Breaking Bread the Healthy Way

Dr. Jennifer Ashton Tells Which Health Claims are True and False About the Bread You're Eating

(CBS)  Think you're eating the best bread?

Maybe not, according to CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton.

Ashton explained what's true and false about bread selection, and how you can make better choices at the grocery store.

CLAIM: If the bread is brown and has the word wheat on the label, it must have a lot of fiber.
FALSE: Don't be fooled by the color or the word wheat. Many manufacturers add caramel food coloring to make consumers think the bread is healthier than it is.

Look at the first ingredient on the package. If it's "wheat flour" or "enriched bleached flour" that tells you mostly white flour was used, not the fiber rich "whole-wheat flour"

CLAIM: breads with names like "seven grain" and "100 percent natural" are the best choices.
FALSE: Just saying "seven grain" or 100 percent natural" can be deceiving. Look for labels that say "100 percent whole grain or 100 percent whole wheat" You want whole grains because they're naturally low in fat, cholesterol free and loaded with fiber.

CLAIM: A plain bagel can have over 300 calories.
TRUE: People don't realize how many calories can be packed into an ordinary bagel. And now with supersized bagels, the added calories can wreak havoc on your diet.

And when you add toppings on them, the calorie count goes up even more. It's probably better to eat a whole wheat mini bagel if you have to indulge, because it's hard to leave the other half of the large bagel uneaten.

Ashton also recommended coring out some of the bread with your finger, so you can have the taste of the bagel, but not all the calories.

CLAIM: Bread can have a lot of salt.
TRUE: Bread may not taste salty, but there may be a lot hidden salt. And for those trying to curb their salt intake for health reasons, beware. If you eat 3 servings of whole grain bread a day, and each slice has 200 milligrams of sodium, that's 600 milligrams -- more than a fourth of the maximum amount of salt recommended per day.

As for Ashton, she said she only eats bread on the weekends.

"(I go) totally wild," she said. "I don't even core out my bagel."

[sam-kiley]

bonjour
merci docteur ashton pour ses conseils oh combien utiles, le pain est un aliment essentiel sur toutes les tables, dans tous les pays et il serait sage de faire attention a ce que nous consommons..de nos jours les consommateurs attachent de l'importance a l'apparence a l'emballage et non a la qualité, vivement le pain de nos ancetres et parents..au revoir

[mswolfestock]

Kind of ironic that bread has gone from "give us this day our daily bread," to Dr. Ashton eating bread only on the weekends. (And what is up with that, anyway?)

If y'all want to have great bread for less money, get a bread machine. Husband bought me a cheap bread machine for Christmas about 10 years ago and I've never made a bad loaf yet. The bread machine came with a great recipe book, and it is SOOOOOOO easy. Just follow the directions correctly and measure all ingredients accurately. In about 3 - 1/2 hours your kitchen will smell like heaven and you'll get a great loaf of bread. It's so good you won't need butter on it. I like to make crusty French bread and then dip it in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and herbs . . . . . oh my - heaven on earth.

I would be the first to agree that some of the bread products in the stores are not really "good for you," but that doesn't mean that you have to give up great food.