Bread containing iron : Hi I’ve been looking into... - Thyroid UK

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Bread containing iron

PrincessAnnie profile image
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Hi I’ve been looking into bread containing iron and bought sourdough bread as I read that this was the best for iron,I’ve just been reading that white and whole meal bread contain iron and that wholemeal flour is higher in iron.

The trouble I’m having is I can’t find any wholemeal bread that states it contains iron🤷‍♀️Does it not get listed on the nutrition section,if anyone could shed any light on this I’d be super grateful.

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PrincessAnnie
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SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

PrincessAnnie

The bread I buy is only available in certain parts of Wales, and I buy it because it has a full ingredient list and I can see it doesn't contain any soya flour like most bread does.

The ingredients list, under WHEAT FLOUR:

Wheat flour, Malted wheat flakes, Barley malt flour, Wheat protein, Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin

However, it doesn't give the nutritional values of the minerals.

If it's not on the label of any bread you're looking at, it might be worth checking the website or contacting the producer.

I imagine the amount of iron in a couple of slices of bread is extremely small when you consider that 100g liver contains approx 17mg iron and 100g bread is said to contain 2.4mg in wholewheat bread (according to whichever website you use to check).

PrincessAnnie profile image
PrincessAnnie in reply toSeasideSusie

Thank you for that,I know it won’t contain much but I’d rather eat the bread that contains some.

humanbean profile image
humanbean

I just looked at the Tesco website and picked the first loaf that came up on the brown and wholemeal bread section.

tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/p...

The ingredients list

INGREDIENTS: Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin], Water, Malted Wheat Flakes (11%), Wheat Bran, Wheat Fibre, Yeast, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Barley Malt Flour, Palm Fat, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Dextrose, Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid).

suggests that the flour used is fortified with iron. But the nutrition table further down the page doesn't mention iron or any of the other nutrients it contains.

Even if it did mention iron content I would be surprised if it had enough iron in it to make a substantial difference to your daily iron intake assuming you are only eating a couple of slices a day. If it had a high iron content it would alter the flavour of the loaf quite substantially, and I doubt customers would like that.

I'm guessing from your question that you have low iron and/or low ferritin levels. Is there a reason why you don't want to take iron supplements if you know you need them? There are a lot more options available in the UK than most people realise. See this reply I wrote to another member on the subject :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

PrincessAnnie profile image
PrincessAnnie in reply tohumanbean

It was showing in range on my last blood test but it was recommended on here to improve it,I hadn’t been eating as much red meat as I usually do so that’s just proven how that can help,I’m just trying to eat things that contain iron,even if it’s just a little.

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministrator

This is potentially of interest:

No additional nutrients are added to our wholemeal flours as they already have the required levels of nutrients.

(Worth a read of the link - not just this sentence!)

wessexmill.co.uk/acatalog/F...

I think that, in general, single substance foods do not need to display nutritional information.

PrincessAnnie profile image
PrincessAnnie in reply tohelvella

Great thank you,I read a study that said wholemeal bread actually had more iron than fortified bread.

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministrator in reply toPrincessAnnie

I suspect it is like so many nutrient content values - depends!

Probably a significant range of values.

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

As you have high TPO antibodies you probably should be trialing strictly gluten free diet anyway if not done so already

PrincessAnnie profile image
PrincessAnnie in reply toSlowDragon

I’ve tried that before and tbh it didn’t really make a difference to me🤷‍♀️If they hadn’t came down I would’ve probably gave it another go but they’ve came down since my last blood test,I’m going to wait and see what I’m like when I get my T3 and T4 in my optimal range and my vitamin levels good.

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