The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Sourdough & digestive health

bread10's picture
bread10

Sourdough & digestive health

Hello,

 

I regularly make Spelt Sourdough bread and have been aware of the basics of how and why sourdough is a beneficial for better absorption and digestive health. However as someone with a compromised digestive system, I would like to have a greater understanding of how the different methods affect the results and make sure my weekly loaf is the most digestible that it can be.

I usually make one spelt loaf a week with the following recipe:

(Total ingredients)

100% White Spet (600g)

60% Water (350g)

2 % Salt

 

Leaven is 25% of four:

150g white spelt

75g water (50%)

7.5g Sourdough Culture (5%)

 

As you can see I only use a very small amount of culture to make my leaven and leave this at room temperature for 18-24 hours.

(Loaf - Ferment 1.5-2 hours > Divide > Proof 1.5-2 hours)

 

I'm interested to know how this approach affects the levels of bacteria/fermentation versus yeast?

and how does this method (in regard to digestibility) compare with other methods such as dough back method (I think that is the terminology) which uses larger amounts of culture?

 

I think I read somewhere that a loaf should ferment/rise for a total of atleast 6 hours to achieve optimal digestion. However I am aware that Spelt flour can not tolerate as long a ferment/rise as other wheat. My recipe is 1.5-2 hours ferment, divide and rise for further 1.5-2 hours and says not to go over this time as it begins to degrade. Is this long enough to achieve optimal digestibility?

In other recipe books I notice longer ferment/rise times, but I'm not sure if this is due to differences in flour or method. 

 

Also does sourdough fermentation completely eliminate the need to soak/sprout grain (to remove anti-nutrients such as phytates) prior to making flour? Can I get additional benefit from doing both?

 

I'm sure there are other things I may have missed, so any information, advice etc welcome.

Look forward to hearing from you - Thanks!

 

fancy4baking's picture
fancy4baking

In fact i noticed great improvement in digestion ever since i started baking with sourdough. But on the other hand, there was a negative thing i've also seen with my mom who is diabetic. After eating whole wheat bread made with sourdough her blood sugar used to spike high. Then i read a brief article about this matter from a research conducted by Prof. Terry Graham from the Canadian Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences. Then i decided to convert from whole wheat to whole grain wheat which is available in abundance and supreme quality where in live. Surprisingly results changed quite drastically. Mom ate bread baked with whole grain wheat and sourdough and the results were as follow:

1- Blood sugar didn't rise as much as it used to do with whole wheat flour, and remained relatively balanced throughout the day. Also her urge for lunch relatively rich decreased for the favor of having very well balanced lunch, which supported her blood sugar level throughout the day.

2- As for digestibility, mom's chronice colon disturbances gradually decreased in recurrences and in severity, till they have become quite rare. Her nutritonist doctor attributed this to consumption of a wide range of yeasts and positive bacteria that sourdough accumulate, which help in boosting digestion considerably ultimately demenishing colon disturbances to rare occurance.

If you are interested you can refer to the brief report published by Prof. Terry Graham here

http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2008/07/sourdough_bread.html

pmccool's picture
pmccool

What's the difference between whole wheat and whole grain wheat?

Paul

fancy4baking's picture
fancy4baking

Whole Wheat flour is white flour mixed with bran but with the germ removed. In some countries it is accepted to call Whole Wheat any kind of flour even if the germ is removed to a certain rate...i.e: in Canada if flour is made from wheat with 70% germ removed it is permitted to call the flour Whole Wheat. But definitely it is not Whole Germ, where the whole thing is milled withtou removal of anything of the germ.

 

linder's picture
linder

Hi all,

Alot of what is discussed here has been touted by the Weston A. Price Foundation with regard to the increased digestiblity of whole grains after overnight soaking or using sourdoughs.  It's interesting from a number of perspectives, health and well being.

Since using my own home milled whole wheat flour and sourdoughs, I notice that I am not eating as much and don't have the food cravings I do when using more conventional products.  Maybe it's just my imagination, but I'll keep on doing what I'm doing because it seems to give me more nutritious breads.

Linda

jcking's picture
jcking

One reason people eat and snack more is because their body is telling them there's not much good stuff in the junky food you're feeding me I need more. Another thing I find is some people don't drink enough water, coffee and soda don't count they're dirty water. Water flushes the system, good for kidney health, and helps move food thru the system. We need to communicate with our bodies and discover what it needs. Like home made bread, the more whole the better.

Jim

 

grind's picture
grind

Recently I've been reading up on sourdough and celiac disease.  Interesting stuff from the digestibility of wheat point of view.

maggie664's picture
maggie664

I'm interested to know whether or how sour dough, using all purpose white flour, changes its GI value. Thanks.

Moya Gray's picture
Moya Gray

I found this refernce for the GI of sourdough and rye breads

 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/291111-the-best-breads-for-a-low-glycemic-diet/

maggie664's picture
maggie664

Thank you for reference Moya. So white four sour dough has just made the grade with a GI of 54!! Now to discover the food chemistry and physiology behind this. Am interested because my husband's blood sugar levels are border-line and we are using white flour sour dough GI as a marker.