Besides the type of bread and freshness there are other factors to consider when buying bread. Here are some of my considerations.
Buy 100 percent whole grain: Look for the label that says “100 percent whole grain”. Whether you are buying bread made of wheat, oat, rye, amaranth or any other kind, look for whole grain flour as the main ingredient. Sometimes it may label as “Whole Grain” or “Whole Wheat”. Don’t be fooled. It only contains 51 percent whole grain and the remaining 49 percent is refined flour. The key here is “100 percent”.
Look for the sugar and sodium content: Sugar or honey is used in making bread to make it tender and sweet tasting. Sometimes caramelized sugar is added to give the color (hue) to the bread especially on less than whole brown bread. Keep in mind that most bread contains 2g to 3g of sugar. Avoid anything more than that.
Recommended serving per day: 48g of whole grains recommended per day. If you buy bread that has 16g per serving, you need to eat twice the amount to get the recommended. One solution is to look for the Whole Grain Council approval on the package.