2 days Ago By [email protected] (Chris Corlew)
Bread is delicious, and some would argue that bread is practically the foundation of civilization. However, bread isn't always the most nutritional component of a meal, and due to weight loss programs like Atkins or the Keto Diet, some people have opted to remove the food from their diet almost entirely. That said, cutting out bread isn't necessary.
After all, bread is delicious and satiating, and not all carbs are bad — some carbs are good for gut health , for instance. Most importantly, even store-bought bread loaves have plenty of healthy options. It just takes a little knowledge and label-reading to transform your sandwich base from sugary empty calories to a nutrition bomb bursting with stuff your body needs.
Do you know how much high fructose corn syrup is in some breads? What about how many vitamins and whole grains? Come to think of it, what do whole grains even do for you? There are lots of components contributing to a loaf's overall health factor. We've scoured the shelves in search of some bread brands that you won't have to lie to your doctor about enjoying. 1.
Food For Life Food For Life's Ezekiel bread evokes something ancient right in the name. In fact, the Ezekiel 4:9 bread is a reference to the Old Testament or Talmud verse instructing people to make bread from wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt all placed in the same vessel. That means Ezekiel 4:9 bread doesn't just have whole grains, it also has sprouted legumes on its ingredient list.
That's a whole lot of good stuff in one package. Those ancient societies must've been onto something. Allowing the grains to sprout before turning them into bread is a special kind of magic.
The germinating process that occurs during sprouting breaks down both starch and phytate. Breaking down the former raises the nutritional percentage, while breaking down the latter increases the body's ability to absorb vitamins and minerals. For Ezekiel 4:9 bread, those vitamins and minerals include potassium, folate, and magnesium, among others.
That's all stuff you want your body absorbing. 2. Dave's Killer Bread Dave's Killer Bread is a big name in the healthy loaf game.
It's not hard to see why: each loaf is made with organic, whole grains. Eating whole grains can help manage blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure, among other benefits. Many of their loaves are fortified with seeds and oats for an extra shot of nutrients.
Importantly, most of Killer Dave's varieties also come in thin-sliced versions. A thinner slice can help with portion control. It's far easier to make a sandwich with slightly less bread than to only eat half a sandwich and convince your brain that it's satiated.
Honestly, though, Dave's appeal goes beyond healthy eating — the loaf tastes so good that one reviewer on Kroger's website said they're perfectly happy eating it plain. In a 2023 Daily Meal ranking of Dave's Killer varieties , the 100% Whole Wheat emerged as our favorite. You can feel good about eating Dave's Killer Bread for reasons beyond it making you feel, well, good.
The company is a Second Chance Employment organization, purposefully hiring workers with criminal backgrounds and giving them opportunities to earn an honest living. Company founder Dave Dahl — who spent time in prison before realizing his true calling as a baker — firmly believes in giving people second chances and the tools they need to get their lives back on track. Tasty bread and a positive force in its workers' lives? That's healthy in more ways than one.
3. Aunt Millie's One of the beautiful aspects of bread is how many different types of flour can make a great loaf. Sprouted seeds are a great ingredient, but something like potato flour brings different starches to the party.
Aunt Millie's has healthy seed-based options like Cracked Wheat Whole Grain, while products like the Fiber & Flavor Potato Bread offers a nutrient-loaded twist on a style of bread that's usually more of treat. Research cited by the American Heart Association suggests that most people in the U.S.
consume an energy (or calorie)-rich, nutrient-poor diet. Eating nutrient-dense foods can help your body get everything it needs. Finding products that offer familiar tastes while also packing a nutritious punch is a great way to eat healthier without feeling like you're sacrificing.
Aunt Millie's Live Carb Smart line also offers lots of options for people on low-carb or even Keto diets. Yes, we said that getting rid of all carbs is generally a bad idea in the intro, but choosing low-carb selections can be beneficial. It's nice when the baker is taking that into account, too.
4. Wholesome Harvest The name certainly sounds healthy. Does the product live up to the promise? Well, Wholesome Harvest's 9 Grain & Seed Bread includes healthy ingredients like flax, sunflower, and sesame seeds.
Flaxseed is high in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. It's used to help digestion, relieve constipation, and can even help lower cholesterol. This means the flaxseed augments the nutrition that's already there, while adding something new.
Not to mention the pleasant crunch that all of those seeds bring along, adding a whole different dimension to the bread. Wholesome Harvest's 9 Grain & Seed bread is also loaded with good-for-you stuff like calcium, potassium, and fiber, while being non-GMO Project verified. This filling, nutritious bread is an excellent choice for breakfast — start your day off strong with toast and eggs, or a sandwich.
