What is the best bread?
Multigrain, wholemeal, wholegrain, rye, sourdough, white bread, gluten-free…. the list goes on. So what’s the best one?
Let’s break down what they all are and this will help give us a bit more of an idea!
Wholemeal bread contains mostly whole wheat flour (the bran, germ and endosperm of the wheat grain). By having the bran and germ, the bread gets that ‘brown’ colour and the vitamins and fibre that come with it. Wholegrain bread uses 100% wholegrain wheat, whereas wholemeal bread is often a combination of white flour with the bran and germ added separately.
White bread contains white flour (the bran and germ removed). By removing the brown components of the flour, both the fibre and vitamins are removed too. By removing the fibre, the bread digests faster meaning we’re likely to get hungrier quicker and get a higher spike in blood sugar levels. Multigrain bread, on the other hand, is essentially just white bread with added seeds/grains. This helps to ‘add’ in fibre and nutrients to the bread to increase satiety and nutritional value.
Rye bread is made with rye flour (completely different grain to wheat, and generally higher in fibre and some vitamins). Because of the extra fibre and vitamins, the glycemic index of rye bread is also slightly lower than wheat bread, making it extra suitable for a filling brekkie, lunch or dinner staple.
Sourdough bread is made through fermenting yeast and naturally occurring lactobacilli to make the bread more easily digestible. If you’re gluten sensitive (but not Coeliac) or feel like commercial breads upset your stomach/ worsen bloating then sourdough bread might be a good place to start!
Gluten free bread is usually made with rice, corn or millet flour. If you are Coeliac, this is really your only option if you are looking for a bread substitute. However if you’re not Coeliac, there’s no real nutritional benefit for going for this one. The rice/ corn is often higher GI, low in fibre and hence not very filling.
So what’s the best bread?
This comes down to personal preference and why you’re having it. If you use bread to make yourself a filling sandwich for lunch, or toast in the morning then a high fibre bread is best (rye, sourdough, wholemeal, wholegrain or even multigrain). If you’re just looking for some quick, easy to digest energy before a training session then a white bread/ higher GI variety would be better here.
