European flour vs. North American flour

Hi, Leyla, And Welcome to TFL.

Are you referring to the mass produced commercial cotton like bread? or you are actually eating real bread from artisan bakeries? It could be that the bakery you are buying bread from uses bleached flour, which is totally unhealthy.. and does cause bloating. Chemical additives such as preservatives, enzymes.. and emulsifiers also cause bloating for many.

Source of flour has nothing to do with it, As north american flours are renown for their world class quality, especially for breads. Rather, it is the type of bread you are eating. Properly made, white breads are flavorful, and cause no indigestion. Try Whole Meal breads. Do you bake at Home..?

Khalid, can you elaborate on the bloating effect of enzymes and emulsifiers? I never heard of it.

I'am a firm believer of the detrimental long term, and cumulative  effects that chemical additives have on our digestion systems. Though i'am an amateur when it comes to baking science, i know that Enzymes aren't harmful by what they are, but rather with what they cause.. again, on the long term. The long term harmful effects of Sucrose (refined Sugar) on our body has been realized through the excessive type 2 diabetes, along with Cancer cases that humanity has been plagued with. Similarly, Adding enzymes that help release different sugars into the dough, leaves multiple unfermented sugars that will cause bloating as fermentation will continue in the bowl system. Leyla mentioned the bloating effect in recent years, i say its the cumulative effects of years of inferior breads consumption appearing nowadays. I'am talking a bout a whole generation brought up on such breads.

Emulsifiers, as i understand, are fat binding chemicals that help retain fat molecules into the structure of a solution, thereby enhancing its integrity. In a dough, emulsifiers retain fat molecules.. such as in milk or oil and helps keep them integrated into the structure of the dough, thereby strengthening and softening the dough. i don't know of the harmful effects, if any, of emulsifiers such as lecithin, but i wouldn't want them in a daily consumed food, such as bread.

As Khalid, not sure what sort of bread Leyla is talking about, but if it's mass-produced bread,  on top of those additives Khalid mentioned about and its cumulative effect, the method they use to produce them is another huge culprit; the biggest reason why so many kids (and some adults) suffer from wheat allergy, gluten intolerance, etc, etc. is because of this modern breadmaking technique of very short fermentation process.  I'm not articulate enough to explain it myself, so here's an article which explains about it.

Chorleywood Industrial Bread Making

It's quite frightening.....

Hi leyla,

It is the gliadin fraction which causes all the problems in the gut which can lead to coeliac diesease.   This is one half of the component proteins which combine to form gluten during dough mixing.

As the others have pointed out above, the most likely source of your problems is industrially-produced bread which utilises high yeast quantities and extremely short fermentation time.   Long fermentation is widely considered to aid digestibility of the bread.   For sourdough eaters, the news is even better, as the long fermentation of the wild yeasts and the bacterial activity helps to break down the gliadin fraction and thereby alleviate much of the suffering to those who suffer gluten intolerance problems.

If you really feel the problem stems from the flour, then you need to find a source of local flour milled from traditional and untampered wheats.   Canada is a very big place, but if you look out for posts by Franko and breadsong you will note that both these TFL regulars come from Vancouver Island and have traced a supply of Red Fife wheatflour.   You could chase that up.   However, I would advise the more important factors are the breadmaking methods, not the choice of flour.

Best wishes

Andy

will help aid digestion.  Try soaking the flour, combining the flour and water until mixed and let it sit from 8 to 24 hours before adding yeast and other ingredients.  This makes a much more agreeable bread.  

On the other hand, it is known that grain carbohydrates do ferment in the intestines and contribute to gas and bloating.  If you are on a low carb diet (less that 50 grams of carbohydrate a day) any increase in carbohydrate consumption leads to gas, bloating and being somewhat miserable.  :)

Mini

Hi:

Another issue that gets over looked is the fact that we are not cooking our bread enough.  The Germans are known for their dark, crusted breads.  All you have to do is look at your local farmer's market or bakery and you will see loaves that are nearly white.  Flour must be cooked thoroughly to be digestable.  I've been served pastry in good restaurants where the crust is nearly raw.  We have become accustomed to mushy, pasty breads and pastries and our digestive systems are paying for it.  Just say no to undercooked baked goods and your tummy will thank you.

Yep, the issue is almost certainly how the bread is made, rather than what flour it's made from. North American and European wheats mostly trace their ancestry back to the very same seeds; the results of course differ somewhat because of climate, but not all that much genetic divergence has occurred in the last century or two. (In fact the origin legend of the old Canadian "Red Fife" strain is: "...a load of wheat grown in Ukraine was on a ship in the Glasgow harbour. A friend of Farmer Fife dropped his hat into the red-coloured wheat, collecting a few seeds in the hatband, which he then shipped off to Farmer Fife.")

The other likely possibility is the remembered European breads were frequently made from some non-wheat grain  ...particularly rye, which isn't as common in North America. (It's quite possible you've always been a bit sensitive to wheat, but never realized it when you were living in Europe because the diet there didn't include enough of it -especially underbaked and highly yeasted- to cause a problem:-)

(Unfortunately "pumpernickel" is seen by all too many North American bakers as an excuse to do dastardly things with additives and even food coloring, and is seldom even remotely like the remembered European breads with the same name. It's one of those things I suggest not buying commercially unless you can "see it being made". There are plenty of good recipes for baking your own good pumpernickel though -- check out especially Jeffrey Hamelman's recipe for 'Horst Bandel Pumpernickel' in his "Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes".)

I'm not sure if this matters, but Canadian bread flour is really high in gluten percentage, American bread flour supposedly has the same percentage gluten as Canadian AP flour. Wheat grown north has more gluten. Not sure about European flour but I'm guessing it's lower than Canadian. So.. maybe you are slightly sensitive? I don't know, just putting that info out there! :)