If you are like Millions of Americans that are avoiding eating bread for one reason or another, maybe after reading this blog you might give bread a second chance. I think most people love bread in one form or another, yet the current media perception is that most people should not include it in their diet. I personally ate tons of bread in the form of bagels, muffins, pasta, etc… growing up with no ill effects. As I got older I started to notice that many forms of “bread” caused me to feel really bloated. Many people develop gluten intolerance as they get older and that could be what my problem was.
In March,2017 I wrote a blog about including fermented food in your diet: https://www.performancehealthcenter.com/time-get-pickled/
Recently a good friend of mine suggested I try some “slow rise” bread. He told me that it was much easier for him to digest. I have now become a happy bread eater again. This time I’m sticking to bread that has been made the “old fashioned” way. This “old way” actually allows the bread to ferment some, which for many people makes all the difference in the world as to how their body digests it.
This article below explains some of the health benefits of eating slow rise bread.
In the long slow fermentation that produces sourdough bread, important nutrients such as iron, zinc and magnesium, antioxidants, folic acid and other B vitamins become easier for our bodies to absorb. Diabetics should note that sourdough produces a lower surge in blood sugar than any other bread: in a 2008 study published in Acta Diabetologica, subjects with impaired glucose tolerance were fed either sourdough or ordinary bread: the sourdough bread produced a significantly lower glucose and insulin response. In the sourdough process, moreover, gluten is broken down and rendered virtually harmless. In one small Italian study, published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, in January 2011, coeliac patients fed sourdough bread for 60 days had no clinical complaints, and their biopsies showed no changes in the intestinal lining.
And what’s beyond doubt is that when people switch from supermarket to sourdough bread, they’re often delighted to find they can eat it without bloated belly discomfort. “We get people coming in who say ‘we can eat your bread without any problem unlike ordinary bread which just blows us up”, says Alastair Ferguson, of Brighton’s Real Patisserie, who sells his own sourdough all over the city.
You may ask why isn’t all bread made this way? The answer is in the word “slow”, slow rise bread takes longer to make. In our fast-paced world… who has time to wait for bread to rise all night? That is where quick-acting yeast came in – oh yes, the big companies are always looking for short cuts. Mass production is more important to them than how your belly feels after eating their bread. They can make a lot more bread in the same amount of time, and sell it cheaper- since it is less labor intensive.
Personally, I think it is worth a few more pennies to eat something that I can digest more easily, and I also think it tastes better. Where can you get some? Well, there is a terrific bakery in West Concord Massachusetts called Nashoba Brook Bakery on the shores of the Nashoba Brook. Don’t want to drive out there? Well, Whole Foods in Framingham sells Nashoba Brook Bakery slow rise bread. Just look for it adjacent to the instore bakery.
Here is a link to Nashoba Brook Bakery’s web site: http://slowrise.com/
Give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised at how good it tastes, and more importantly, how good you feel after eating it.
If you have any questions about this blog or your health in general, please feel free to contact me at: [email protected]