There’s an entire aisle devoted to bread. All you see are loaves upon loaves stacked high, looming over you.
The choices are so overwhelming that we often just pick one up, scan the label, dump it in the cart, and move on.
How the heck are you supposed to choose one that’s healthy? Where do you even start?
Here are some tips to help you feel in control of the bread aisle
100% Whole
A 'whole' grain is a grain that is left intact in a product. This is a good thing is the outer shell is where most of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants are located in a grain. Once you take that shell off, the nutrition flat-lines and you're left with a refined white grain.
Don’t be fooled by sneaky packaging and whole-grain claims. Look for “100% whole wheat” or “100% whole grain”. That’s when you’ll know that there won’t be any refined white flour, which can be called ‘enriched wheat flour’, ‘unbleached wheat flour’, or just ‘wheat flour’.
Ignore claims on the bread that say “Made with whole grain,” “12 grain,” “multigrain,” “wheat,” “good source of whole grain” — these are typically used if the company is trying to fool you into buying bread that doesn’t have a lot of whole grain or fiber.
Quick Tip: Look at the 'Stamps' on your loaf label
When you see the "100% Stamp", all of its grains are whole. It also contains at least 16 grams of whole grain per serving (one full serving).
When you see the "50% Stamp", fifty percent of the grains in the loaf are whole, or about 8 grams per serving.
"Basic Stamp" may contain up to 8 grams, but are usually much less and are
Check out what the stamps look like here: The Whole Grains Council
Goal: Look for a 100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain load (or look for the label saying "contains 18g whole grain per serving") with at least 2-3 grams of fiber per slice.
Calories
Bread loaves are getting bigger and bigger, just like meals in restaurants.
In fact, some slices of bread can have as many as 250 calories! Yes – that’s for one slice.
Goal: Look for bread that has around 100 calories per slice.
Sodium
Did you know that both cereal and bread can be hidden sources of sodium? Some slices contain the same amount of sodium that’s found in 1 serving of chips, about 220mg! That’s 30% of what you should be getting in a day.
Goal: Look for bread that has less than 175mg.
Added Sugar
A little bit of honey or other sweetener in your bread is OK – but beware of the breads that add more than one type of sugar!
If you see several added sugars such as cane juice, raisin juice, honey, molasses, sugar, beet sugar/juice, brown rice syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, or other sweeteners – look for another loaf.
Goal: Choose a bread with less than 4 grams of added sugars.
Don't like whole wheat bread?
Did you know there are 'white whole wheat' breads? Yup, they're made from an albino wheat grain and have a softer texture and milder taste.
Could be a good option for the kids in your life who are putting up a whole wheat bread fight.
Good Bread Choices in the Grocery Store
Regular Breads
All of the Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 loaves
Oroweat / Arnold / Brownberry 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Rudi's 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Angelic Bakehouse Bread Whole Grain Sprouted
Dave's Killer Bread 100% Whole Wheat
Dave's Killer Bread 21 Whole Grains and Seeds
365 Organic Sprouted Wheat & Honey
Mestemacher Whole Rye Bread (Not "100%" but amazing fiber and nutritional profile)
Silver Hills Sprouted Power (Not "100%" but most of these have great nutritional profiles with lots of fiber and low sugar and sodium)
Gluten-Free Breads
Udi’s Omega Flax & Fiber
Happy Campers Gluten Free Classy Slice or Hemp Hemp Hooray
Base Culture Gluten-Free 7 Nut & Seed Bread
Three Bakers Gluten-Free Great Seed
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