The whole story: how to find the best breads

Nutrition Action Healthletter, April, 2005 by Jayne Hurley, Bonnie Liebman

The bread aisle isn't what it used to be.

Like toothpaste, vitamins, and cell phones, breads have acquired a dizzying array of bells and whistles. What used to be a simple, 30-second decision (whole wheat, white, or rye?) has morphed into an exercise that requires the patience of Job, not to mention strong reading glasses.

But the inconvenience is a small price to pay for the results: a new selection of breads that are jam-packed with whole grains, fiber, and flavor. Here's how to find the winners ... and spot the frauds.

It's not clear what woke up the bread industry. Maybe last year's low-carb craze was hurting sales. Maybe bread makers figured out how to cash in on a new government-approved health claim--that whole grains could reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers.

Or maybe bakers realized that bread--like breakfast cereal and orange juice--was ripe for "market differentiation." Translation: tinker with the recipe and you can slap a "low-carb," "light," "heart healthy," or "extra fiber" claim on your package.

Here's a guide to get you through the bread aisle. We didn't look at most whites, ryes, of pumpernickels, since they're largely made using refined flour. We also ignored small regional brands.

Best Bites have no refined grains. Honorable Mentions have whole grains as the first (most predominant) flour of grain. Neither has more than 200 mg of sodium per slice. That might not sound like much, but it means that a sandwich has 400 mg before you put anything in it.

100% Whole or Mostly Whole-Grain

Nearly every bread in our "100% Whole-Grain" category earned a Best Bite, while just about all of the "Mostly Whole-Grain" breads got Honorable Mentions. ("Mostly" means that whole-grain flour or a whole grain comes before refined flour in the ingredient list.) Breads in those categories that didn't make a Best Bite or Honorable Mention had too much sodium. Some tips to remember while shopping:

* Fiber. A typical slice of whole-wheat bread has 2 grams of fiber (if it weighs 1 ounce) or 3 grams (if it weighs 1.5 ounces). That's not too shabby. The latest targets are 21 grams a day for women over 50, 25 grams for younger women, 30 grams for men over 50, and 38 grams for younger men, according to the National Academy of Sciences.

Some multi-grain breads reach 4 or 5 grams of fiber per slice, usually by adding highly processed oat, cottonseed, or wheat fiber. That fiber is missing the nutrients and phytochemicals that come with whole grains. It may help prevent constipation and diverticulosis, but may not reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

* Heart healthy. Any bread that's at least 51 percent whole grain can claim that it may lower the risk of heart disease of cancer. (The bread also has to be low in saturated and trans fats and not high in sodium, but most breads meet those criteria.) So a product like Sara Lee Heart Healthy Multi-Grain may be no better for your heart than a similar whole-grain bread without "Heart" in its name.

* Extra vitamins & minerals. A few companies toss in some extra nutrients to make their breads stand out. Sara Lee, for example, adds vitamin D (10 percent of a day's worth), calcium (15 percent), and folic acid (10 percent) to its Heart Healthy Plus 100% Whole Wheat and its (similar) EarthGrains Extra Fiber breads. Each has about 5 grams of fiber per slice. In contrast, Sara's Heart Healthy Classic 100% Whole Wheat has no vitamin D, less calcium (6 percent) and folic acid (4 percent), and 2 grams of fiber per slice.

Do you need the extras? It depends on what you get from other foods or supplements and who you are. For example, if you're over 70, you may need the vitamin D (80 IU in two slices) to help you reach the current target of 600 IU a day. Most multivitamins have only 400 IU of vitamin D. What's more, some experts believe that people over 60 need 1,000 IU a day (see cover story).

The calcium (300 mg in two slices of the Plus or Extra Fiber bread) is helpful if you're not getting recommended levels (1,000 mg a day if you're 50 or under and 1,200 mg a day if you're over 50). But it's not helpful for men who already get plenty of calcium, since some studies suggest that 1,500 mg or more a day may raise the risk of prostate cancer.

The fiber (10 grams in two slices) is impressive. But much of the extra fiber in the Plus and Extra Fiber breads comes from cellulose, which is highly processed, so it may not match 10 grams of fiber from, say, a bran cereal.

Partially Whole-Grain

If the first flour in the ingredient list is refined (it will typically say bleached of unbleached enriched wheat flour), the bread didn't get a Best Bite of Honorable Mention. But you can use the ingredients and grams of fiber to guesstimate how much whole grain you may be getting.

For example, Natural Ovens Sunny Millet, Multi-Gram, Hunger Filler, and Right Wheat breads have 4 grams of fiber per slice. Untreated high gluten wheat flour (which is refined) is the first flour, but each bread also contains roughly half a dozen whole grains.