If today we talk about Russian gingerbread as traditional Russian flour confectionery, then it is difficult for someone to prove that they can be useful

Indeed, what does a modern buyer see when looking at the most ordinary gingerbread? And even more so – reading the composition of the gingerbread on the package? Dough, sugar, fillers and flavorings. Sometimes – eggs and only in very rare (and expensive) cases – honey. Unless honey, which has lost most of its useful vitamins, can really be considered a useful component of the composition here.

Whether it’s a real gingerbread. The one that was prepared earlier throughout Rus’, and today is baked only in the most remote outbacks, where it is easier to get natural ingredients than buy artificial ones. Is it possible now to find gingerbread whose composition is identical to the old one?

Russian homemade gingerbread
Initially, honey gingerbread was made from rye flour mixed with berry juice and honey. The main condition for the rich taste of the gingerbread was a sufficient amount of honey: in some places in the gingerbread, its amount reached half by weight.

A little later, with the appearance of various overseas spices in Russian cuisine, the preparation of honey gingerbread blossomed with a bright color. Vanilla, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cumin – they all gave the gingerbread composition new flavors. And on top, honey or gingerbread gingerbreads themselves began to be actively poured with sugar icing and chocolate.

But the basis of any gingerbread, by which it can be distinguished from other flour confectionery, is, of course, honey dough made from rye flour, dark and sweet in itself. And if today rye flour is preserved as it is, then honey from the composition of the delicacy sometimes began to disappear, being replaced by sugar syrup or vegetable honey. But if we consider the composition of gingerbread in its original form, then its properties for the body can be described something like this.

Nutrition and calorie content of gingerbread
Everything in this product is calorie. Rye flour is rich in carbohydrates that provide our body with energy. And after baking, in addition to these carbohydrates, almost nothing else remains in the composition of the products. Sugars, as abundant sources of energy, are abundant in honey. If the gingerbread is sprinkled with powdered sugar or glazed on top, then the calories literally cover the whole delicacy. Calorie content of gingerbread – about 335 kcal per 100 G.

As a result, a sweet product, when it enters the body, generously shares energy with it. And the body uses it either for vigorous activity, or for even more active storage in the form of fats.

The benefits of gingerbread
The pleasant taste of products is provided by the same honey and glaze. Not only do we just get moral pleasure from the sweet taste. The same sweet components that are part of the chemical composition of gingerbread lead to the release of happiness hormones into the blood, from which, after a sweet snack, the mood rises sharply.

In addition, the benefits of gingerbread are explained by several components in their composition at once:

1. Fiber from flour.

It ensures good digestion of food, a minimum of cholesterol entering the bloodstream, and normal bowel activity.

2. Vitamins from honey and berry fillers.

Their list is rich: vitamin C, A, several substances from group B. They all increase immunity, maintain normal metabolism, stimulate brain activity and strengthen the entire nervous system. Even after baking, some of the vitamins remain in the products and then enter the body.

3. Minerals are all from the same honey and berry juices.

Their action is closely intertwined with the action of vitamins, strengthening blood vessels, stimulating blood formation and supporting the musculoskeletal system.

Harm gingerbread
Where without it? The same sugars in the composition have a bad effect on the condition of tooth enamel and metabolism. And many components of rye flour after cooking at high temperatures require certain energy costs from the body for its own digestion. But this is a real, homemade gingerbread. But the modern Russian gingerbread has a slightly different composition and properties.

Composition of modern gingerbread
Firstly, the production of gingerbread today is mostly based on the replacement of natural honey with vegetable honey – corn, for example – or simply sugar syrup with flavorings. As a result, the vitamins and minerals in the composition of sweets do not even smell.

Secondly, berry syrups have not been used for cooking for a very long time. And if necessary, already familiar flavors are used. The consequence is the same as in the previous case.

Thirdly, the presence of food additives themselves adds harmful properties to products. Some of them can have a very negative effect on the body. As a result, name gingerbread, the composition of which is not always natural, the tongue will not turn to useful products. Although, if you search carefully, among imported products or homemade pastries you can find products that you can safely eat and know that they will support your health. So if we want to find useful Russian gingerbread, we carefully sort through all the samples on the shelves with confectionery products in search of honey products with natural additives.