Gluten intolerant and enjoying bread…
Oh, how I missed bread! If you have followed my blog for any amount of time, you might be a little surprised to learn that I am posting an organic sourdough bread recipe in the next few days!
I thought you were gluten-free? What about those grains? But I am here to show you, that you might be able to enjoy bread again, specifically a properly prepared and fermented sourdough bread!
I get it…so many people believe bread is the enemy. It is the enemy if it is conventional bread! Conventional bread (you know, the stuff all in the supermarkets today) is terrible for you!
But there is a bread that can actually be good for you! It’s called sourdough. There are a few key ingredients that will make this bread different from others out there! Let’s take a look at that!
How is sourdough bread different?
The difference between conventional bread and an authentic sourdough bread makes all the difference! The key components are:
- Sourdough bread is made with wild yeast, not instant or fresh yeast. The fermentation process increases the beneficial bacterias for your body. Beneficial bacteria equals a happy gut – read 10 reasons sourdough is good for you
- Sourdough bread is fermented and that process breaks down 4 gluten forming proteins. This is the reason so many people with gluten intolerances can enjoy this bread(see below for more information).
- Sourdough bread has a lower glycemic index which will create less blood sugar spikes
- Sourdough is easier to digest. The bacteria-yeast breaks down the starches in the grains which essentially pre-digests the bread making it easier for you to digest.
- Sourdough is a traditional bread that has been around for centuries and centuries. It is made with wild yeast, bacteria, and whole grains and works in harmony with nature.
- My sourdough bread recipe is made with organic ingredients
- My sourdough bread recipe is made without GMO’s (genetically modified organism)
Our bodies actually know how to digest this traditional bread. I am not going into full details on this post…it would just get too long, but for further reading on this please read my article A Healthy Bread This is Good For You!
What about the gluten…
Many people who suffer from gluten intolerances can eat sourdough bread that is properly fermented and made with wild yeast without having any issues. I am one of those individuals who can enjoy a true sourdough loaf without any issues.
- Sourdough bread produces acids, which will break down and remove some of the glutens from the bread. Acids do not allow mold and most bad bacterial growth. Alkaline with high pH allows mold growth and toxins. Mold ferments at a higher pH, allowing bad bacterial growth and the secretion of toxins. The absence of acids is abnormal, even animals have acid stomachs to kill bad bacteria. (source)
- In addition, fermenting the dough dissolves proteins by producing protein enzymes, thus loosening multiple peptide bonds so that you can absorb more amino acids into your body. They dissolve four gluten-forming proteins: albumin, globulin, prolamin, and glutalin. They also produce alcohol that dissolves the most stubborn water insoluble protein bonds. These bonds are the reason why so many people have gluten intolerance. (source)
If you are buying a store-bought sourdough, it should only have about 3 ingredients – Flour, salt, and water (it could read sourdough culture too). If the ingredients have “yeast” in it, it is not a true sourdough loaf and you should stay away from it.
If you have lived without gluten for awhile, reintroduce it slowly to allow your body to adjust.
A Sourdough Series
Who knew there were so many things you could do with sourdough, right?! I get it…Sourdough is a large topic so I thought I would tackle this in baby steps! Here is the breakdown:
✰ How I am Gluten Intolerant and Enjoying Bread Again
✰ Sourdough Basics ~ What is a sourdough starter and what is sourdough bread
✰ A Beginners Organic Sourdough Bread Recipe {Organic and GMO-Free}
✰ Organic Sourdough Hamburger Buns Recipe {Organic and GMO-Free}
✰ A Traditional San Francisco Sourdough Bread Recipe {Organic and GMO-Free}
✰ Organic Sourdough Bagel Recipe {Organic and GMO-Free}
I highly recommend that you start with the first post and work down the list in the order that I have them. I have posted them within the level of difficulty. Beginners sourdough being the easiest to organic sourdough bagels being the most challenging.
All can be achieved. And as always, ask away in the comment section below this post!
Hi there thanks for this information,I have been having gas and bloating when I eat wheat.there are 2 things I have realized when I go out of UK to places like turkey kenya Egypt I eat bread with no ill effect. So there must be something terrible in the wheat in developed countries.
I sometimes make somali traditional food for breakfast.fermented floor that’s made like pancakes called anjera and I easily digest it with no problems.