You know, your basic bacon, egg, and cheese isn't exactly going to make a dietician smile. If you're looking to level up your breakfast sandwich , choosing a bread that makes your whole body happy is a great way to go. 5.
Happy Campers Originally founded by two college students with a passion "for all things healthy," Happy Campers boasts that all of their loaves are baked in a facility free from common allergens like egg, soy, peanuts, and dairy. No matter how common they are, allergens are irritating and scary to live with. It's nice to be able to trust a baking company to take that into account during every step of the process.
Not only is each loaf gluten-free, Happy Campers eschews standard preservatives. Instead, the company uses rowanberry extract — the powder of which keeps a loaf fresh for 10 days. In addition to being a natural preservative, a 2021 study published in the journal Antioxidants found that rowanberries have properties that make them suitable for treating diabetes — in fact, they've been used as a traditional remedy for diabetes in the past.
Specifically, rowanberries get involved with the same enzymes involved in digesting carbs. This means there is a natural preservative for bread out there that actually makes it easier to eat bread. Nature is amazing.
6. Canyon Bakehouse Canyon Bakehouse breads are all gluten-free. That's a term that comes up a lot with bread.
The NIH reports that about 1% of people in the world — two million people in the U.S. — suffer from Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that makes a person's body attack gluten as though it were a virus.
Others suffer from varying levels of gluten intolerance. Per the Cleveland Clinic , there is a difference between Celiac disease and gluten intolerance, with about 6% of the U.S.
population suffering from gluten intolerance. Both conditions make eating bread difficult, if not impossible. The point is, anyone looking to start eating gluten-free can enjoy Canyon Bakehouse.
Not only are these loaves gluten-free, they are dairy-, soy-, and nut-free. Dairy, soy, and nuts aren't exactly unhealthy, per se, but they are pretty common allergens. Nice not to have to worry about those.
Want an additional nutrient kick? The hearty Ancient Grain Bread is packed with 50 milligrams potassium and whole grains like sorghum, millet, and amaranth. 7. Alvarado Street Bakery Alvarado Street Bakery touts its bread as being completely free from genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
Genetically modifying food has been around for as long as humans have practiced agriculture, however, some people are understandably skeptical about contemporary methods. When we talk about GMOs, we're not talking about farmers puttering around, making the right crops kiss. This is laboratory-level stuff.
The Journal of Food and Science Technology touts genetic modification in foods as promising, but with risks "both known and unknown." Sure, certain crops mature faster and become insecticide-resistant, but there are human, environmental, and ethical factors to consider. Alvarado Street Bakery considered those factors, and decided to use non-GMO ingredients.
Not only are all of the breads GMO-free, Alvarado eschews chemical preservatives. The breads are made with sprouted wheat and limited natural sweeteners, resulting in lower carb counts than other brands. Each loaf starts with whole, organic wheat berries.
Want to feel even better? This company is actually a worker-owned co-op. The bread is healthy, and so is the labor culture. Membership in the co-op is voluntary, and all capital and operations are run through democratic processes.
Do happier hands knead better-tasting dough? That's for you, the customer, to decide. Health is a holistic pursuit, though, and Alvarado Street Bakery's cooperative approach typifies that. 8.
Brownberry Brownberry operates under the guiding principle of "what would Grandma do?" Brownberry keeps its products free of high fructose corn syrup, artificial preservatives, bleached flour, and other things you don't want on your toast. Grandmas are wise, the thinking goes, and looking out for you. Grandma wouldn't put some unpronounceable ingredient under her rolling pin.
Following this mantra, Brownberry has plenty of healthy options, like the thin-sliced version of 22 Grains & Seeds, Plant Protein, or one of their many Keto offerings. Getting more protein from plants and reducing meat consumption is associated with increased longevity. It's not like protein that comes from plants is any different than protein that comes from animals, it's just that reducing your animal consumption can also reduce your risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and other morbidities.
Brownberry's Plant Protein bread is made with chickpea flour, sprouted wheat, and pea protein — all of it combining to boast an impressive nine grams of protein. Not too shabby, coming from a food you normally don't associate with that particular macronutrient. 9.
Nature's Own Low in fat, free from artificial preservatives, and perhaps most importantly: widely available. "This is the best wheat bread for everything," one reviewer raves about Nature's Own Honey Wheat. That's pretty good news for a loaf that already has calcium, iron, and folate.
