Hi,

Thanks for your question.

The terms wholegrain, wholewheat and wholemeal are used interchangeably in bread and other products. There is no difference in the ‘healthiness’ of products if they are labelled either wholegrain or wholewheat. Wholegrain is an overarching term used to describe the whole family of grains (wheat, oats, rice etc) where the ‘whole’ of the grain is included in the food. It is the outer parts of the grain (discarded when producing ‘white’ products) which have been found to have lots of nutrients that have been linked to health such as fibre, b vitamins and essential fats.

When it comes to choosing a bread, as you know, one that is wholegrain or wholemeal will be a healthier option than white products. However you will need to look at other aspects of the bread such as the calorie, fat and salt contents to ascertain which is the best option for you. Just because a bread contains extras seeds or ingredients, doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the lowest in calories. Taste is also an important consideration.

I've compared a few different brands of wholemeal bread and they are very similar gram for gram in terms of salt, fibre, saturated fat and sugar content. But the size of the slice varies quite a lot, so this is important to consider. For example Hovis Granary Wholemeal bread has 44g slices which are 104 calories each, whereas Warburtons Wholemeal bread has 23.8g slices which are just 58 calories each. So when you choose your bread, perhaps consider which will be the most suitable in terms of total calories? Although the Hovis Granary Wholemeal bread has more calories, it will also be providing more total fibre, which is one of the health benefits of choosing wholemeal bread over white versions.

I've listed below some brands to try:

Hovis Granary Wholemeal (44g) - 104 kcals and 1g fat

Hovis Wholemeal (40g) - 88 kcal and 0.7g fat

Warburtons Wholemeal (23.8g) - 58 kcals and 0.6g fat

Hovis Nimble (22g) - 51 kcals and 0.6g fat

Kingsmill Wholemeal - 69 kcals and 1.1g fat

Allison Wholemeal - 83 kcals and 1g fat

I hope this helps.

Janet

Nutracheck Nutritionist