Looking For Healthy Whole Grain Breads?
Making your own homemade bread gives you total control over the ingredients, but not everyone likes to bake, or has the time. Finding a good, reliable source of healthy whole grain bread is one way to get more easy healthy food in your diet.
Whole Grain Foods Aren’t The Whole Picture
Not only does it make a difference what kind of grains are in the bread, but the complete recipe needs to be full of natural food ingredients.
For instance, did you realize that bread adds more sodium to the average American’s diet than any other single food? That’s because Americans eat more bread on a whole than other foods, even though there are many other foods with higher levels of salt. Since that’s the case, it makes it important to look for breads with lower sodium content.
More Toxic Substances To Avoid
High sodium content isn’t the only pitfall to finding a good healthy whole grain bread. Like so many other foods in the grocery store, many breads are made with HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup). This substance is thought to put people at risk for Metabolic Syndrome, “a cluster of conditions that increases your risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.”
A Bread That Contains Natural Food Ingredients
There may be other brands out there with low levels of salt, but I know this brand contains natural food ingredients, is lower in sodium than most breads, and does NOT have HFCS. What brand is that?
Pepperidge Farm. Their 100% Natural breads have 100% whole grain, and they’re making it a point to reduce the sodium in these breads. Their breads also do NOT contain HFCS.
A Close Up Look At A Good Health Food
As you can see from this table, these breads have fairly low sodium content.
PER SLICE | 100 % Whole Wheat | 15 Grain | German Dark Wheat | Whole Grain Oatmeal | Honey Flax |
W-Grain | W-Grain | Natural | W-Grain | Natual | |
Calories | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Total Fat | 1.5g | 2g | 1.5g | 1.5g | 2g |
Sat. Fat | 0.5g | 0.5g | 0g | 0g | 0g |
Trans Fat | 0g | 0g | 0g | 0g | 0g |
Cholesterol | 0mg | 0g | 0mg | 0mg | 0g |
Sodium | 105mg | 115mg | 150mg | 110mg | 120mg |
Total Carb. | 20g | 20g | 20g | 20g | 19g |
Dietary Fiber | 4g | 4g | 3g | 4g | 3g |
Sugars | 3g | 3g | 3g | 3g | 4g |
Protein | 5g | 5g | 4g | 4g | 5g |
(Please note that ingredients change from time to time, and the above amounts may not be exactly what’s in the bread you buy.)
Surprisingly, although Pepperidge Farm is making lower sodium a point in their advertising for the 100% Natural line, the Whole Grain line often has less sodium than the Natural Breads.
Other Breads In Comparison
Here are a few well-known brands to show a comparison of the sodium levels.
PER SLICE | Earth Grains Honey Whole Grain Bread | Nature’s Own Honey Wheat Light | Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat | Stroehmann Bread | Nature’s Pride Stone Ground Whole Wheat |
Calories | 110 | 40 | 70 | 65 | 110 |
Total Fat | 1.5g | .5gm | 1.5g | 1.5g | 2g |
Sodium | 160mg | 80mg | 150mg | 125mg | 180mg |
Some look good, but the trouble is you’re not getting the whole package of healthy food. Most are not really 100% whole grain, and on top of that, they include ingredients like high fructose corn syrup.
As always, check your labels to know exactly what’s in there!
It’s An Easy Healthy Food
You can’t get much easier than switching brands of bread to make an easy health food change to your diet. So next time you’re buying bread, just look for either the 100% Natural Breads or the Whole Grain Breads from Pepperidge Farms.