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Dave's Killer Bread is a popular bread brand available both online and in-store that markets itself as a healthier alternative to traditional bread. Dave's describes its products as "the best bread in the world" and "packed with whole grain nutrition" and organic ingredients.
But is Dave's Killer Bread really healthier than regular bread from the supermarket, or are they just marketing claims? Does it contain ingredients shown to improve health? Does it contain harmful additives? And how do real users assess and describe the taste and health effects?
In this article, we'll answer all these questions and more as we break down the ingredients in Dave's Killer Bread and give our thoughts on whether it's really healthy or not.
We compare the ingredients in Dave's to a popular commercial bread, choose the healthiest Dave's product, and feature a video of a nutritionist discussing the healthiness of Dave's Killer Bread.
Ingredient analysis
The ingredients for Dave's 21 Whole Grains And Seeds bread are listed above.
Instead of just wheat flour, Dave's Killer Bread offers a wide range of different grains such asorganic triticaleInorganic millet.
We consider this a healthier option given the diversity in the diethas been provenin clinical research to optimize intestinal health. Easy said,the greater the variety of whole foods you eat, the healthier your gut will be, and many Americans don't eat nearly enough different types of plant foods.
Dave's bread is rich in...fiber. Each slice provides 5 grams (g) of fiber, so a sandwich provides 10 grams.
Fiber intake is associated with better digestion, less obesity and a reduction in blood pressure, and only 5% of Americans consume an optimal amount of fiber (which is a minimum of about 25 grams for women and 30 grams for men) according to one study.medical assessmentpublished inAmerican Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.
Dave's bread also contains a few exotic ingredients not often found in supermarket bread, such asSesame seedswhich, according to a 2020, is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseasemeta study.
The only problem we have with Dave's21 Whole grains and seedsbread, and the reason we don't generally recommend it at this time is the addition of 5 gadded sugardisc, which is a relatively high amount.
It doesn't take two slices of bread to have more than 25% of the added sugar in a colain our opinion and as we documented in our review ofNutella ingredientsExcessive consumption of added sugars has been linked to a wide range of negative health effects, such as an increased risk of obesity and heart disease.
All Dave's Killer Bread products contain added cane sugar, except their Powerseed bread, which is naturally sweetened with fruit juice such asorganic apple juiceInorganic peach juiceinstead of.
We recommend Dave's Powerseed Bread, and it's the healthiest bread we've reviewed on Illuminate Health so far.
Dave's vs. just bread
The above ingredient list is from Martin's Potato Bread.
Even Dave's products that contain added sugars are, in our opinion, significantly healthier than the average American bread because they are composed entirely of whole food ingredients.
Not only does Martin's bread contain far fewer whole food ingredients, it also contains questionable additives such as the preservativecalcium propionatewhich was shown in aclinical trialUnpleasantcause "irritability, restlessness, inattention and sleep disturbance" in children.
Martinsbrood is also 'enriched', which means that it contains added vitamins such asiron sulfateInthiamine.
As we already mentioned in ourBeyond Meat ReviewsIn this article, we have not come across any clinical evidence that supplemental vitamins are beneficial for otherwise healthy individuals, and in some cases they can cause health problems.
CBCreportedin early 2022 that a wellness brand had to recall several products from the market because all added vitamins caused toxicity in some consumers.
The calories per slice are slightly higher in Dave's Killer Bread (~110 vs. ~85) than most bread brands, but Dave's also contains more fiber, so people are less likely to overconsume.
We even tried Dave's Bread
As the author of this article, I wanted to try Dave's Killer Bread for myself to share my thoughts on the taste and overall product experience.
I had two slices of Powerseed bread toasted with some eggs, veggies, and salsa for breakfast.
I love the taste of this bread. You can really taste the whole grains and seeds and it has a fuller flavor than the typical bread from the supermarket.
The size of the loaves is standard and they fit in my toaster without any problems.
The texture of this bread is where it really stands out for me. It's the perfect mix of soft and crunchy when you toast it, and the crust isn't too hard.
Overall I would rate Dave's Killer Bread 8/10.
It doesn't compare to freshly baked sourdough bread from a bakery, but this is the best grocery store bread I've had lately and I'll probably buy it again.
Are Dave's other products healthy?
Here's our take on the healthiness of other popular Dave's Killer Bread products:
Thin sliced:Contains the same ingredients as regular bread. We only recommend the Powerseed version.
Breakfast:We don't recommend any of Dave's breakfast options because of the added cane sugar, even though we find them all healthier than the average commercial alternative.
Hamburger Buns:Both have added sugar. We recommend the “21 Whole Grains” version over the “Artisan” version as it is significantly higher in fiber and contains more natural food ingredients.
Rods:We don't recommend any of these because of the added sugar, and we consider Dave's bars less healthy than Dave's bread because the added sugar content (~8g vs. ~5g) is higher.
Dietitian reviews Dave's Killer Bread
One of the most popular health videos on Dave's Killer Bread is from a nutritionist and YouTube creator named Jamie Rothermich:
Conclusion
Dave's is a brand that clearly pays attention to the health and formulation of their products.
Dave's Killer Bread is a healthy option that offers a wide variety of nutritious, whole food ingredients.
Dave's bread is high in fiber and promotes dietary diversity, which can improve gut health.
The only Dave's product that meets our high formulation standards is Dave's Powerseed Bread (both regular and thin slices) because it is free from processed sugar and is instead sweetened with a small amount of organic fruit juice.
Dave's Powerseed Breader is the healthiest bread we've reviewed yet on Illuminate Health.
We hope that in the future Dave's will use the same innovations as the Powerseed product to naturally sweeten all their products. We would recommend any of Dave's products if they use fruit juice instead of refined cane sugar.
