In an effort to lead a healthy life and avoid lifestyle diseases, we are all looking for healthier foods to consume.
so now, it's lunchtime and you want a quick fix something healthy, a sandwich will do, how about a tortilla or a wrap? Which is healthier and has more nutritional benefits?
Well, let's help you on whether to get the tortilla, bread, wrap, roti or pita.
Tortilla vs Bread
The two are more or less the same. They are both made from grain, either corn or wheat and the nutrients inside them are almost similar. But some tortillas are made from flour and added fat for easier handling and rolling.
If you are looking for flour tortilla vs bread, I can assure you that these have a slight difference between them. Going with any of those will result in almost the same.
Nutritional Facts
One slice of bread is the same size as a 6" diameter tortilla. The bread has 66 calories while the tortilla has 104, bread contains 1 gram of fat per slice while the tortilla contains 2 grams and the tortilla has a total of 18 grams of carbohydrates while a slice of bread contains 12 grams of the same.
This is the average of most types of bread available and both the grain-based and flour tortilla.
Bread vs Wrap
As we have seen bread is solely from grain. The wrap is made from highly processed flour, some have hydrogenated fats or hydrogenated soybean oil which are both to be highly avoided if you are aiming for a healthy diet. We also have a few wraps that are made from wheat.
Nutritional Facts
Here is where it gets interesting, the comparison of the two will entail two slices of bread against one wrap. To be exact, 56 grams of Bread vs 56 grams of wrap.
The wrap will give you 175 calories and 191 milligrams of sodium while the two slices of bread contain 140 calories and 132 milligrams of sodium. With 3.9 grams of fat contained in the wrap, the bread only has 2.1 grams of fat and a carbohydrate rating of 23 grams while the wrap has 30.2 grams of carbs.
Calories in a Wrap vs Bread
To be honest, there is no exact number since we can't ensure all ingredients and process is handled correctly. But we can provide you with the best possible standard measurement for making the comparison.
See the Table below to understand the comparison in a real quick time. The bread we used here is a whole wheat one, so corn and flour bread can differ with this comparison.
| Wrap (56g) | bread (56g) |
|---|---|---|
Calories | 175 | 140 |
Protein | 4.8 g | 8 g |
Carbohydrate | 30.2 g | 23 g |
Fat | 3.9 g | 2 g |
Sodium | 191 mg (6" wrap) | 132 mg |
Potassium | 90 mg | 69.44 mg |
*These number can change with the difference of size, content, ingredients, and process of making.
Pita vs Tortilla
Pita is baked using wheat flour. They are slightly leavened so that if one wishes they can cut it and stuff it. Compare to tortillas they are much more healthier.
Nutritional Facts
The pita though looking way bigger than the tortilla it's surprisingly healthier. It contains 85 calories while the tortilla has 104, the amount of fat in a pita is less than 1 gram while the tortilla has slightly more than 2 grams of fat for the same amount of serving.
Tortilla vs Roti
The two are the most similar and can be easily swapped one for the other. Though the similarities, their ingredients and method of preparation are slightly different.
The tortilla whether wheat or flour-based it requires lard or shortening to be added to the mixture so as to achieve the smooth texture, while for the roti while mixing you either use water or oil.
Nutritional Facts
The roti is a little bit fatty than the tortilla depending on its method of preparation. The latter has a fat content of slightly more than 2 grams while the Roti has 4.5 grams of fat. A calorie content of 160 is found in the Roti while the tortilla has a calorie score of 104. The tortilla has 26 grams of carbs while the tortilla has 18 grams for roughly the same size.
Final Verdict
Looking at all the different bread alternatives you get to see that bread is not as evil as we have been made to believe over the years.
Of the four, the wrap is the most unhealthy of all due to its high-fat content and high sodium levels. The Pita is the healthiest of them all followed by bread, whole wheat bread that is.
So, what about tortilla vs wraps? Guess what! It's the tortilla who wins.
Hello William, Really thankful to you for your in-depth research on tortilla and bread. I was looking for this type of guide a few times earlier this year but not found any. This time I ended up here in your site.
Good Luck and Keep updating us.
Hi Davis,
It’s a great pleasure hearing from you. Really inspiring words.
Thank you for this nice content. I think the bread and the tortilla are not very different from each other as we can see that they are made with the same ingredient. What do you say, William?
I agree with you Kelvin.
Instead of the same ingredients, there are some key differences also, which I’ve already mentioned in the article.