| Most people who are trying to lose weight are | | | | any day. |
| familiar with the good carbohydrates versus bad | | | | Whole Wheat Bread Comparison: |
| carbohydrates debate. However, there is a lot of | | | | Sliced Bread (2 slices) |
| ambiguity about whether whole wheat bread | | | | Calories |
| constitutes a "good carb" or a "bad carb." | | | | Fiber |
| Whole wheat bread is an alternative to white | | | | Sodium |
| bread and is made by whole wheat flour. Most | | | | Carbs |
| nutrition experts recommend whole grain foods; in | | | | Protein |
| fact, WebMD says that whole grains are low in | | | | Top 3 Main Ingredients |
| fat, cholesterol free, and contains 10-15% protein, | | | | Milton's Whole Grain Plus (76 g) |
| as well as offer loads of minerals, vitamins, | | | | 180 |
| phytochemicals, etc. Whole wheat is a whole grain, | | | | 10 |
| so doesn't that mean that whole grain bread | | | | 250 |
| should be healthy? | | | | 32 |
| Not necessarily! The problem is that the FDA | | | | 8 |
| gives a lot of leeway in terms of labeling products. | | | | Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Vital Wheat Gluten |
| In fact, there's a big difference between "whole | | | | Oroweat Country 100% Whole Wheat (76 g) |
| wheat" and "100% whole wheat" and "wheat | | | | 200 |
| germ," etc. Just like there is good and bad bread, | | | | 6 |
| there is apparently also good and bad wheat | | | | 320 |
| bread. So how do you figure out what you should | | | | 34 |
| eat? | | | | 6 |
| First, look at the ingredients listed on the back of | | | | Whole wheat flour, water, sugar |
| the bread bag. | | | | Oroweat Extra Fiber (76 g) |
| What you want to look for: | | | | 180 |
| - Reasonable serving sizes. 90-100 calories per | | | | 8 |
| slice is reasonable. | | | | 360 |
| - High fiber counts (4 grams or more) | | | | 36 |
| - Whole wheat flour, listed as the FIRST | | | | 8 |
| ingredient on the label | | | | Whole wheat flour, water, sugar |
| - 0.5 grams of saturated fat or less per slice | | | | Sara Lee Hearty and Delicious 100% Multi-Grain |
| What you want to avoid: | | | | (86 g) |
| - Wheat flour | | | | 240 |
| - Enriched bleached flour. (Avoid "enriched" | | | | 6 |
| anything) | | | | 400 |
| - High fructose corn syrup | | | | 42 |
| - Partially hydrogenated soybean oil | | | | 10 |
| - Unbleached enriched wheat flour (avoid | | | | Stone ground whole wheat flour, water, brown |
| "unbleached" anything) | | | | sugar |
| - High sodium levels. (You want bread that has | | | | Sara Lee 100% Multi-Grain (86 g) |
| 200 mg or less of sodium per slice) | | | | 240 |
| - Sugar, especially when it's listed in the top three | | | | 6 |
| ingredients. | | | | 420 |
| If you avoid bread that has these items in the | | | | 40 |
| ingredients, you're going to eliminate 90-100% of | | | | 10 |
| the breads available to you at the grocery store. | | | | Stone ground whole wheat flour, water, brown |
| Be picky about your health; aren't you worth it? | | | | sugar |
| Best Purchasing Bets: | | | | Nature's Pride 100% Whole Wheat (86 g) |
| Okay, I seriously just spent three hours at work | | | | 220 |
| researching this exact question. "What should I | | | | 6 |
| buy, then?" | | | | 420 |
| I can't find the answer. | | | | 40 |
| Oh, I can find all kinds of articles lauding the | | | | 10 |
| benefits of whole grains and fibers, but when I | | | | Whole wheat flour, water, yeast |
| look closely at the food labels (and believe me, | | | | Nature's Pride Double Fiber 100% Whole Wheat |
| most of the websites have that information | | | | (86 g) |
| hidden DEEP within their websites. Why, I | | | | 200 |
| wonder?) I see so much crap added into the | | | | 12 |
| bread that it's not worth the effort in eating it. | | | | 420 |
| Dear reader, I want to provide you with a "best | | | | 40 |
| bet to buy" but I can't. Sorry. I looked and can't | | | | 8 |
| find the answer. If you know of an | | | | Whole wheat flour, water, inulin* |
| honest-to-goodness brand that doesn't contain | | | | Note: What the heck is inulin? "Fructose-containing |
| any crap and only good stuff, post it in the | | | | oligosaccharides. Inulins belong to a class of |
| "comments" section below. I'd be curious to see | | | | carbohydrates known as fructans." Yikes. |
| what you come up with. | | | | Oligosaccharides? |
| Personally, I just avoid bread entirely. White, | | | | Portion Sizes: |
| wheat, grains, rye, whatever...I avoid all these | | | | Be careful with portion sizes when choosing your |
| things. I might do some kind of whole wheat | | | | bread. Some breads offer calorie counts per slice, |
| multi-grain pita if I needed to, but I honestly can't | | | | and some offer per ounce. WebMD says: "For |
| remember the last time that I had a slice of | | | | example, Sara Lee has a "45 Calories & Delightful" |
| bread. However, you need healthy carbs to fuel | | | | whole-wheat bread. Although the 45 calories is |
| you up and give you energy. Instead, why not | | | | "per 1 slice," the nutrition information on the label |
| opt for carbs that were once living, instead of | | | | is given for 2 slices. The weight of a 2-slice |
| processed crap? You can still get your carbs by | | | | serving of this bread is 45 grams, compared to |
| eating cauliflower, potatoes, rice, and beans. I | | | | Sara Lee's classic 100% whole-wheat classic |
| would choose one of those options before bread | | | | bread, which weighs 57 grams per 2-slice serving. |