5 Low Calorie Breads You Can Buy
At around 60 calories per slice, these are the healthiest low calorie breads you can buy.
Lower calorie breads are popping up on supermarket shelves. However, not all low-cal breads are good for you. Find out what low calorie bread really means, how to select lower calorie breads, and some of our favorite loaves to buy now.
What Is Low Calorie Bread?
The term “low calorie” is defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as 40 calories or less per reference amount customarily consumed — in layman's terms low calorie means 40 calories or less per serving. For most brads on the market, packaging indicates that 1 slice is a serving.
Keep in mind, low calorie bread does not automatically mean the bread is low carb. When the nutrition facts panel on bread indicates that it is low in calories, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily low in carbs. The same is true if the bread is low in carbs; that doesn’t mean that the bread is low in calories. When looking for low calorie bread, always read the label to make sure you’re getting what you’re looking for.
How to Choose Healthy Lower Calorie Bread
A typical slice of store-brought bread has about 100 to 110 calories. It’s tough to find low calorie bread that’s 40 calories or less per slice, so it's reasonable to opt for a lower calorie bread with around 60 calories per slice.
The 2020-2025 dietary guidelines for Americans recommend making half your grains whole. This means that you should opt for 100% whole grain bread to get more fiber in your diet. Fiber is one of four under-consumed nutrients in the American diet.
Taste is certainly something you should consider when purchasing lower calorie breads. Your best bet is to give several brands a try to see which you like best. You can even rotate between several favorites.
5 Lower Calorie Breads to Try
Below are five lower calorie breads that we love. Give one or all a try!
This line of delicious, thinner slices of bread contains 70 calories, 3 grams protein, and 2 to 3 grams fiber. The breads are made with whole grains and those with seeds have ALA omega-3s. The thin-sliced bread is available in 21 Whole Grains and Seeds, Good Seed, White Bread Done Right, Powerseed, 100% Whole Wheat, and Sprouted Whole Grain.
Rudi’s Rocky Mountain Bakery has a line of four organic thin-sliced breads that taste fantastic. Each slice contains 55 calories and about 2 grams of protein. Flavors include 100% Whole Wheat, Rocky Mountain Sourdough, Country Morning White, and Honey Sweet 100% Whole Wheat. All of Rudi’s products are free of artificial ingredients, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, trans fat, and GMOs.
Nature’s Own carries Lite Honey Wheat and Lite 100% Whole Grain breads that provide 40 calories per slice. The Lite 100% Whole Grain option has 11 grams of whole grain per slice and is a good source of fiber. It is also sugar-free with no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors and no trans fat.
These low calorie, low carb bread found in white, wheat, and Italian are 40 calories per slice. Fiber is added as an ingredient, which ups the fiber count at 7 grams per slice and also decreases the net carbs to about 6 grams per slice (net carbs is calculated by subtracting the grams of fiber from grams of total carbs).
Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, is a registered dietitian and consultant who specializes in food safety and culinary nutrition. She is the author of The Greek Yogurt Kitchen: More Than 130 Delicious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Day.
*This article was written and/or reviewed by an independent registered dietitian nutritionist.
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