How often can we allow ourselves pastries and pastries?

On a Sunday morning, who isn’t tempted to enjoy a croissant or a pain au chocolat at the bakery? Some will take the opportunity to buy some pastries for breakfast. And will also repeat the experience several times during the week. However, when consumed in excess, these products, especially those rich in sugars and saturated fatty acids, run the risk of unbalancing our diet and harming our health and weight. To protect yourself from this, how many times can you eat pastries and pastries while still enjoying yourself?

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Sugar and saturated fatty acids

“If we consume them occasionally, ie once or twice a week, pastries and pastries will have no effect on our nutritional balance, our health and weight,” says dietitian nutritionist Megan Hudiard. (1). On the other hand, these foods may not be part of our daily eating habits.

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First because they are – surprisingly – very sweet. For example, a piece of pain au chocolate is equivalent to about 7.5 grams of sugar, and a lemon tart has 15 grams, experts say. As a reminder, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends no more than 50 grams of added sugar per day. “In very large amounts, sugar increases the risk of dental caries, overweight, obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases,” warns Megan Hudiard.

These baked goods are also high in saturated fatty acids. Dietitian nutritionists emphasize, “In excess consumption, they promote cholesterol deposits in the arteries and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

Also readWhat happens to your body when you give up sugar

Sodium

Pastries and pastries are also quite salty. Pain au chocolate contains 0.50 g and 0.60 g of salt, covering one-tenth of WHO’s daily recommendations (5 g per day). And lemon sour has 0.20 grams.

“Excess salt consumption is today recognized by ANSES (National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety) as one of the risk factors for high blood pressure. And consequently cardiovascular diseases,” warns Megan Hudiard.

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Poor in nutrients

“These products provide very little vitamins and minerals,” continues the dietitian nutritionist, without forgetting. “With the exception of some B vitamins provided by flour, some minerals linked to the presence of provitamins A and sodium contained in butter.”

The more we restrict ourselves from food, the more we compulsively eat it, sometimes in large quantities.

Megan Hudiard, Dietitian Nutritionist

By regularly consuming these dishes, we risk feeling full and therefore turn less to other foods that are sources of nutrients and vitamins.

source of joy

Despite everything, it is better not to restrict yourself when you want to enjoy a chocolate eclair or a butter croissant. “These foods are sources of pleasure, necessary to regulate eating behavior because they allow “sensory satiety,” asserts Megan Hudiard. Obviously, when we eat the pastry we want, our taste buds will naturally be saturated. Then we will not need to eat much.

Conversely, if you eat an apple in hopes of not indulging in pain or chocolate, you risk finishing the snack even though you’re hungry. So there is no point in despairing, especially when you know that “the more you restrict yourself from food, the more likely you are to eat it compulsively and sometimes in large quantities,” warns the dietitian nutritionist.

(1) Mégane Heudiard maintains an Instagram account under the pseudonym @dieteticienne.gourmande.