So I works like sourdough.
I have been gluten free for about four months now…what a difference. I have however, on occasion had regular pizza crust and had no issues afterwards…I have also had regular bread and also no reaction….the next week, same foods, horrible reaction. Am I going down the wrong road here? Can I eat regular pizza crust, regular bread, and pastas one week, and the next week, be in horrible pain afterwards?
Looking for some professional assistance. I have been to the Dr. and she told me that to test for Celiac I would have to go back on a regular diet for three months then have a blood test. That is not going to happen. I would not purposely put myself through that pain!!
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Nancy
There is actually a test for a genetic marker (there are two of them that can have a mutation) for Celiac disease, which does not require you to be consuming gluten. You might want to ask your doctor about this blood test. My insurance covered it, although my doctor recommended I call with the codes to be sure it was covered before going in for the blood work.
There are many experts who say that if you have an “intolerance” you will not have an immediate reaction to a food like you would have if you are allergic. In the case of an intolerance, you can react to a food you have eaten up to two weeks after eating it…
I am the same. I put it down to getting a build up of gluten, ie your system can handle a small amount before it reacts.For 25 years I thought I had IBS. Life changing knowing the cause.
Great article, I have found that sourdough is working for me too. I have also found that the major supermarkets are starting to realise this and in the last few months are stocking these “true” sourdoughs.
I live in Australia and both Coles and Woolworths sell them. I also visited the UK and found them in Tesco. This is a step in the right direction for us all.
Hello,
Thank you for your post! Do you know if eating sourdough can also help you digest gluten in other foods? I just started reintroducing sourdough into my diet and I’m responding well! I would love to move onto ramen but I’m afraid to introduce too much gluten-containing food into my diet too quickly.
If you add an oil… I add Olive Oil to my Sourdough dough recipe. It makes for a nice and soft Sourdough Bread. Many who don’t have some kind of oil or fat makes for a dry crumb I find. I have tried many many recipes and have found that the ones with a oil or fat comes out much nicer and with a slightly more flavorful taste to it.
If you can eat sourdough without trouble, you aren’t gluten intolerant, you’re fructan intolerant. Fructan intolerant people can eat fermented wheat (sourdough and soy sauce), but gluten intolerant people cannot.
https://draxe.com/fructans-fructan-intolerance/
There’s a lot of evidence that most gluten sensitivity/intolerance is actually misdiagnosed fructan intolerance.
Hi, I am gluten intolerant for 3 years now, and normally suffer painful results when eating USA white or wheat flourt, however, I’ve been traveling and am now in Argentina, where I found a specific bakery in San Telmo, City of Buenos Aires, that ferments their dough with a long fermentation process and I can eat only that bread without negative results. The same thing happened when traveling to Barcelona, Spain, and Italy. Amazing how true sour dough fermentation makes such a big difference for gluten sensitive or intolerant people.
Great post! I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes during the first trimester of my pregnancy and my OB recommended that I should omit bread and white rice from my diet. With rice as a staple food here in the Philippines and as a bread lover, I found it difficult to change my diet. But after reading this, I think I can now enjoy bread again with these sourdough recipes. Thanks for sharing!
My doctor told me to “never eat gluten again” as it inflames my hashimotos thyroid condition. It also gives me terrible stomach cramps and bloating. However, I don’t have symptoms with sourdough! I’m wondering if it is still bad for the hashimotos?
there is a threshold for you that you only reach after ingesting it over and over again, if you only do it here and there occasionally your body’ll be able to handle it easy, but not if you give it what it sees as toxic repeatedly..its possibly to build better tolerance over months, years of gradual increase of your gluten intake, but that’d probably have to be followed strictly for it to work
Great information. Not much about organic- non- organic wheat has quite a bit of Roundup in it- they even dry the wheat with Roundup to harvest sooner mainly in colder climates. So it’s best to use organic. Also the fructans as noted above are most likely the issue with wheat and other foods such as onions and garlic. If you are also in intolerant to onions, you are dealing with fructan intolerance. But regardless the sourdough process seems to dramatically improve it. And yes there are so many fake sourdoughs out there- you can tell by all the ingredients, acid etc to make it taste sourdough. And rarely do you find an organic version.