Whether you’re eating a delicious, hot-pressed panini or going to the store to shop for a loaf, you’re sure to have stopped and gazed at that fresh roll of ciabatta. The bread’s tangy, sweet taste with its soft interior and crusty exterior is enticing and perfect for a midday treat. But you may be wondering, “is ciabatta bread healthy?”
While it is a delicious sandwich bread, ciabatta is not healthy. Ciabatta is a typical loaf of white bread meaning it contains little nutritional value and has a relatively high caloric content.
Even though there are more unhealthy types of bread out there, ciabatta does not have many health benefits. This is because it is a white bread made of typical ingredients: wheat flour, yeast, olive oil, salt, and water.
Ciabatta’s Nutritional Breakdown
Ciabatta is an Italian loaf typically made with high gluten flour. Whereas other loaves of bread may have ingredients that contain more nutritional punch, ciabatta has little to offer.
Calories
A 50g roll of ciabatta bread contains around 130 calories. Ciabatta is made using some oil. Most of the calories in the bread come from carbohydrates but around 15% come from fat. Another 15% comes from protein found in gluten.
Fats
Ciabatta is usually made with olive oil, a heart-healthy unsaturated fat. However, one 50g roll contains only 2g of fat, a mere 3% of your daily value. This means it’s unlikely that ciabatta contains enough olive oil to produce any health benefits.
Protein
One 50g roll of ciabatta contains about 5g of protein, a not-insignificant amount. However, since much of the protein in this bread comes from gluten, it may cause problems for people with gluten sensitivity.
Carbohydrates
A 50g roll will take up about 10% of your daily value of carbs at 20g. The problem with the carbs in ciabatta is that they are mostly refined.
Refined carbohydrates remove most of the nutritional value from them and are digested quickly. This means they provide less satiation and increase the likelihood of overeating.
Conclusion
While tasty and a great option for sandwich bread, ciabatta bread is not healthy. It is made with refined flour which means the bread provides a lot of calories with little nutritional value and next to no dietary fiber.
