What is Sourdough Bread?

In simple words, Sourdough bread is a type of bread made by avoiding baker’s yeast or commercial yeast in the dough-making process. 

Bread is generally categorized into two types: Leavened and Unleavened bread. Leavened bread consists of the yeasts (natural or commercial) that cause the dough to rise and become airy and light. Contrary to leavened bread, unleavened bread is a flatbread, and roti in Indian households is a good example of it. 

Sourdough bread is a type of leavened bread that is made by using a sourdough starter and not commercial yeast in the fermentation process. This gives the dough plenty of time to rise on its own. The time required to make this bread is around 20-22 hours which is comparatively a much higher time than regular commercial bread. But this ensures that the whole process is natural and not artificially catalyzed. Now that we have known the basics of Sourdough bread, let us see its health benefits. 

Reference in Bible: If you are still wondering about the mention of unleavened bread in the Bible, then Exodus 12:1-15 is your answer. 

Source: Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI)

3 Health Benefits of Sourdough Bread you need to know:

Low Blood Sugar Levels

Okay, It’s time to throw some technical terms into this blog to make this blog credible (How else do you think my boss will believe that I researched for 6 hours to write this blog?). 

Sourdough Bread is low in GI as compared to commercial bread. Glycemic Index is a measure of how a food item affects the blood sugar level. This index has a rating from 0-100. The higher the rating, the higher is the chance of raising your blood sugar level by a food item. 

Here are the three GI ratings:

• Low: 55 or less
• Medium: 56–69
• High: 70 

It should be noted that GI rating is not the same as Glycemic Loading and both should be considered to check the effect of that food on blood sugar level. What you need to focus on is that Sourdough Bread is low in GI as compared to commercial bread.

Trying to Impress by Numbers: Did you know that the Global Sourdough Market is growing with a CAGR of around 7.7% and it currently stands at US$ 2.91 Bn. in 2020? 

Easier to Digest

If you have ordered sourdough bread from Leap Club then be assured that it is completely made from natural ingredients and hence will be easier to digest as compared to commercial bread. 

The natural yeast used in the fermentation of sourdough bread tackles anti-nutritional factors, toxic and harmful substances in whole wheat flour thus increasing the convenience in the digestion process. Moreover, Sourdough Bread from Leap Club is 100% maida (refined-flour) free therefore reducing the chances of indigestion. 

Maintaining a Healthy Gut

Before diving into how sourdough bread helps in maintaining gut health, let us first see what exactly is a Prebiotic. 

Complex definition: non-digestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, and thus improve host health.

In simple words, Prebiotics are specialized plant fibers that act as food for the healthy bacteria in your gut and stimulate their growth. The sourdough starter contains both prebiotics and probiotics (live microorganisms with health benefits) but probiotics can’t survive higher temperatures than 138 degrees Fahrenheit. Hence once the bread is in the oven, only prebiotics survive in the bread which eventually helps in keeping the gut healthy by promoting the growth of good bacteria in the intestines.

Concluding Note:

Sourdough Bread is made from natural ingredients and is always good for your health until and unless you have a medical condition going on. Overall, the trend to upgrade to sourdough bread from commercial white bread is at an exponential rise and we hope that you upgrade your bread too. 

Have any questions about which kind of sourdough bread you should choose? Click Here for a customized recommendation. Till then,

Happy Healthy Shopping!