As seen on BCTV Noon News January 20th 2004

HOW TO CHOOSE A HEALTHY BREAD

Limit or avoid any bread that is made with partially hydrogenated oils. Read the list of ingredients and if it contains the words partially hydrogenated, vegetable oil shortening or hydrogenated vegetable oil, put it back on the shelf. Partially hydrogenated oils are unnecessary for making good-tasting bread.  These oils are associated with increasing cholesterol levels.

Get as much whole grain flour as possible. This isn't easy to tell just by looking at the bread.  Some breads have colouring added to make them look darker such as some rye, pumpernickel and oatmeal breads.  Even Oat Nut breads look whole grain but their first ingredient is enriched wheat flour.  White flour, often listed as “wheat flour” consists of only the ground endosperm (the centre portion of the grain).  When just the words “whole wheat” are listed this doesn’t mean the whole grain is used, usually portions of the grain have been removed. Moreover, it may only be 60% whole wheat and 40% white flour.  Words like stone ground, multi-grain, seven-grain or cracked wheat sound healthy but don't tell you if the bran and germ are present or not. Generally, breads that list whole wheat as the first ingredient are better than those that start with enriched flour of some sort.  But take it one step further and look for whole wheat (germ included) and whole sprouted wheat.

Pick breads with higher fiber content. 2 grams of fiber per slice is better than 1 or 0 grams.  Some bread can have up to 4 grams per slice.  Remember, some breads give their nutrient information for 2 slices and others for 1 slice so be sure you are comparing apples to apples. 

Sprouted grain breads may cause a lower rise in blood sugar than breads made with flour, but no good data is available. The bread dough is made from whole grains that are sprouted by soaking them in water, then mashed, instead of using ground dry grains (flour) plus water. They usually have all the nutrients of the whole grains since nothing is removed in the sprouting process. There vitamin content of the grains is increased slightly in the sprouting process. Zinc, iron and calcium are also more available for absorption in sprouted grain breads.  However, these breads still cause a higher rise in blood sugar than cooked whole grains that have not been mashed into a dough.

Added seeds are a bonus. Many breads include seeds in the dough or as toppings. This is an easy way to add caraway seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds or other whole seeds to your diet.  Seeds contain essential fatty acids, some contain calcium and all add extra fiber to the bread.

Watch out for breads that taste too good. Nothing is more seductive than a loaf of freshly baked bread. A reasonable portion is 1-2 slices. If you eat the whole loaf in one sitting, or the whole basket of rolls in a restaurant before dinner comes, you'll get into trouble.