Why Sourdough?

 Hildy's Story

I didn't eat wheat for twelve years. It was a sad, cold existence living on "gluten free" substitutes that taste like cardboard and leave you feeling empty. Eating gluten caused extreme gastrointestinal distress and autoimmune problems (incuding alopecia) for my whole life. I finally learned the cause of my health problems was wheat. I resigned myself to the reality that wheat was something that would never be a part of my life again. 

And then one day--SOURDOUGH. 

After reading about other gluten-sensitive people tolerating sourdough, I thought maybe I could give it a try. I got a sourdough starter from a friend. It sat in my fridge for months before I was brave enough to try it. I thought it all sounded too good to be true, and that the first bite would make me sick again and send me back to the world of gluten free imitations. 

There's something special about baking bread for other people. Giving someone a freshly baked loaf that you made with your own hands and that you know is made with the very best ingredients is a great thing. And when people eat real bread (as opposed to what passes for bread in the grocery store) it's a revelation. My mission is to provide my community with real, nutritous, gut-friendly, delicious bread--whether I make that bread for them or support them in making their own. 

I love helping others bake their own bread! Baking sourdough seems like a daunting task, but it's absolutly something anyone can do. And if you're ready to start making bread, I'd be thrilled to give you some starter and share some tips. 

Nutrition and Digestibility of  Sourdough Bread

How is it that so many people these days are "allergic" to gluten when bread has been one of the pillars of nutrition throughout the world for thousands of years? And why are more and more diets and doctors saying that no one at all should be eating gluten as a part of their normal diets? 

I'm no doctor, and I'll link to some information written by people smarter than me on the topic. But here's my quick condensed version of why naturally leavened breads (aka sourdough) can be eaten by many people who cannot tolerate "normal" wheat products. Obviously (and here's my official disclaimer), if you have a gluten alergy, talk with your doctor before trying. 

Human anatomy. 

Humans don't have the physical anatomy to break down grains properly. We only have one stomach (unlike cows), and don't have a crop or a gizzard (like birds do) to help predigest, ferment, and grind grains before entering the stomach. A grain's goal in life is to stay intacted until it finds its way into moist soil. So grains and seeds have hard outer shells and are loaded with antinutrients and toxins to help them survive long enough to get into the ground. They mess with our digestive systems as part of their design. So if we want to eat them, we have to predigest them and make them safe outside of our bodies before consuming them. One of the best ways we can do this is by putting the grain through a long-fermentation process. 

What happens during fermentation? 

Sourdough bread is fermented by lactic acid bacteria and wild yeasts working together to break down and feed on the sugars and starches in the flour. They produce acids and enzymes that give sourdough its unique taste, enhances the nutritional value, and transforms the flour into its digestible and gut-frieldy form. Sourdough bread is not gluten-free, but the long, slow fermentation process predigests the indigestable amino acids proline and glutamine in the gluten (Kimbell, 187). 

So while the human body doesn't have the ability to break down many parts of the grains, the bacteria and wild yeasts that work through the sourdough process pre-digest the grains for us and make the bread more digestible and nutritious. 

What's the problem with baker's yeast? 

Baker's yeast was invented during the industrial revolution. Before baker's yeast, all leavened breads were leavened with sourdough culture. Baker's yeast divorces the yeast from the bacteria. So while you get a very fast rise in the dough, you lose the benefit of the bacteria breaking down and predigesting the grains, resulting in a less nutritious, less flavorfull, and hard to digest bread. Your body has to deal with all of the gluten, phytic acid, and other antinutrients in the grains that the sourdough's bacteria and wild yeasts would have otherwise taken care of. Personally, I can eat soudough breads, but cannot tolerate yeasted breads.

Other junk: 

In addition to yeasted breads lacking the benefits of long fermentation, most of them are filled with other junk to make up for their deficiencies. This is what passes for "bread" these days in grocery stores:

Not only does this bread lack the benefits provided by fermenting the grains, it's full of a bunch of stuff I'm not willing to feed my family. And honestly, it doesn't taste very good. We've been duped into thinking this is what bread is, and it's sad. Hildy's classic loaf contains three ingredients: Flour, water, and salt. That's it! And my loaves with other ingredients (aka "enrichments"--butter, olive oil, fruits, nuts, etc.) are the best ingredients you can find. I really care that my family eats nutritious bread, and extend that care to my community that buys my bread. 

Conclusion

I love bread. With every new loaf I make, I am so thankful for this nutritious and satisfying gift. For years, I thought bread was unhealthy, and the kind of bread I was eating was, in fact, unhealthy and making me sick. I can't begin to express the joy I have in being able to bake for my family and friends and being able to eat bread myself. I hope you'll allow me to share that joy with you, and bake you a loaf of sourdough bread! 

Sources 

Kimbell, Vanessa. The Sourdough School. Hachette Book Group, 2018. 

Schindler, Bill. Eat Like a Human. Little, Brown Spark (Hachette Book Group), 2021. 

Arora, K., Ameur, H., Polo, A., Di Cagno, R., Rizzello, C. G., & Gobbetti, M. (2021). "Thirty Years of Knowledge on Sourdough Fermentation: A Systematic Review." Trends in Food Science & Technology, 108, 71–83. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224420307202?via%3Dihub