 milligrams
- Carbs: 9.8 grams
- Sugar: 0.6 grams
- Protein: 1.6 grams
- Calories: 82
Let us now compare these values with dietary reference intake. So, an adult should get 20 to 35 percent of total calories from fat. And if you consider the average 2000 calories diet, it should be somewhere between 44 grams and 77 grams.
Compare that to the amount of fat that garlic bread offers, and you will see that you have at least 39.9 grams of headroom. It is just one serving, after all.
Furthermore, consider the sodium count. Dietary Guidelines for America state that adults limit their sodium intake to less than 2300 milligrams. Well, that checks out for garlic bread too.
According to Mayo Clinic, a healthy diet should offer 45 to 65 percent of total calories from carbs. That is about 225 to 325 grams of carbohydrates for a 2000 calorie diet. Again, per serving has to offer only 9.8 grams of carbs. So, you still have a lot of headroom.
The case is the same for protein, calorie intake, and sugar. Even with two servings of garlic bread, you will still have a lot of headroom in terms of those nutritional factors.
Is Garlic Bread Healthy?
Garlic toasts are that one serving does not tell you the whole story. It will seem a lot less than the recommended daily nutritional values. But you should note that most garlic loaves will have hidden sugar and a high amount of fat. Also, don’t deny; you can not be satisfied with one serving sometimes.
Let us not forget that those garlic toasts will have a higher calorie count than usual. Nonetheless, loads of store-bought versions will contain much more trans-fat and added sugar than the one we talked about earlier. So, if you strictly rely on garlic bread for a meal, you should reconsider.
In short, to determine whether garlic bread is healthy or not, you need to consider your food habits. Go for it if these toasts fit perfectly on your daily food intake limit! But if they do not, limit yourself to one serving per day. That includes calories, sugar, carbs, and sodium limits, by the way.
Healthy Garlic Toast Recipe
Did you know that you can lower the calorie and sugar count when switching to whole wheat garlic bread? But getting a proper whole wheat version in the store can be daunting. Well, the good news is making healthier garlic bread is pretty straightforward. Just follow these steps:
Step 1: Mix the Right Ingredients
So, you will need brown flour, salt, jaggery powder, yeast, Italian seasoning, olive oil, water, and most importantly, garlic. After getting the ingredients, get yourself a bowl and add some warm water to it.
Drop some jaggery and instant yeast into the water and leave it for about 7 minutes. While waiting, chop some garlic. Then, combine the chopped garlic with brown flour, salt, and Italian seasoning into the bowl. Mix well.
Step 2: Knead the Mixture
Add more yeast to the bowl and knead until the dough is smooth. Mix in some olive oil and knead the dough a little more.
Form a ball, grease it with olive oil, and leave the dough inside the bowl. Cover the top and let it sit for about 2 hours.
Step 3: Bake the Dough
Once poofed, you need to knock out the air from the dough. Then, grease a clean surface with olive oil and divide the dough into equal halves. Roll them into two balls, grease them again with oil, and leave them for another 15 minutes.
Transfer them into a baking tray and season them with olive oil and seasoning. Put the balls into a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 to 15 minutes.
Pop open the oven, and you should end up with healthy garlic toasts packed with health and nutritional benefits!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can you eat too much garlic bread?
Excessive consumption isn’t recommended as it can cause side effects such as digestive issues, bad breath, and other health problems.
Is garlic bread good for gym?
I wouldn’t suggest eating garlic bread before going to the gym as it can cause digestive problems.
Can garlic bread give you headaches?
If you are garlic-intolerant, then it can give you headaches.
Final Words
To answer whether garlic bread is healthy, you cannot just consider the calorie count. There is more to it! But the short version is that if you are leading a healthy lifestyle, one serving per day will not be an issue.
