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Research suggests that people with celiac disease tolerate sourdough bread where the dough is fermented with a specialized sourdough starter in accordance with traditional methods.
Buyer beware! Most breads labeled as “sourdough” on the market today are anything but…
These fake sourdough breads typically contain yeast and/or a sweetener.
This is an easy giveaway clue that the bread is a phony and should be avoided if one seeks a traditionally baked loaf.
Baker’s Yeast Is Not Traditional
When baker’s yeast was first introduced in France as an alternative to sourdough starter in the mid-1600s, it was strongly rejected!
The scientist-noblemen of the day knew that it would negatively impact people’s health. When the Faculty of Medicine decided to formally examine the question, they banned its use. (1)
True sourdough bread does not contain baker’s yeast. Instead, a Lactobacilli-based starter culture is used.
In addition, authentic sourdough is baked at a lower temperature for a longer period of time.
These methods protect the integrity of the cereal grains and preserve nutritional value.
What’s more, anti-nutrients such as phytic acid are eliminated, and gluten, that very difficult-to-digest plant protein, is significantly broken down.
As a practical bonus, sourdough bread stays fresh longer than yeasted bread.
Despite the initial rejection of baker’s yeast, the convenience aspect of quick-rise yeasted loaves resulted in widespread adoption over the last century.
It is no surprise, then, that the skyrocketing cases of gluten intolerance and celiac disease have risen in lockstep over the decades.
Why did pre-industrialized people groups consume gluten-containing breads with no digestive difficulty whatsoever?
Could it be that the traditional preparation methods were somehow protective?
Sourdough and Celiac
The peer-reviewed Journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology researched this very question, publishing a study conducted in Europe that examined how celiacs tolerate true sourdough bread. (2)
Seventeen people suffering from celiac disease were given 2 grams of gluten-containing bread risen with either baker’s yeast or a Lactobacilli culture.
Thirteen of the seventeen participants showed negative changes in intestinal permeability consistent with celiac disease. Four participants did not show any negative changes.
Then, all the study participants were given true sourdough bread fermented with a special Lactobacilli culture able to break down the primary amino acid building block that causes an immune response in people with celiac.
None of the study participants showed any negative changes in their intestinal permeability after consuming the bread baked using 30% wheat flour and a mix of oat, millet, and buckwheat flour.
The researchers’ conclusions were summarized as follows:
These results showed that a bread biotechnology that uses selected lactobacilli, nontoxic flours, and a long fermentation time is a novel tool for decreasing the level of gluten intolerance in humans. (3)
What I find interesting about the study is that even when the people who consumed the wheat bread baked with either baker’s yeast or a normal Lactobacilli culture, four (nearly one-quarter) did not show any negative changes to their baseline values of intestinal permeability.
Did these people consume bread raised with a normal sourdough culture?
If so, perhaps even regular sourdough cultures would be sufficient for some celiacs to consume.
Certainly, most with simple gluten intolerance would find true sourdough bread to be easily consumed with no digestive distress.
It seems that the noblemen in the court of Louis XIV of France had it right all along.
Abandoning the traditional methods of bread preparation in favor of baker’s yeast would have disastrous effects on people’s health.
Little did they know that their wisdom several centuries later would be termed “novel” by scientists in the biotechnology industry!
(1) History of Baker’s Yeast
(2, 3) Study Finds Wheat-based Sourdough Bread Started with Selected Lactobacilli is Tolerated by Celiac Disease Patients
More Information
No-Knead Einkorn Sourdough Bread
The Good Gluten You Can Probably Eat Just Fine
The Real Reason Wheat is Toxic (It’s Not the Gluten)
All sourdough bread contains yeast. The bacteria are NOT the rising agent, they simply flavour the bread. Sourdough is just the ancient way of making bread with wild yeast (they are everywhere), which is what makes the bread unique to wherever you live … so you’ll never get true SF sourdough if you don’t live there 🙂 And the moral of the tale is don’t take medical advice from the internet, especially if it’s dated 1668.
Sourdough culture ( Lactobacilli) do not simply flavor the bread. The Lactobacilli (wild yeast) feeds off the gluten, which breaks it all down into tiny pieces, which makes the bread rise.
Distrust of the Internet is irrational. It’s just another medium for communication. You should be questioning of all sources including books, magazines, papers and ” experts” .in the long run all educated sources are just informed opinions.
Just realized the Cultures for Life has great videos on making sourdough, but I am still wondering what type of flour you recommend and if I have to use a bag of Bob’s Red Mill, should I sift out the germ and bran, if possible?
Sarah, If you ever find it possible, please consider making a sourdough video. Please include info. on the best type of sprouted, milled, flour to use (and if we should remove the bran and germ), etc. Thank you! If you already have this and I missed it-sorry, do you have a link? TIA
I tried a fermented sourdough by a baker specializing in long fermentation to eliminate the gluten problems. He has been written about in many publications and blogs, including Mark’s Daily Apple, where I read about the bread. Nice man, he warns that this bread won’t work for everyone (and nobody should use raw flour to dust pan, boards, hands, anything…).
The bread tasted good, I was fine for about an hour and happy to be able to eat true sourdough, but then I spent the next 18 hours with severe diarrhea. So be very careful.
HI
Can you please tell me where i can buy sourdough bread made without yeast.
Thanks
Johnny
You dont have to buy any sourdough starter. Just mix previous boiled water – now att room temperature with any good quality organic flour untill a thick consistency. Place it at a warm place and wait 4-7 days untill it bubbles. And voila! 🙂 you have your sourdough yeast. All grannmas hwho know are making it the same way 😉 Enjoy!
One thing I’m not clear on from the article is the difference between the bread raised with normal lactobacilli culture and that raised with the ‘special’ lactobacilli culture. It does not explain the difference. We make our own sourdough bread just with flour and water, having made our own starter. Does this mean we have the ‘normal’ or the ‘special’ culture???
Thanks for the article, it’s not dangerous to publish these findings, I think it’s dangerous not to, as you said, more work needs to be done, but it’s encouraging – we need hope and solutions beyond the grocery store or the M.D’s. I believe there’s a nutritious way to consume grains because God told Joseph to store grains for 7 years of famine – which saved their lives. Hopefully, we can heal our guts and again enjoy grains in some manner, yes, processed grains have in part devasted peoples health, but perhaps with brave studies like this, we will uncover lost knowledge and learn a way they actually contribute to our healing. Times are tough, getting tougher. Our bodies are resilliant and God gives many ways to nourish them, if even for a limited time –
One thing to remember here is that the research shows that the bread contains only 25-30% wheat. Using other grains cuts down on the amount of gluten involved. The other part to remember is that the bread needs to sit on the counter to rise for at least 12 hours to allow the Lactobacilli to build up do it’s digesting work. This is also what gives sourdough it’s sour taste.
Spelt could be a good option as it is much lower in gluten than wheat.
Jessie Hawkins at Vintage Remedies will be coming out with a bread book next spring that focuses on sourdough and it’s history. It will discuss the gluten intolerance/Celiac issue and include gluten and gluten-free sourdough recipes.
Aaaand, thank you for someone finally mentioning using spelt which is what they’re recommending sourdough’d on the fodmap diet to also break down the carb. part of flours now thought to be a problem for people too.