Flatbread: Bread is Bread! Day 85 and 86

Every culture has a version of flatbread. Originally, it was an unleavened dough that was rolled out flat and baked. Bakers around the world have taken the simple ingredients of flour, water and salt and tweaked it slightly. In Greece we have pitas, in Mexico we have tortillas, and in Norway we have flatbrød. Pizza, though debated due to the addition of yeast, is now considered a flatbread.

Flatbread vs a similar loaf bread has the nutritional and calorie profile gram for gram.

Here is a nutritional comparison of some major brands and types. I added pizza to the comparison just for fun.

Brand

Type

Serving size

Calories per serving

Sodium/Carbs/Fiber/sugar/protein

Arnold

100% whole wheat sandwich thins

43 grams

100

170 mg/22g/5g/2g/5g

Arnold

100% whole wheat bread

43 grams

100

150mg/18g/3g/3g/4g

Mission

Tortilla whole wheat

45 grams

130

280mg/22g/3g/2g/4g

Stonefire

Whole grain Naan

63 grams (half of Naan)

180

400mg/28g/4g/3g/5g

Freschetta  Artisan Crust

Four Cheese Pizza

Whole wheat crust cheese pizza

126g

320

670mg/38g/4g/9g/15g

Pizza calculated to match other serving sizes

126/2.9=

63g

110

231mg/13g/1.3g/3.1g/5g

Flatbreads can be eaten with any toppings you can think of. How about fresh sliced peaches and ricotta cheese for a boost in calcium. If savory is more your thing try some grilled lamb or beef on your flatbread.

Lamb shawarma flatbread

Lamb Shawarma served on an Egyptian flatbread from a Portland food truck.

I made my way down to a new Piadina food truck in Portland. My bread was made fresh on the grill. It took about 15 mins to get my Prosciutto Piadina, but the fluffiness of the flatbread, paired with prosciutto and crisp from the grill is worth it.  Who knew that this form of Italian street food can contribute to my bread diet?

Piadina flatbread

The Prosciutto Piadina was stuffed with mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, pesto, arugala and its crust was just crispy and delicious.

So eating artisan bread, whole grain bread, sweet bread, or flatbread all count the same as far as calories.

Thinner bread doesn’t always mean better just as artisan does not always mean healthier. Just breaking more bread myths on days 85 and 86!

Here’s what I ate on Days 85 and 86 of EB90:

Food   Portion  Calories 
Day 85
Multigrain Bread 9 slices (40g) 990
Crab Legs 9 oz 260
Hot Dog 1 170
Fruit Salad 1 C 204
Lamb Shawarma 100g 450
Run -300
Total 1,774
Day 86
Multigrain Bread 3 slices (40g) 330
Bagel 200g 520
Turkey Croissant 85g 240
Beef Ribs 1pc 430
Prosciutto Piadina 50g 400
Apple 1 95
Cherries 1C 74
Walk -200
 Total 1,889