Eating two or more portions of white bread everyday gives you a 40 percent higher risk of obesity, said a new research study conducted in Europe.

The study presented at the recent European Congress on Obesity said consumption of two portions of white bread per day or more "showed a significant direct association with the risk of becoming overweight or obese."

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"Essentially it is equivalent to a high consumption of sugar," said researcher Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez, a professor at the University of Navarra in Spain.

"The problem is similar to what we see with soft drinks, their sugars are rapidly transformed into fat an organism."

Martinez-Gonzalez recommends switching to whole grain breads, especially for persons trying to lose weight. The European research showed no definitive link to just eating whole grain bread and potential obesity. It said this could be due to the fiber of whole grain bread.

In the European study, researchers sought to determine the link between white and whole grain bread and weight change in Spain where white bread is a major part of the diet.

The researchers involved 9,267 Spanish university graduates who were followed for a mean period of five years. Average yearly weight change was evaluated according to categories of bread consumption.

Researchers assessed the link between bread consumption and the incidence of obesity using modeling that adjusted for variables that could influence the results.

The data showed that white bread consumption only is directly associated with a higher risk of becoming obese.

It also showed that total bread (white bread and whole-grain bread together) was not associated with higher weight gain.

A recent study by Cornell University revealed that a diet high in white bread can potentially lead to heart issues.

White breads are made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ layers have been removed during the flour grinding or milling process. The milling process gives white flour a longer shelf life by removing the natural oils from the whole grain. The flour used in white breads may be bleached or made to look whiter by using chemicals such as potassium bromate.

TagsWhite bread, obesity