Why Wheat Bread Is Not a Better Alternative to White Bread - Dieticians Reveal the Healthiest Bread Choice
A fresh loaf of bread sitting in the fridge calls out to the owner to add a delicious dish to their week’s meal plan. Some slices will be grilled crisp and golden with melted butter or cheese. Others will be used to make banana bread pudding laced with chocolate chips. But all the while a person uses bread to cook something, a dilemma lingers in their head. Which is better: wheat bread or white bread? Real Simple spoke to experts Katie Cavuto and Marina Chaparro to understand which bread is the healthiest choice.
To understand how the breads are made and what nutrition each bread contains, it is crucial to grasp the concept of a “whole grain.” A whole grain is made up of three edible parts: a fiber-rich bran, a nutrient-rich germ, and the starch-containing endosperm. When white bread is made, the process usually strips away both the germ and the bran parts of the grain, leaving only the endosperm. This processing behind white bread makes it devoid of essential nutrients.
To combat this lack of nutrition in white bread, experts prefer “white whole wheat bread,” which is made of an albino whole wheat grain. However, when it comes to wheat bread, it isn’t the same as whole wheat bread. "Wheat bread merely means the product is made using wheat flour, which is another term for refined white flour," said Cavuto. Alternatively, whole-grain bread is a healthier option. Whole grain bread comprises not just whole grains like whole barley, brown rice, whole grain oats, and rolled oats, but also a wealth of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
So, which is healthier – white bread, wheat bread, or whole wheat bread? “Any bread made with 100 percent whole grains, whether whole wheat or whole grain, is the most nutritious option. But just because a label says ‘whole grain’ doesn't guarantee that the product contains exclusively whole grains,” explained Cavuto. She added that the best way to figure out whether all three ingredients of a whole grain are intact in a loaf of bread is to check if the stamp reads “100%.”
Additionally, both Cavuto and Chaparro suggest that any whole-grain bread is always a better choice. “I look for breads that incorporate whole grains and provide a source of fiber, but that doesn't mean sacrificing taste,” said Chaparro. Another good option she recommended is sprouted bread. "Sprouted bread tends to have more available nutrients and may be easier to digest than other sliced bread due to the sprouting process, which changes how the starches are processed," she noted. Rest, they said, depends on personal nutrition. No one bread is good or bad.
A 2021 study of wheat and white bread items from seven restaurants also concluded that healthy bread choice is dependent on nutritional characteristics and personal nutrition. While white bread showed lower calories, carbohydrates, added sugars, and sodium, wheat bread had higher protein content and almost thrice the amount of fiber as white bread. A 2017 study also suggested that in terms of health outcomes, it didn’t matter whether white or whole-wheat bread was consumed. The main thing is to look out for “whole grain” on the packaging label. And whatever bread it is, it always calls for a lip-smacking sandwich fresh out of the toaster.