Building great sandwiches means using great breads

Sandwiches make delicious and nutritious lunches and even on-the-go breakfasts and simple suppers. What you fill them with has a lot to do with how healthy the meal becomes, but the building blocks, or the outsides of your sandwich, impact that as well.

Sandwiches used to be some filling slapped between a couple of slices of white bread. Fortunately, the options have expanded greatly. Multiple choices of whole grain breads are available, gluten-free options are easier to find as well. In addition to a selection of buns to choose from, the shelves are also full of wraps, sandwich thins, and a variety of sizes and shapes of rolls.

No matter what type of sandwich outers you select, they’re similar enough to make comparing them quite easy.

The most beneficial nutrient most breads can offer is fiber. Ideally, look for breads containing at least two grams of fiber per slice and rolls providing at least three grams per roll. The fiber found in breads is the soluble type. One of its nutritional benefits is binding with cholesterol and helping to remove it from the body, therefore lowering one’s risk of heart disease. That’s a pretty great benefit from just a simple sandwich.

Helpful hints:

— Make it whole. To boost the nutrient quotient, look for breads listing whole grains at the beginning of the ingredients list.

— Times two. Keep in mind when scanning the Nutrition Facts Panel that most breads list information based on one slice. If you’re having a sandwich, you’ll need to double everything.

— Check the salt. One variable in breads can be sodium content. If you’re trying to limit sodium intake, be sure to check that when choosing your breads and rolls.

Environmental Nutrition is the award-winning independent newsletter written by nutrition experts dedicated to providing readers up-to-date, accurate information about health and nutrition.