Is bread bad for health?

During recent years there have been several parallel trends in popular books and social media suggesting that the consumption of bread made from ‘modern bread wheat’ is bad for health: a) bread contains gluten exorphins which cause the ever-increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, b) due to intensive breeding and selection, modern bread wheat has an increased gluten content, c) ancient wheats are healthier because they contain less gluten. These messages have led to increasing public concern about the safety of eating bread and other gluten-containing foods and to the promotion of a gluten-free diet as a basis for better health. Here we discuss these concerns.