Study: Sourdough Consumption Produces Worse Symptoms

[lvysaur]

Pilot Study: Comparison of Sourdough Wheat Bread and Yeast-Fermented Wheat Bread in Individuals with Wheat Sensitivity and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

There were significantly more feelings of tiredness, joint symptoms, and decreased alertness when the participants ate the sourdough bread (p ≤ 0.03), but these results should be interpreted with caution. Our novel finding was that sourdough baking reduces the quantities of both ATIs and FODMAPs found in wheat. Nonetheless, the sourdough bread was not tolerated better than the yeast-fermented bread.

Found this interesting. Theoretically sourdough should have less gluten and fructan problems, and the study even analyzed the FODMAP content and it was lower.

Could the symptoms be due to lactic acid buildup in the bread? Those symptoms are exactly what I get when I eat yogurt.

 

[SOMO]

I believe the study is incorrect and anecdotal experience from many people online indicates that sourdough is a better choice than regular wheat bread.

But let's play devil's advocate and assume that the pilot study is correct and that Sourdough is worse for you than wheat bread. My speculation as to why this might be is as follows:

1. Could be the yeast itself - Saccharomyces Cerivisae is an opportunistic pathogen.
If people with weak constitutions (such as celiacs and IBS sufferers) consume S. Cerivisiae, there is a good chance this organism would become pathogenic.

2. Yeast can induce Auto-brewery syndrome. The yeast produces ethanol and this could explain the tiredness/lack of alertness.

3. Even in healthy people, S. Cerivisiae can be problematic - however, this is only an issue with uncooked yeast. Is it possible the bread in this pilot study was not cooked long enough or at a high enough temperature?

4. Introducing more yeast into the body could decrease utilization of glucose from starch and sucrose - feeding the Yeast instead of the human host.

5. Yeast cell walls are made of Beta-Glucan which may activate TLR4.

6. Increased absorption/release of Gluteomorphin? Pre-digestion of the fibrous cell wall in grains may allow more gluten to be absorbed, whereas unfermented whole grain wheat may be "harder to digest" - reducing the release of gluteomorphins into the intestinal tract.



Some weaknesses of this pilot study
1. The questionnaire was likely generic and the questions likely could not isolate some symptoms being caused by the bread.

We did not formally validate the questionnaire with respect to the 17 different symptoms but it follows the practice and concept described by Francis et al. [25] and has been used previously [7,8,17].

2. The study involved a food diary, and self-reported food-diary dietary studies are notoriously unreliable because participants forget, under-estimate/over-estimate exaggerate and lie.

3.. The food diary had them mark everytime they had a slice of bread. What if you only ate half a slice of bread - do you still mark it?

4. The participants were "instructed" to consume a Gluten Free Diet besides these pieces of bread. Did they adhere to this or did they consume gluten? Eating gluten-free is difficult and I can imagine some of the participants "cheated".

5. What was the rest of their diet like?

6. Was there vegetable oil, Reduced Iron, Aluminum baking poweder or Bromine in the bread?



was not built to

 

[jb116]

I'd also ask if there was an actual culture used. In other words was it actual sourdough?? I've noticed several times , such as from Whole Foods, a bread labelled sourdough but in terms of preparation or ingredients there was no indication that it was truly sourdough.

 

[SOMO]

I'd also ask if there was an actual culture used. In other words was it actual sourdough?? I've noticed several times , such as from Whole Foods, a bread labelled sourdough but in terms of preparation or ingredients there was no indication that it was truly sourdough.

In this study yes, they used bacteria and yeast. But in the grocery store, who knows?

I think if cultures are added before baking, food manufacturers do not have to list it on the label.

I know that many grocery stores have "Sour Pickles" which are basically just cucumbers in vinegar brine and you have to look hard to find the real "Pickles" (that is, cucumbers that have been fermented."

It could be that some grocery store sourdough is just bread with some additional acid to give it that tangy/sour flavor, in which case it should be called "Sour Bread" or "Acid Loaf."

 

[jb116]

In this study yes, they used bacteria and yeast. But in the grocery store, who knows?

I think if cultures are added before baking, food manufacturers do not have to list it on the label.

I know that many grocery stores have "Sour Pickles" which are basically just cucumbers in vinegar brine and you have to look hard to find the real "Pickles" (that is, cucumbers that have been fermented."

It could be that some grocery store sourdough is just bread with some additional acid to give it that tangy/sour flavor, in which case it should be called "Sour Bread" or "Acid Loaf."

Yes very good point about the additional acid for the "flavor." Real fermented pickles hmmmm

 

[ecstatichamster]

I don’t think sourdough bread per se is better. I think the key is long soaking times. Yeast or sourdough. Long soaking for enzymes to breakdown harmful storage proteins. That is with Dr. Peat pointed out. And there are studies that bear that out.

 

[lvysaur]

I think the key is long soaking times. Yeast or sourdough. Long soaking for enzymes to breakdown harmful storage proteins. That is with Dr. Peat pointed out.

What exactly do you mean by soaking? Do you mean soaking the flour prior to making dough? Or letting the dough rise (from yeast) longer?

 

[ecstatichamster]

What exactly do you mean by soaking? Do you mean soaking the flour prior to making dough? Or letting the dough rise (from yeast) longer?

Use less yeast. Let it rise longer. This longer wet time is what makes it safe, not yeast or bacteria. Enzymes in the flour and a long exposure time with water catalyzing the reaction renders the bad proteins safe.

 

[jb116]

Use less yeast. Let it rise longer. This longer wet time is what makes it safe, not yeast or bacteria. Enzymes in the flour and a long exposure time with water catalyzing the reaction renders the bad proteins safe.

+1
I can attest to this, having made my own bread in this manner made it much more digestible and nutritious.