{"id":205716,"date":"2026-07-02T19:37:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=205716"},"modified":"2026-07-02T19:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:37:21","slug":"could-bread-be-making-you-gain-weight-even-if-youre-not-eating-more-calories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/07\/02\/could-bread-be-making-you-gain-weight-even-if-youre-not-eating-more-calories\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Bread Be Making You Gain Weight, Even If You\u2019re Not Eating More Calories?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bread has been a dietary staple for centuries, but as obesity rates rise, researchers are questioning whether our reliance on carbohydrate-rich foods like bread, rice, and pasta might be playing a role. A new study from Osaka Metropolitan University shows how carbohydrates may influence weight gain and metabolism in unexpected ways, even when we\u2019re not eating more calories overall.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Weight gain without increasing calorie intake<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The research team<\/a> investigated how mice responded to diets supplemented with bread, wheat flour, or rice flour. Surprisingly, the mice strongly preferred these carbohydrate-rich foods over their standard chow, often abandoning it entirely. Despite no significant increase in total calorie intake, both body weight and fat mass rose in the carb-supplemented groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings suggest that weight gain may not be due to wheat-specific effects, but rather to a strong preference for carbohydrates and the associated metabolic changes,\u201d said lead author, Shigenobu Professor Matsumura.<\/p>\n

Even more intriguing: the weight gain wasn\u2019t driven by overeating. Instead, the mice\u2019s energy expenditure decreased. Blood tests revealed higher levels of fatty acids and lower levels of essential amino acids, while liver analysis showed increased fat accumulation and activity in genes linked to fatty acid production.<\/p>\n

When wheat flour was removed from the diet, body weight and metabolic abnormalities improved rapidly. As Matsumura noted, \u201cWe plan to shift our research focus to humans to verify the extent to which the metabolic changes identified in this study apply to actual dietary habits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key findings<\/strong><\/h2>\n