Fiber by the slice

Nutrition Action Healthletter, April, 1988 by Bonnie Liebman

Fiber By The Slice

Presidential candidates may argue over whether our nation is losing its moral fiber. But there's little doubt that we're falling short on dietary fiber.

The average American eats about 10 grams of fiber a day. The National Cancer Institute and an expert panel convened by the Food and Drug Administration say we should be eating 20 to 30 (but not more than 35) grams a day. Colon cancer, constipation, and diverticulosis are just a few of the ills fiber may keep at bay.

Ads for bran cereals carry on as though cereals were the one and only fiber-rich food. Yet virtually all experts recommend getting fiber from a variety of foods, including beans, fruits, vegetables--and bread.

Bread has great potential as a fiber supplier because we eat so much of it. In fact, bread now contributes more calories, more carbohydrates, more sodium, more thiamin, niacin, and iron to the average American's diet than any other food.

Of course, it's really white bread that's so popular. On a given day, about 75 percent of the population eats white bread or rolls, while only 25 percent eats whole wheat or rye. And the usual white bread provides a measly 1/2 gram of fiber per 2-slice serving. It's not a gross exaggeration to say that Wonder bread and its refined cousins are largely responsible for the low-fiber pickle we're now in.

Fortunately, non-white loaves have multiplied in recent years. Products with names such as "Multigrain," "Seven Grain," and "Sun Grain" now abound.

Earthy and robust as they sound, those names aren't good guides to selecting the highest-fiber, most nutritious slices in the store. Most labels omit fiber content, and several major manufacturers, such as Flowers Industries, Heileman Baking Company, and Taystee Baking Company, won't supply the information even if you call or write.

Only a few companies--Pepperidge Farm, Wonder, and Roman Meal--get credit for telling us how much fiber all of their breads contain. At right we publish the most complete fiber listing for breads available.

Foraging for Fiber. Two slices of bread can supply anywhere between 1/2 and 7 grams of total dietary fiber. But the differences don't end there.

Standard 100% whole wheat bread gets its fiber solely from whole wheat flour, typically yielding about 4 grams for two 1-ounce slices. Whole wheat bread is an excellent food. However, the food industry seems convinced that consumers want whole wheat's fiber without its flavor and texture. Accordingly, it has combined white flour--which appears as "wheat flour" on the label--with a variety of fibrous ingredients.

Bran and Berries. In most cases, when a bread label says "bran," "wheat berry," "multigrain," "cracked wheat," or "wheat germ," you're probably getting more white flour than any of those ingredients. Nevertheless, some of these loaves are quite decent.

Among the best is Arnold's "Original Bran'nola," which combines white flour with wheat bran plus whole wheat, oats, rye, and barley to reach a total of 6 grams of fiber in two big slices. Ounce for ounce, that's comparable to 100% whole wheat bread.

But other brands compare poorly to whole wheat. For example, two slices of Pepperidge Farm's "Honey Wheat Berry" and "Honey Bran" breads offer only 2 to 3 grams of fiber. The caramel color helps to disguise the fact that they contain a lot more white flour than wheat berries.

Bleak Horizons. In 1977, "low-calorie, high-fiber" Fresh Horizons brought comedy to the bread aisle. That's when consumers learned--from newspaper articles, not ads or labels--that the bread's fiber--listed as "cellulose" on the label--came from wood pulp.

In 1985, NAH blew the whistle on eight similar "light" breads (September/October 1985). Oven Fresh's "40," Sunbeam Lite, Roman Meal Light, Interstate Brands' "Lite," and W.E. Long's "Vim" breads still appear to get their cellulose fiber from wood pulp.

In contrast, Wonder's Light and Schmidt's "Less" breads get their fiber from finely ground soybeans or corn bran. These and other "light" breads have slightly fewer calories because the largely indigestible--and therefore largely noncaloric--fiber replaces some of the digestible flour.

Several companies continue to lie about how much fiber their "light" breads contain. According to the labels, "Less" and "40" contain "400 percent more fiber than whole wheat bread." Those false claims are based on a method of analyzing fiber content--a crude fiber analysis--that works well for paper and textiles, but gives wildly inaccurate results for the dietary fiber in food.

In fact, some "light" breads have as much fiber as whole wheat bread--4 grams in two slices. But Interstate Brands' "Lite" and Schmidt's "Less" fall short of this figure.

Whether it's soy, corn, or wood pulp, can the fiber in "light" breads help prevent colon cancer? Theoretically, yes. But whole wheat or rye flour is a surer bet. That's because the best human evidence linking fiber and colon cancer comes from Scandinavian countries, where people eat whole wheat and rye breads and cereals.