26 May 2010
Nutritionista How-To: Buy Bread
Recently, I got a couple questions from reader Rachel (and friend Rachel!) about bread. Namely, which kind of bread is healthiest? What’s the deal with sprouted grain?
So I thought I’d put together a little guide to buying bread. As usual, let’s take it step by step.
Step 1: Decide why you’re buying bread. This might sound a little “duh” at first, but it’s actually a necessary step. Will you be using it to make sandwiches? To eat as a side dish? Just toast up in the morning with a little butter or almond butter? The type of bread you buy should vary slightly depending on what you do with it.
If you primarily use bread as a means of delivering other stuff (i.e., sandwich fixins’), then try to find bread with 80-100 calories or LESS. Mind you, no “diet” bread! But you don’t want spend 300-500 calories of your sandwich on bread alone when the focus is the delicious roast beef or grilled tempeh! Be sure to check the serving size, too.
If you eat bread on its own as a side, shoot for the really high-quality stuff! Check out your grocery’s bakery to see if they make their own bread, or hit up a local bakery in town to find the chewiest, wheatiest bread you can find!
Step 2: READ THE INGREDIENTS. I mean, really, you should do this for ANY food you buy, but especially bread. Bread is notorious for hiding all sorts of funky ingredients (HFCS or partially hydrogenated oil, anyone?). You don’t need bread with five different fortified vitamins! You can get those from all the veggies and other whole foods you’re eating! Right?? RIGHT.
If you’re buying whole grain bread (which you should be), the first ingredient should be whole wheat/grain flour, or something along those lines. “Unbromated unbleached enriched wheat flour” is NOT the same thing! “Made with whole grains” also means absolutely nothing. Fruit Loops are “made with whole grains”!
Step 3: Consider buying sprouted grains. My absolutely favorite grocery store brand of bread and other bread products (English muffins, tortillas, etc.) is Food for Life. All of their products are made with sprouted, live, organic grains instead of flour. From the Food for Life website:
Sprouting is the only way to release all the vital nutrients stored in whole grains. The sprouting process activates beneficial enzymes which cause the grains to sprout and become living and nutrient-rich. Stores of vitamins and minerals dramatically increase over the amount available in flour. Sprouting also converts the carbohydrates in grains into maltose, which is ordinarily done by the body during digestion, thereby predigesting nutrients for you. The enzymatic action enables the body to assimilate the vitamins and minerals more efficiently. Plus, the sprouting process naturally increases the protein content and decreases the calories and carbohydrates found in the original grain.
Fewer calories and carbohydrates but more protein and nutrients? Sounds good to me!
All it takes to buy a good loaf of bread is a commitment to reading the label and doing a little investigating. Once you find one you like, you can stick with it forever!