Another mark in the plus column for Nature's Own? No high fructose corn syrup. You probably know that high fructose corn syrup is similar to sugar, with the controversial sweetener being linked to obesity, liver problems, high triglycerides, and increased levels of uric acid. Managing uric acid levels is crucial for people suffering from gout.
If suffering from painful arthritis that flares up because of what you eat sounds like a nightmare, you want to try to avoid gout. The Arthritis Foundation estimates that more than nine million people in the U.S.
suffer from the disease, a number that has increased in recent decades. It might be an adjustment to think of bread as a sugar source, but it totally is. Paying attention to what sweetener is used can help.
In the case of Nature's Own Honey Wheat, that sweetener is honey, plus two grams of added sugar. 10. Manna Organic Bakery Sprouted grains and organic ingredients aren't always things you associate with the term "cake-like," but that's how Manna Organic Bakery advertises itself.
The grains sprout over the course of three days, and then the bread is baked at a lower temperature than most grocery store loaves. Catching grain sprouting at the exact right moment is an involved process. To get the grains shepherded into maturity requires carefully controlled amounts of warmth and moisture.
Whatever magic happens on the third day, Manna is catching it. Sprouted whole grain bread certainly has more texture than your average white sandwich bread, but you can still enjoy sprouted bread in contexts beyond buttered toast. Some Costco party platters have sprouted grain bread sandwiches.
Manna includes flavored loaves in its product roster. In addition to Sprouted Multigrain, Manna offers Sprouted Banana Walnut Hemp, Sprouted Carrot Raisin, and Sprouted Fig, Fennel & Flax, among other options. The breakfast sandwich possibilities alone are endless.
An added bonus? The bread at Manna Organic Bakery is made with all kosher ingredients. 11. Rudi's Did you know that not all bread is vegan? It's true.
Thankfully, vegans can breathe easy with Rudi's. Not all of Rudi's loaves are vegan, either, but there are a plethora of options. The Rocky Mountain Sourdough comes in a vegan version, as do the Country Morning White and Multigrain Oat.
That Rocky Mountain Sourdough is a recipe that Rudi's has been cranking out since 1976. A 24-hour fermentation period gives the loaf "that quintessential tang," as Rudi's puts it, which is exactly what you want in a sourdough. Vegan does not always equal healthy, so what exactly makes Rudi's healthy? Well, a commitment to using organic ingredients is a good start.
The company boasts that it has used organic ingredients since before the USDA certification label existed, so points for starting from a good place. Rudi's also uses ancient grains, like a whole loaf highlighting spelt, or the Gluten-Free Super Seeded loaf. Rudi's also offers pre-made items.
Prepared food is never going to be the absolute healthiest option, but if you do find yourself craving some garlic Texas toast that you can chuck in the oven and have ready in minutes? Rudi's makes a version out of sourdough. Need a frozen PB & J to toss in your kid's lunch box? Rudi's makes a peanut-free version, to be mindful of allergies. 12.
Sara Lee Healthy options for bread don't have to be limited to specialty brands. There are plenty of options for the health-conscious shopper with widely available brands like Sara Lee. The Artesano Bakery Bread is a good source of vitamin A.
It's even billed as heart-healthy, thanks to being low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Bonus: not a pinch of high fructose corn syrup anywhere. Let's focus on vitamin A for a minute.
A study published in a 1999 issue of the Free Radic Biol Med journal found that there is some evidence that vitamin A can help prevent heart disease. In fact, evidence shows that vitamin A can even be an effective antioxidant against heart disease even developing. Now, vitamin A does have to come from your diet — it's not like vitamin D, which you can get simply by going outside.
It's worth it to read package labels to check for vitamin A. 13. Pepperidge Farm One of the more ubiquitous brands on our list, Pepperidge Farm is no slouch when it comes to health-conscious eating.
Lots of the bread varieties this brand offers come with no high fructose corn syrup. A serving of the Whole Grain 15 Grain Bread — that's two slices — also contains 46 grams of whole grains, plus 10 grams of protein and six grams of fiber. A mere two slices, with that much fiber! Fiber not only aids digestion, but a high-fiber diet can help manage weight and cholesterol.
Fiber is one of those macronutrients we could all probably stand to get some more of in our systems. Eating a high-fiber diet can even help prevent hemorrhoids, as well as increase the amount of good gut bacteria in your belly's biome. Don't sleep on those 46 grams of whole grains, either.
If appeals to healthy living aren't enough, consider this: The Daily Meal has called Pepperidge Farm our favorite whole grain sandwich bread before. The slices are both hearty and pillowy, and the nutritious power only improves the dining experience. Good tasting and good for you, the best of both worlds.
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