Simply Nature Graintastic Organic Bread

Last Updated on February 27, 2024

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Of late, I’ve been trying to upgrade my bread game.

It is generally understood that most “white” and “wheat” sandwich bread isn’t all that great for you. Many breads are refined, where parts of the grain are stripped out. While refining helps with texture and shelf life, it also results in several key elements of bread — protein, fiber, and certain vitamins and minerals — being removed with those grain components. While some of those healthy elements are often added back, not all of them are, fiber in particular.

Research indicates that whole grains are the superior option in terms of health. There is a body of research showing that whole grains may help with cholesterol, insulin, blood pressure, and hunger, while also reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. The larger percentage of your grains that are whole grains, the better.

To be sure, I’ve thought about it before. For years, I’ve eaten Aldi’s whole grain white bread, which boasts having 8 grams of whole grains per serving. What I’ve learned, though, is that different products mean different things when it comes to whole grain. For instance, many breads claim to be whole grain but have refined grain as the first ingredient, only mixing a percentage of whole grains into the mix. One Harvard study concluded that the most important factor in evaluating bread’s health value is the carbohydrate-to-fiber ratio, which should ideally be less than 10:1. (To calculate the ratio of carbs to fiber, just divide the number of grams of carbs by the number of grams of fiber. The smaller, the better.)

For all those reasons, I decided to dig deeper into some possible whole grain Aldi bread options. I decided to test out one that all but screams whole grains.

Simply Nature Graintastic Organic Bread is an Aldi Regular Buy, which means you can find it in stores all the time. It comes in a mixed case with Simply Nature Seedtastic Organic Bread.

The bread comes in a 27-ounce loaf. At the time of this post, the bread costs $4.69. That comes out to 17.3 cents an ounce. For comparison, Dave’s Killer 21 Whole Grain Organic Loaf is 22.1 cents an ounce at Walmart. If the packaging is any indication, the Aldi bread looks like an attempt at an imitation of Dave’s Killer bread … and if organic is important to you, it is significantly less expensive than Dave’s. (If organic is not as important to you, Pepperidge Farm sells a non-organic 15-grain whole grain loaf for 16 cents an ounce at Walmart.)

Side note: Aldi also sells a thin-sliced version of this bread that comes in a 20.4-ounce loaf and costs $3.69, or about 18 cents an ounce.

Aldi’s Graintastic bread packaging says it is USDA organic and is certified non-GMO. The package says it is a product of Canada.

Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

The ingredients list includes organic whole wheat, water, organic cane sugar, and a number of organic grains and seeds, including (but not limited to) sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, oats, barley, and rye. There are two listed allergens: wheat and sesame.

Nutritionally, each 45-gram slice of bread has 110 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, and 115 milligrams of sodium. Each slice also has 5 grams of protein and small amounts of calcium, iron, and potassium. For comparison, Dave’s Killer bread is the same in calories (110), the same in fat (1.5 grams), higher in sodium (170 milligrams), identical in protein (5 grams), and similar in vitamins and minerals.

The carbohydrate listing on the bag deserves a little extra attention. Each slice has 21 grams of whole grain, which translates to 21 grams of carbohydrates. The bread also has 4 grams of dietary fiber and 4 grams of total sugar, with 3 grams of that sugar being added. The carbohydrate-to-fiber ratio is 5.25:1, which is very good given the research suggestion of less than 10:1. For comparison, Aldi whole grain white bread has a ratio of 13:1, Pepperidge Farm non-organic 15 grain bread has a ratio of 6.3:1, and Dave’s Killer bread sports a ratio of 4.4:1. While Dave’s Killer bread comes out better in this way, the Aldi Graintastic bread does better than the other breads we compared it to.

We liked this bread. It’s got a good flavor to it and does well both as a bread and as toast. It’s not as smooth as a more refined bread, but that texture accounts for the whole grains and the additional fiber, which is what makes it healthier as a bread option. We tried it on sandwiches and toast and were suitably impressed.

The Verdict:

If you’re looking to improve your whole grain intake, you could do a lot worse than Simply Nature Graintastic Organic Bread. It’s comparable to the popular Dave’s Killer Organic bread, and at a lower cost than Dave’s. It’s got a good carbohydrate-to-fiber ratio, all-organic ingredients, and a taste that we like. And if you need a more conventional thin-sliced version, Aldi sells that, too. I’d say it’s likely we will buy this bread again.