Sourdough Bread for Tomorrow

For some of us, bread is an integral part of our diet and so it should be chosen carefully. There are quite a few options out there, as you can see on the supermarket shelves. It is not always easy to distinguish between what is good and what is not. This is why today we invite you to take a little tour of the breads. We will see that sourdough bread is what brings the most benefits. First of all, I would like to use a nutritional table published on healthline.com where three types of bread are presented:

	White	Wholegrain	Sourdough
Portion	25 gr.	33 gr.	32 gr.
Calories	67	92	93
Total fat	1 gr.	2 gr.	0.6 gr.
Carbs	13 gr.	17 gr.	18 gr.
Proteins	2 gr.	3 gr.	4 gr.
Fibers	0.6 gr.	2 gr.	1 gr.
Thiamine	8% RDI	7% RDI	9% RDI
Folate	7% RDI	5% RDI	12% RDI
Sodium	7% RDI	5% RDI	9% RDI
Manganese	6% RDI	31% RDI	8% RDI
Selenium	6% RDI	18% RDI	12% RDI
Riboflavine	5% RDI	4% RDI	5% RDI
Niacin	5% RDI	7% RDI	8% RDI
Iron	5% RDI	6% RDI	6% RDI

RDI: Recommended Daily Intake

You can clearly see all the components of bread, and especially the differences depending on the type of bread.

If you are reading this blog, chances are you are already consuming brown bread. Otherwise, with this table you will know that it is time for a change … maybe even tomorrow!

The Antinutrients

Antinutrients in grains (e.g. wheat) block the assimilation of minerals. Phytic acid (an example of an antinutrient) is a molecule that attaches to zinc, iron, and calcium to prevent absorption.

Why ? A grain, like any other living organism, does not want to be eaten. It wants to continue to reproduce and make other seeds… So a defense mechanism is created: antinutrients (in the grains). This is explained in the Metabolism and Nutrition course.

Whole wheat bread contains the most antinutrients, since it normally still has its grain intact. In the case of white bread, the grain has been pulverized, which is why it contains less good nutrients. So how do we get the nutrients without the antinutrients? Sourdough bread seems to be the best solution.

How To Make Sourdough?

Unlike brown or white bread, sourdough bread was made from a yeast … sourdough (also called starter). It is created from yeast and bacteria growing inside a dough made from flour and water.

What difference does that make? Wild yeast and lactobacilli in the starter neutralize the phytic acid we discussed above. The effects of phytic acid are therefore neutralized and the good nutrients can be digested more easily.

As seen in the table, sourdough bread has a low glycemic index and can help keep your blood sugar and insulin levels lower, thereby preventing insulin resistance and diabetes.

In addition, it contains probiotics, as by the way … sauerkraut, miso soup and kefir also do. Thus, (and also thanks to the prebiotics it contains), sourdough is an excellent choice for healing and maintaining the intestinal microbiota. The microbiota, one of our favorite subject here at the AMCC, includes good bacteria, viruses and parasites of the intestinal organs.

See also our Health Education course, to learn more about intestinal fermentation.

In fact, if you know how to go about making bread at home you only have to change the fermentation process, the yeast. However, choose whole wheat flour, to get all the good vitamins and minerals : zinc, potassium, phosphate and magnesium … Rye flour is also a good option.

We have made the experience of homemade sourdough bread for you.

Follow-up: a Personal Experience

After writing on the subject, I wanted to experience it for myself. You can make this famous sourdough bread at home, right? It turns out that my neighbor had the recipe, precisely! I share it with you here on our blog (you’ll see it’s pretty simple):

1 cup of flour
1 cup of water.
Let sit on the counter for 6 days, mix 3 times a day.

Be careful: every two days, add 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of flour to the mixture mentioned.

The result was surprising! With the usual homemade bread recipe, you simply replace the store yeast with the prepared yeast and it’s delicious! The kids also loved it! It also seems to me that the bread lasts longer. And I have yeast in the fridge for another year. Indeed, it is necessary to put back 1 glass of water and 1 glass of flour when it is taken for its recipe. Leave it in the fridge for the next use.