Recognising wholegrain bread: what to look for in the shop?

General information, not medical advice.

Wholegrain bread, oatmeal, brown rice and wholegrain pasta belong, according to the Flemish Institute Gezond Leven, in the dark-green zone of the food triangle, their scheme for healthy eating. They contain among other things dietary fibre and vitamins such as B1, B2 and B3, plus minerals such as iron. The Superior Health Council, the scientific advisory body of the Belgian government, put whole grains at number one in 2025: eat at least 125 grams of wholegrain products a day. That is a minimum.

Few people reach those 125 grams

According to Gezond Leven, only 2 per cent of Flemish people eat more than 125 grams of whole grain a day. If you count half-wholegrain products (partly wholegrain) and multigrain products, 13 per cent exceed that limit. About 4 per cent never eat wholegrain products. Consumption rises with age. For pasta and rice, Flemish people still often choose the white variant, while brown bread and wholegrain breakfast cereals are already more common. Gezond Leven does not name a survey or year for those figures on the page.

Concrete slices depend on the weight of your loaf. Gezond Leven advises choosing whole grains or potatoes at every main meal, so you gradually get closer to those 125 grams.

Brown is not automatically wholegrain

Dark bread sometimes gets malt flour or caramelised sugar for colour, without more fibre. Gezond Leven advises choosing bread of which more than half is whole grains. Check the label or ask your baker. Good choices include wholegrain bread, whole wheat bread and rye bread. Brown bread and multigrain bread only belong with the preference if they contain more than half wholemeal flour.

Spelt bread is like wheat bread: choose the wholegrain version there too. Breakfast biscuits are, according to Gezond Leven, not a full breakfast: they contain a lot of sugar and fat and few vitamins and minerals, even if they are partly made from whole grains.

What whole grains do

Gezond Leven describes a favourable effect on blood pressure and LDL cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol) and a lower risk of heart and vessel disease, bowel cancer and type 2 diabetes. That summary comes from their food page, not directly from the underlying studies. Fibre also supports digestion and gives a longer feeling of fullness.

White flour is sifted flour and therefore contains far fewer nutrients than wholemeal flour. The higher the degree of processing of grain products, the greater the environmental impact according to Gezond Leven. Lightly processed whole grains are therefore good for your health and for the environment.

Practical through the week

You do not have to change everything at once. Start with the bread at breakfast or lunch, and switch pasta or rice later.

Replace white bread step by step with wholegrain bread, and do the same with pasta and rice. Wholegrain bread costs, according to Gezond Leven, as much as white bread and fills you better. Freeze slices in portions, so you throw less away. Combine a sandwich with something protein-rich, such as eggs.

When to see a doctor?

If you have digestive complaints, do not change your diet yourself: first talk to your doctor or dietitian. With coeliac disease or a wheat allergy, wholegrain wheat bread is usually not suitable; then follow the advice of your doctor or dietitian.

Sources

• Vlaams Instituut Gezond Leven. Waarom zijn volle granen zo gezond? (Brood, volkoren graanproducten en aardappelen). gezondleven.be, accessed 15 October 2026.
• Vlaams Instituut Gezond Leven. Aanbevelingen van de Hoge gezondheidsraad met focus op voedingsmiddelen. gezondleven.be, 2025.
• Superior Health Council. Voedingsaanbevelingen voor de Belgische bevolking – 2025. Advice no. 9805-9807, 2025.