Are vegetable rolls healthier than our ‘regular’ bread?
From cauliflower pizza to beetroot wraps and vegetable rolls: extra vegetables are being added to all kinds of products. That sounds great, but are these vegetable products really healthier than the ‘regular’ version?
By eating healthily, getting enough sleep and exercising regularly, you keep your immune system as strong as possible. With a strong immune system, your body is better able to withstand viruses and you are less likely to get sick. Should you still become ill, you will recover more quickly. You can imagine that with the coronavirus, this is even more important than usual.
Check the ingredients list
But what is actually healthy? In this case, we look at nutritional values such as fibre and protein. And isn’t there secretly a lot of sugar in those things? Tip: the ingredients on the ingredients list are always arranged by quantity. The main ingredient is therefore listed first. This already gives you some idea of what you’re dealing with.
Vegetable rolls vs. wholemeal bread
Appie sells vegetable rolls in spinach, bell pepper, beetroot and cauliflower flavours. The main ingredient in all the rolls is white flour. All the rolls contain wholemeal wheat flour, but it only appears in third place. The supermarket’s regular wholemeal bread is made entirely from wholemeal flour.
The biggest difference is in the protein and dietary fibre: wholemeal bread contains considerably more of both. The vegetable roll consists of one-third spinach. According to AH, fresh, puréed vegetables are incorporated into the rolls. That may sound good, but the final quantity is rather disappointing. A pita bread weighs 70 grams. Of that, 35 percent, or 24.5 grams, is vegetables. So with two rolls, you consume 60 grams of vegetables, about the same amount as in 4 cherry tomatoes. The recommended daily amount of vegetables is 250 grams.
If you assess the vegetable rolls using the criteria for regular bread, they would not be included in the Wheel of Five because they contain too little fibre. They are not cheap either: the vegetable rolls cost €1.50 each. You are better off simply eating some spinach or rocket on your wholemeal sandwich. Or make this chickpea salad sandwich. It comes together in no time and is perfect for a healthy lunch.
Vegetable wraps vs. regular wraps
Supermarkets also sell alternatives to standard tortilla wraps, such as beetroot or carrot varieties. According to the packaging, the wraps consist of 45 percent vegetables and contain lots of fibre. The vegetable wraps contain slightly fewer calories, carbohydrates and fats. They also contain considerably more fibre. So these wraps are somewhat healthier, but the price is also considerably higher: you pay around €2.50 for five vegetable wraps. Regular wraps cost around €1.50 for eight.
Cauliflower pizza vs. regular pizza
A cauliflower pizza consists of white flour, which is also used to make a regular pizza base. The vegetable pizza base contains 37 percent puréed cauliflower. The cauliflower base is slightly healthier than a regular pizza base: it contains more fibre and protein, but less sugar. You pay €3.52 for two cauliflower pizza bases.
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