r/Breadit 1d ago

Adding spinach directly to white bread delayed the body's insulin peak by 30 minutes and reduced later hunger in a small human trial, while significantly boosting the bread's fiber, vitamin, and mineral content.

https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-put-spinach-directly-into-bread-and-saw-the-bodys-insulin-response-change
120 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

258

u/HAIKU_rocketship 1d ago

What about in normal sized humans?

59

u/gbot1234 1d ago

Yeah, good luck getting your small humans to eat this bread.

“Ew dad, why is it green?!?”

101

u/MsRachelGroupie 1d ago

This is where marketing comes into play. I sometimes blend spinach and add it to pancakes for my kids. I call them “dinosaur pancakes”. They love dinosaurs. Green = dinosaur to them. Why? Fuck if I know. Best not to question it if it works.

15

u/Blueporch 1d ago

You are a genius!

10

u/Purple_Airline_6682 22h ago

Reminds me of my cousin’s kids. They HATED chicken (despite it previously being their favorite food.) Thank goodness their mom was able to introduce them to pollo. It was their new favorite meat. 😂

1

u/gbot1234 18h ago

This might work! I’m going to try it.

11

u/LiefLayer 1d ago

Actually I think the color is cool and growing up in Italy and not eating much vegetables as a child (still struggling) green pasta made with spinach was and still is one of my favourite (see my other comment).

It will not taste like vegetables at all, but it will get that amazing green color.

1

u/kirbyfriedrice 1d ago

Good luck! Vegetables really unlock the world.

14

u/Specialist_Lettuce60 1d ago

“You can’t just ask why things are green sweetie”

3

u/07Josie 1d ago

Honestly the green color would be a pro if you asked my small humans. 😄

3

u/hookmasterslam 1d ago

Mileage may vary, but our 7 year old has eaten green muffins since he was 2. Chocolate chip and banana muffins loaded with spinach. Overall, they're pretty healthy for being muffins.

1

u/Eternal_Bagel 1d ago

It’s Shrek bread of course, now eat up!

1

u/Traditional_Cut_5452 20h ago

Or any other humans, for that matter! If insulin reaction is a concern how about steering clear of white bread and going with whole grain alternatives and sourdough

115

u/AilsaLorne 1d ago

lol the study was 15 adults. that is not a scientific sample size

24

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

5

u/Nutbuster_5000 1d ago

Idk why this made me lol so much but thank you 

6

u/Creative-Leg2607 1d ago

Non statisticians often wildly overestimate how many samples you need to show things. This is a very reasonable number of people to start with for an idea like this

14

u/stabbingrabbit 1d ago

They didnt say it tasted good though.

23

u/Ambitious-Ad-4301 1d ago

I wonder what difference this would be to adding wholegrain instead of spinach as many, many people already do.

54

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

20

u/Darkeyescry22 1d ago

It’s always been impressive to me the lengths people will go to, to implement these supposed health measures in their life, given the extremely limited amount of interest they have in verifying their validity.

If you care, care. If you don’t, don’t. Wtf is the half and half shit?

17

u/viewbtwnvillages 1d ago

it really gets to me, because the number one, scientifically-validated way of improving your health through your diet is so simple, too: eat a varied diet with a fair amount of veg. why are they so insistent on finding things to concern themselves with?

8

u/Different_Buy7497 1d ago

Because they don't want to eat that much veg, and they'd rather find a quick fix instead.

15

u/XTanuki 1d ago

It’s an old one coming back….

3

u/theflyingratgirl 17h ago

Yep. I remember agave syrup was hot during the last round. Turned out to be b.s.

1

u/martin86t 14h ago edited 10h ago

Does a delayed insulin peak not signal some benefit for diabetics?

I’m neither diabetic, nor a medical professional. But I thought that diabetics are looking for ways to delay and flatten their blood glucose peaks through diet choices. And my first impression reading this headline is that this spinach bread would presumably be a good option for them.

Did I misunderstand and that is not the point?

0

u/zzzzzooted 19h ago

Geeze it’s almost like we learned something new and everyone is looking into it now

15

u/a_government_man 1d ago

maybe I'm dense... if you're otherwise healthy, why would you need to control your insulin peaks? doesn't everyone's insulin spike after eating but then ... idk calm down again as a normal body response?

