Fermented Food

BREAD - The First Myth

I want to start this page in talking to you about one of the most drastic changes for us and that was bread!  Most people don't realise the amount of wheat we consume in everyday products. The trouble is that most of this wheat is toxic.  Most of us get Ill when our immune system is struggling, and the immune system starts mainly in the gut.  If the gut is right then so is the rest of the body.  Hubby and I have both become allergic to wheat and what we thought was a 2 year long hay fever allergy turned out to be wheat intolerance.  However since switching to sprouted and sourdough we have had no adverse reactions at all as is the case with many out there.  Below is a clip from the Guardian newspaper about bread.

"The changes to baking have been equally drastic as the milling process. The Chorleywood Bread Process, invented in 1961, uses intense energy, chemical additives and large amounts of yeast to produce loaves in a very short time. Nearly all the bread eaten in Britain is made by this method or one that uses similar additives. If dough is not allowed to ferment for several hours, there is little chance for natural bacteria to destroy harmful elements in the dough and to make important nutrients available to the human body.

Worse still, enzymes, often genetically modified, are added to flour and dough to make loaves bigger and keep them squishy for days, if not weeks, after baking. But most troubling of all, recent research suggests that one enzyme, transglutaminase, used in food manufacturing and baking, may actually turn some of the gliadin protein in wheat flour into a form that can be toxic to some people. Even the organic loaves made by the industrial bakers can contain this stuff."

You see in biblical times the wheat was left in the field overnight and the wheat was partially sprouted as a result before it was milled into flour.  The whole sprouting or soaking process makes the wheat digestible.  Nowadays the wheat is harvested and milled all on the same day and does not sprout and therefore contains it's toxins.

I have found that most people’s bodies struggle to digest grains. Yet these same bodies flourish with grains that have been sprouted.  Sprouted grains are considered low glycemic, which is a wonderful benefit. The pancreas needs huge amounts of B vitamins to deal with stress. Once a grain has been sprouted most bodies recognize it as a vegetable rather than a starch which requires digestive enzymes not pancreatic enzymes. Therefore, eating sprouted grains does not stress the pancreas. In 2008, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) ruled that sprouted grains are more akin to vegetables than to whole grain

Phytic acid, which is a known mineral blocker, is present in the bran (the coating of nuts and seeds) of all grains and inhibits the absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc. This inhibitor can neutralize our own digestive enzymes, resulting in the digestive disorders experienced by many people that eat unsprouted grains. Yet, phytic acid is broken down in the sprouting process and also, complex sugars responsible for intestinal gas are broken down during sprouting.

In addition, the sprouting process produces changes to the composition of the grain in numerous ways that make it a more beneficial food.  This process produces vitamin C and increases the content of vitamins B, B2, B5 and B6. Carotene, which is converted to vitamin A, increases dramatically – sometimes as much as eight-fold.  Sprouting also inactivates aflatoxins, which are toxins produced by fungus and are potent carcinogens found in grains.