Selecting Healthy Breads

Breads and rolls fill a large part of an aisle in most supermarkets.  As we browse we have a wide range of choices from plain white bread to those touting health claims.  How do we make a healthy choice.

 

The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that at least half of your breads and other grain-based foods, including cereals and energy bars, should be whole grain.   The Whole-grain breads we find in supermarkets differ by the relative amount of whole grain content, the type of grain, the sodium content and the amount of added sugars. By perusing ingredient and nutrition labels you can identify the better choices.

Why Whole Grain? Whole grains comprise the entire grain seed: the bran (outer layer, containing fiber, antioxidants and B vitamins), endosperm (middle layer, consisting primarily of starchy carbohydrates), and germ (inner core, containing B vitamins, minerals and some protein). Even if a whole grain has been ground, cracked or flaked, it contains all the original parts of the grain and its naturally occurring nutrients.
In contrast, refined grains are milled and sorted to mostly retain just the endosperm of the original seed. Refined grains generally contain less fiber and fewer nutrients than whole grains, although federal regulations require certain nutrients, like B vitamins, to be added back into the refined grains as well as rice and cornmeal.
Diets rich in whole grains are associated with a variety of health benefits. The fiber in whole grains cause the body to digest more slowly, leading to feelings of prolonged fullness and a more even rises in blood sugar. 

 

Identify whole-grain breads: You have to look at the ingredients label. The first ingredient of a whole-grain bread should be whole grain.  If there is another grain listed first, then the bread does not have enough of the whole grain flour to reap the benefits from it.

The marketing claims on bread—what the front-of-package label says the product contains—can also be misleading. “Multigrain” or “seven grain,” for example, means the bread contains more than one type of grain, but they’re not necessarily all whole grains. It could be a mix of whole and refined grains. “Made with whole grains” may also indicate the product contains some, but not entirely, whole grains.  Looks can be misleading, too. A bread’s dark brown color could be nothing more than food coloring. 

 

Here are additional tips to aid your detective work:

• In the ingredients list, look for “whole wheat” or “whole grain” or just the word “whole” in front of a type of grain or grain flour. If you see “100% whole grain/wheat,” that’s a good sign, but if it only says whole grain it may not be 100% whole grain. Manufacturers are permitted to market bread as “whole grain” when only 51% or more of the flour is whole grain. 
• Check sodium levels: Breads and rolls—including whole-grain versions—could contain a significant amount of sodium. High sodium intake is associated with greater risk of high blood pressure; studies have shown diets low in sodium reduce elevated blood pressure.
• Check added sugars: Bread and rolls can contribute a significant amount of sugar to the diet. As new Nutrient Facts labels are phased in, it will be easier to compare the relative amounts of added sugar among different breads.

Here is an easy tip for identifying whole grain foods. 

Use the “10 to 1 rule” to identify healthier breads:
-Using the Nutrition Facts label, identify the grams of total carbohydrate and fiber per serving.
-Divide the total carbs by 10. Is there at least that much fiber per serving? If so, the food meets to 10:1 standard for healthy grain-based foods.
-For example, consider a whole-grain roll with 25 carbs per serving. Divide by 10: that equals 2.5. If the roll has at least 2.5 grams of fiber per serving, then it meets the 10:1 rule.

For the complete article from Tufts see

Selecting Healthy Bread