4 Things You Need to Know before Buying Whole Grain Bread

By Marygrace Taylor, Prevention

Bread is a simple food, but buying one that's actually good for you can get complicated. Plenty of loaves that call themselves whole grain are anything but—and even the ones that are telling the truth often get pumped up with unnecessary stuff. Here, four ways to ensure that the bread you're buying is clean:



1

Make sure it's actually whole grain.

Plenty of manufacturers add a touch of whole grain flour to give their breads a wholesome vibe. But just because a bread is tan instead of white or has words like "oatmeal," "multigrain," or even "whole wheat," in its name doesn't necessarily mean anything.

To figure out whether your bread is really a good source of whole grains, check the ingredients list. "Ingredients are listed in order of weight," says registered dietician Jessica Cording. So the closer an ingredient is to the top of the list, the greater percentage of that ingredient is in your bread. First up should always be something with the word "whole" in the name, like "whole wheat." Otherwise, it's just refined flour. (Here are some of the most delicious gluten-free breads you can find.)



2

Steer clear of funky ingredients.

You don't actually need a ton of stuff to make good bread. And yet, the ingredient lists on some sandwich loaves go on and on and on. For instance, manufacturers sometimes like to add caramel coloring to make their bread look browner—and appear healthier—than it actually is. But nobody needs fake color in their bread, so steer clear.

Other stuff to avoid? Texturizing agents or dough conditioners like phosphates, modified food starches, or azodicarbonamide (yup, that's the yoga mat chemical), which might be thrown in to make bread softer and squishier. Ditto for artificial preservatives (think calcium propionate or sodium benzoate) or stuff that just doesn't seem like it belongs in bread—like soy flour or soy protein isolate. Natural preservatives, like ascorbic acid, are OK.



3

Be smart about fiber.

Any decent whole grain bread should pack at least 3 g of fiber per slice, says Cording. What's more, that fiber should come from the whole grains themselves. (Need more fiber? Here are 10 foods that help you poop.) Often, breads labeled as high-fiber get their extra roughage from added sources like inulin—an ingredient that isn't necessarily bad, per se. But it's best to get fiber from a range of different foods, and you're more likely to get only one type of fiber when you eat foods that contain added forms of the stuff, Cording says.



4

Look at the sodium and sugar levels.

Sweet, nutty whole grains deliver plenty of flavor on their own, so you don't need a bread that's tricked out with tons of extra sugar or sodium. Look for loaves that have less than 200 mg of sodium and no more than 2 g sugar per slice, says Cording. And always pick breads made with natural sweeteners over highly processed ones—think honey, molasses, or even evaporated cane juice over high fructose corn syrup.


See more at: Prevention