Calories in Pita Bread

Pita is a round shaped bread, made by cooking flour dough in brick oven. It is also spelled as pitta and known by varied names in different regions. The dough puffs up during baking and forms two layers with a large bubble in between. After cooling, the bread retains a flat shape with a pocket in the middle. At the time of serving, round pita is halved and the pocket is used for holding fillings. Some people love to have crispy pita with dips and sauces. The most widely consumed flat bread in the United States, health-conscious people are often worried about the nutritional value and the calorie count of pita bread.

The Goodness of Pita Bread

The actual pita bread calories differ in accordance with the recipe ingredients and serving amounts. Generally made from wheat flour, there are also other versions of pita bread recipes. In the market, you can find pita bread made from more than one grain, or whole wheat pita bread. The whole wheat variety is considered to be the healthiest version. Since flour of whole wheat is used in making it, you can enjoy higher amount of dietary fiber, which is crucial for maintaining healthy digestive system.

In the western countries, pita sandwiches and pita pockets are very popular. For any type of bread, the base ingredient is flour of cereal grains. Hence, it is understandable that pita bread carbohydrate content is high. Consequently, the calorie count for this round bread is higher. Thus, one should take a note of the calories yielded by pita while including it in the diet menu. For understanding about calorie count of pit bread and its nutritional information, refer to the following information.

Calorie Count
Needless to remind, the calories in pita bread are higher than white bread, and depend upon the base flour type. The calorie count for this round pocket bread may vary slightly from one nutrition data to another. In general, one serving size of pita bread refers to a large pita that measures about 1.5 inch diameter and weighs 64 g. Check out the list below to find out the number of calories in the different pita bread varieties.

• Whole wheat pita bread: One serving of whole wheat pita yields 170 calories, of which total fats contribute only 17 calories. In other words, 100 g of the same whole wheat bread provides 266 calories.
• Greek pita bread: Approximately 190 calories are provided by one serving of pita bread produced by Daphne's Greek Cafe. However, other Greek pita bread may contain to as high as 240 calories per serving size.
• White pita bread: Serving one large white enriched pita bread is equivalent to consuming 165 calories. Out of these, 6 calories come from total fats. While normal white pita bread provides about 100 calories per serving size.
• Subway pita bread: As far as calorie content in subway pita bread is concerned, one large serving gives about 230 calories. The detailed calorie breakdown goes like this, 68 percent from carbohydrate, 14 percent from proteins and remaining 18 percent calories from fats.

Nutrition Facts
Coming to nutrition facts of pita bread, it is a rich source of proteins, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. The high content of vitamin B, iron, manganese and selenium is worth mentioning. Other good points of consuming pita are low saturated fat, zero cholesterol and reduced sugar content. Those who are allergic to gluten should not consume pita bread based on wheat flour. Also, people who are currently following sodium restriction diet should reconsider, while including this flat bread recipe in daily food menu. The same is applicable to dieters who are watching their daily carbohydrate intake.

As you have known about pita bread calories, adjust the serving amount of remaining food items to meet the daily calorie requirements. While you cannot alter calories of pita bread per serving amount, you can reduce the use of salt, sugar, oil and yeast by making this simple flat bread at home. Baking homemade pita with specific amounts of bread ingredients is an easy way to enjoy fresh and warm bread with healthy ingredients, rather than purchasing 1-2 days old pocket pita from bakery.