The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that at least half of your grain servings be whole grains, and using whole grain bread instead of white bread makes this recommendation easier to meet. While some people, especially kids, prefer white bread over whole grain bread, the whole grain option is a lot healthier for you.
White vs. Whole Wheat Bread
White bread is made with refined grains, which have had the germ and the bran removed. Unfortunately, removing these parts of the grain also removes most of the fiber, as well as many of the vitamins and minerals in these grains. Although some of these vitamins and minerals are added back in if the bread is made using enriched flour, not all of them are. Whole grain bread has more protein as well. Some white breads do have more calcium than whole grain breads, but overall, the whole grain option is healthier.
Whole Grain Benefits
Whole wheat bread provides more copper, magnesium, potassium, selenium, zinc, vitamin B6 and vitamin E than bread made with refined or enriched flours, and more niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, iron and folate than bread made with refined flours. Whole grains might also provide certain health benefits. Eating whole grains instead of refined grains might lower your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. It might also help to improve bowel function.
Considerations
If you don't like the stronger taste of whole grain bread, try white whole wheat bread, which is made from a milder-tasting variety of wheat. It provides the same health and nutrition benefits of regular whole wheat bread. This might be the trick that will get your kids eating whole grain bread as well.
Choosing Whole Grain Bread
Be careful when choosing whole grain bread because many breads may look like they are whole grain breads when in fact they are really made mainly from refined flours. The first ingredient in whole grain bread should be a whole grain or a whole grain flour. Wheat bread, harvest grain bread, multigrain bread and bread that is "made with whole grains" is not necessarily 100 percent whole grain bread. Choose a bread that contains at least 3 g of fiber per slice, recommends the Centers for Science in the Public Interest. To be totally sure, only get breads labeled "100 percent whole wheat."
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