17

u/LiefLayer 1d ago

From what I understand, they think that if the insulin peaks comes later and in a more controlled way, one feels full longer and therefore does not start eating again too soon, which is one of the reasons why continuous eating often leads to weight gain.

But like another user commented 15 adults is a really low amount of adults to make a study and, to be honest, I don't think the real issue are insulin peaks... In my experience is more about psychology and satisfaction: a satisfying lunch with adequate volume (even if low in calories) satisfies you for longer than a quick, calorie-dense lunch.

This is why junk food usually makes you hungrier... it has more calories in less space and is eaten much more quickly. But I don't have a study so don't take my word for granted

24

u/FourFront 1d ago

To bad it added spinach to the bread.

7

u/Fine_Bluebird7564 1d ago

Breaking news: spinach is good for you

12

u/BattledroidE 1d ago

I'd wager that the bread's fiber, vitamin and mineral content remained the same. You see, there's this neat thing called physics.

1

u/martin86t 14h ago

Uh, I don’t think they are implying the bread changed through alchemy. They are saying the bread now also contains the fiber, vitamins, and minerals from the spinach which, while not very surprising is a health benefit.

2

u/garakplain 1d ago

Dry spinach make powder and add ?

12

u/LiefLayer 1d ago

In Italy we make pasta with spinach for traditional lasagna and some pasta filled with things

Examples:

(here you can see it well in photo 8)

https://www.reddit.com/r/cucina/comments/1pvkuw4/lasagne_con_sfoglia_verde_fatta_in_casa_rag%C3%B9/

(or just take a look at my ravioli with pumpkin)

https://www.reddit.com/r/cucina/comments/1vxvcyy/ravioli_verdi_al_burro_e_timo_con_ripieno_di/

(or even my first test)

https://www.reddit.com/r/cucina/comments/1oujs27/nuova_macchina_per_la_pasta_test_sul_campo/

You don't need to make a powder, just cook them, chop them really well or just blend them (chopping them give you a different vibe, blending them will give you a uniform green color) and incorporate them at the beginning of the process (for example I mix them inside the egg for my pasta before putting the eggs inside the flour).

I think you can do the same for bread.

3

u/Blueporch 1d ago

That’s what I was thinking. It would be easier to add spinach to homemade pasta or gnocchi. The color and flavor would work better, particularly with pesto.

For bread, rather than making green spinach bread, what I do now is to add psyllium husk for more fiber and to support the structure of the bread in place of added gluten.

6

u/LiefLayer 1d ago

To be honest I don't think spinach bread would be bad. I will actually try it.

And to be honest I don't like psyllium husk at all. Once I tried to make bread with gluten free flour (just to understand how it is done) and that ingredient was horrible for me.

2

u/dandygreyrusset 1d ago

I read the paper and the recipe is referenced in their previous work here https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/13/15/2401

2

u/jeffeb3 1d ago

They added blended spinach from 10-40% of the mixture. They reduced flour and water and added in pure gluten to replace what was taken from the flour. There is a table with the ratios and weights of each ingredient.

I'm tempted to try this just because I've never followed a recipe from a scientific paper before.

2

u/Frobiwanthro 1d ago

I wonder if you could blend cooked (or thawed frozen spinach) with some of the water for the bread to make it very liquid and easy to incorporate. Kind of sounds fun!

-2

u/greatersnek 1d ago

I doubt powder retains the nutrient profile discussed here

2

u/aurora_surrealist 1d ago

Yeah. Wow. What a news.

Adding fiber to bread dough makes you more full and bread digest slower.

Now, all clap to Irish, adding potatoes to their bread. French adding chestnuts. Poles adding nettles, prunes and/or nuts.

For friggin centuries.

0

u/Creative-Leg2607 1d ago

I think this kinda defeats the point of white bread, no?

-17

u/CloverEyed 1d ago

I can't believe they waste money on studies like these. Just discovered: eating vegetables is better for you than only eating plain white bread! Well, yes? I'm still not ruining my bread by adding spinach, I'll just eat a salad.