Breads: What Are the Differences Between the Types?

Bread is a basic product found in almost every dietary framework and is an inseparable part of the menu. Manufacturers have long understood that bread is no longer just a means to eat spreads; rather, the spread has become the excuse to eat bread. Store shelves are heavily laden with a wide and tempting variety of different types of bread, which differ from each other in composition, characteristics, purpose, and taste. In this article, we will try to organize the bread shelf a bit: to help you understand the characteristics that differentiate between types of bread and to give you tools for choosing the bread that suits you.

Flour is the most dominant component affecting the properties of bread. The less processed it is and the closer to its natural state, the less it loses vitamins that are destroyed in the processing process, thus preserving the values of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and other essential components found in the peel and the grain.

The nutritional contribution of bread with a less processed basic component is higher, its glycemic index is lower, it will contain more dietary fiber, ease the digestive system, maintain low blood sugar levels, and provide a feeling of fullness for a longer time. However, in the taste test, surveys show a preference for more processed bread.

In light breads, the "payment" for calorie reduction is in the proving method that leads to a more airy and less dense bread and a combination with calorie-reduced components such as bran and artificial sweeteners. This proving method is not particularly beneficial for body nutrition. Increased proving with yeast increases the amount of gluten that tends to react with cell walls.

Calorie-reduced bread is less filling compared to its regular version and is more suitable for those who use it as a means of eating spreads, dips, or salads. Those looking for a source of satiety while dieting will find themselves consuming large amounts comparable to normal consumption of the original bread.

And now let's review the bread shelves.

 

1. Standard Bread. The basic components of breads are indeed called by different names: dark wheat flour or wheat flour, but all refer to highly processed wheat flour with a high glycemic index, leavened using yeast. These breads, despite their nutritional disadvantage, are very common on the shelves because of their taste and subsidized price.

 

2. Light Black/Regular Bread. These breads are based on processed wheat flour like the original version and are not recommended. They are usually eaten by weight-watchers, but eating bread with a high glycemic index does not contribute to a feeling of fullness for a long time and for dieting purposes.

 

3. Light Rye Bread. All light rye breads have a higher glycemic index than expected for this type of flour. Some bakeries produce it with "non-whole" rye flour and wheat flour, while others use standard flour as the dominant ingredient, adding whole rye flour. Although calorie-reduced, these breads are not recommended for their quality, include artificial sweetener, do not maintain a feeling of fullness over time, and do not contribute to weight maintenance.

 

4. Einan Bread, Live Bread. These breads have whole pre-sprouted wheat as their basic component. Sliced Einan Bread contains dark wheat flour as an additional ingredient, raising its glycemic value. On the other hand, Live Bread combines whole wheat flour that maintains a low glycemic index as an additional component. Both breads are leavened using yeast, but their dietary fiber content is high, and their nutritional vitality is very high. In their light versions, both breads rely on processed wheat flour as a second component, but the effect of pre-sprouted wheat is dominant on the bread's quality, making them generally preferable over the previously mentioned categories.

 

5. Light Challah. Although this is a delicious product reduced in calories compared to its original version, its consumption should be limited as it is based on processed white flour, a very high glycemic index, with the addition of artificial sweetener.

 

6. Light Seven-Grain Bread, Light Grain Bread. These breads are based on whole wheat flour. The breads contain additions such as oats, flax, barley, sunflower seeds, and millet and are leavened using yeast. The breads reviewed are not recommended for diabetics or those sensitive to gluten, but they still offer a calorie-reduced and satisfying version with a low glycemic index, dietary fibers, and abundant vitamins and minerals. All the breads contain flax seeds, but the body cannot utilize the flax when it is unground.

 

7. Sourdough Bread, Light Sourdough Bread. Both of these breads are based on organic ingredients: organic whole flour in natural sourdough fermentation with a small amount of yeast, low glycemic index, and essential nutritional contribution to the body's needs. It should be noted that these breads are very dense, and the light sourdough also has a higher calorie value per slice than regular standard bread.

 

8. Light Tofu Bread. Based on whole flour with tofu compounds, bran, and soy flour. The breads are very rich in vitamins, provide essential nutritional value present in soy, are calorie-reduced, and are leavened using yeast. Since studies have shown that excessive consumption of soy can be harmful, one must ensure controlled consumption of these breads.

 

9. Rustic Earth Bread, Light Earth Bread. Both breads are based on organic whole wheat and whole pre-sprouted wheat in natural sourdough fermentation and yeast. These breads have a low glycemic index, are filling, and have vitamins and dietary fibers. Light Earth Bread offers a nutritional solution combining high-quality bread that is calorie-reduced.

10. Rye Bread. These breads are mainly marketed in health food stores, based on organic components and providing the best nutritional source for bread: low glycemic index, low processed and organic flour that allows optimal utilization and absorption of the protein and iron present in rye. The downside is the relatively high calorie value per slice, but this is negligible against its easy digestion and composition.

 

In summary, the best group of breads is those composed of organic whole flour not leavened by yeast, and among them, the best is bread based on whole rye flour. It is best from a nutritional standpoint but is not readily available (found mostly in health food stores), expensive in price, and due to its density resulting from the proving method, it is not calorie-reduced.

If you are looking for light breads, and are not sensitive to yeast, then grain breads, Earth Bread, or breads based on pre-sprouted wheat can be a good solution.

The tools I presented relate solely to nutritional quality, but it is clear that an integral part of bread selection is also taste and, of course, price. I leave that decision to your sole discretion.