Fulfilling a Knead

While the Atkins diet turned out to be
an extreme example of substituting protein for carbohydrates to promote
weight loss, it’s also true that many Americans eat far too many
overprocessed, “white” foods. Calories from white rice, standard pasta
and Wonder bread add up to the big empty, meaning they provide very
little nutritional value. And because those calories are easily
digested, you’re hungry again that much sooner.

One solution is to eliminate bread from
the diet entirely, making lunchtime sort of difficult, or using just
one large piece of whole wheat bread to make a half-sandwich. Another
is to get the best of both worlds: increased protein content with high
fiber and few carbs. Enter High Protein Bread, a national phenomenon
devised, mixed, baked and shipped from Syracuse.

Let them eat bread: Billy Sullivan, personal
trainer and regional sales manager for High Protein Bread, touts the
health benefits of the product he created with New York Bakery in
Lakeland. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO

 

Local personal trainer Billy Sullivan
and the brother bakers he began whipping into shape two years ago
devised the recipe for the new staff of life after Mike and Petros
Christou, of New York Bakery in Lakeland, weren’t satisfied with their
exercise results. “Since they are in the bakery business, they ate a
lot of bread, and they said they couldn’t stop,” says Sullivan. “So I
had to reformulate their diets to include breads while reminding them
that protein is very important for you. It builds muscle, helps you
lose fat and helps you recover faster from your workouts.”

While they were talking, the notion of
a high-protein bread came up, but Sullivan says it was more of a joke
at first. “But then they found out there was nothing else like it out
there at the time, so they started to create it themselves. The first
loaves they made tasted awful, cardboardy. So they asked me to come in
and consult with them on how to make it healthy. They told me what can
go into it to make it good bread and I told them what should go into it
to make it healthy.”

The result is a 25-ounce loaf of bread
made from 100 percent whole wheat but with 12 grams of carbohydrates
and 14 grams of protein per slice. By contrast a loaf of Arnold 100
percent whole wheat bread—quite possibly the tastiest slice of its
kind—contains 20 grams of carbs and 5 grams of protein.

While High Protein Bread serves up a
tasty slice of goodness, its texture can be off-putting. In fact, to
some it’s downright spongy. Blame the whey protein isolate. Toasting
the bread lessens the chewiness but it will take some getting used to. 

Sullivan, 30, acknowledges as much. “It
does have a lot more body because of the protein content in there,” he
says, “but that’s the only real complaint we’ve gotten about the bread.” 

And, frankly, if your goal is to reduce
empty calories and increase protein intake with a product you already
eat every day, a little sponginess is a minor distraction. Once you
start eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on two slices of High
Protein Bread you’ll realize the 36 grams of protein make the texture
tolerable.

Only in the last year have Sullivan and
the Christou brothers taken their product nationwide. “When we first
made this bread, we made it for ourselves,” Sullivan notes. “It’s been
on the market for a year but out for two years. At first I started
talking about it in local gyms and handing out samples and created a
great buzz.”

Locally, it’s available at Price
Chopper, select P&C stores, Gold’s Gyms, Aspen Athletic Clubs,
Vitamin Warehouse, Earth’s Own and Pine Grove Country Club. It sells
for $4.99 a loaf.

Sullivan also attends road race expos
and body building events, handing out samples of the bread. It’s also
the official bread of the Syracuse Crunch. “They’re big on the bread,”
he says of the local American Hockey League team. “We drop it off to
them weekly; they take 10 loaves a week.”

Now the regional sales manager for the
bread, Sullivan says it’s shipped to all four corners of the United
States: Washington, Arizona, Florida and New York. “I have soldiers in
Iraq ordering it.” With a three-week shelf life, it can withstand the
trip to the Middle East. Sullivan says it will last up to six months in
the freezer, but he recommends against putting it in the fridge.

And even though the bread’s texture
takes some getting used to, Sullivan isn’t surprised by its success. He
and the Christous are currently formulating more products, including
bagels and rolls. Now a high-protein bagel? With a smear of peanut
butter, that’s a distance runner’s ideal pre-race meal or post-race
treat. 

For more information on P28, High Protein Bread, visit www.nutribreads.com.