Sourdough’s fermentation process supports gut health by promoting beneficial bacteria and easier digestion.
It can lead to a smaller blood sugar rise after a meal
Sourdough affects your stomach differently from how regular bread does. During the fermentation process, bacteria create things like lactic acid that slow down how quickly your stomach empties itself.
Such a delay causes glucose to enter your bloodstream much more gradually than with regular bread, which usually leads to it hitting your blood all at once. In fact, controlled studies prove as much.
Participants who ate sourdough had noticeably smaller blood sugar spikes than those who consumed standard white bread.
It can reduce the insulin response in some bread comparisons
Speaking of blood sugar, your insulin levels also change when you eat sourdough bread. Human trials found that consuming the sour stuff may lead to your body releasing lower levels of insulin than from eating bread without fermentation acids.
Why does that happen?
It’s because your body doesn’t need to react as aggressively, as your glucose levels are increasing more slowly. Those organic acids may directly help to reduce your body’s insulin response.
It can be easier on bloating for some people
Whole wheat contains a chemical called fructan, which can trigger bloating in some people. But fructans don’t tend to exist in sourdough bread. During the long fermentation process, bacteria break down a lot of fructans before you even start baking it.
As such, it’s possible that sourdough bread may lead to fewer digestive issues in people who are more sensitive to them. It’s not a guarantee, but it sure is an interesting possibility.
It can make minerals from the grain easier for your body to absorb
Whole grains also naturally contain something called phytic acid, and that binds to minerals like iron and zinc. It’s a lot harder for your body to absorb them. But with sourdough, the fermentation process changes things because the acidity activates certain enzymes.
These break down the phytic acid while the bread is rising. Truth be told, research shows that sourdough bread often contains more mineral availability than yeast bread, and that allows your body to access more of what’s already there.
It can make some grain antioxidants more available
Another thing that sourdough helps make more available are antioxidants. Yes, grains already contain these, but they’re not all that easy for your body to digest. Sourdough bread’s long fermentation leads to phenolics, a kind of antioxidant, becoming more available.
That essentially means that the bread releases more of them during digestion. These substances can help fight certain cardiovascular diseases and cancer, as well as improve your metabolic health.
It leaves behind more resistant starch for your gut microbes
Some of the starch in sourdough bread becomes something called resistant starch during the fermentation and baking process. This kind of starch is, as you might’ve guessed, more resistant than the regular kind, so your body doesn’t digest it right away.
Instead, it passes through your small intestine and reaches your colon. Your gut bacteria ferment it there. That essentially means that the microbes in your body have more fuel to use when they’re digesting.
It partly breaks down gluten proteins
Unfortunately, sourdough bread doesn’t meet gluten-free standards, and that’s because there’s still some gluten present in it, although at smaller levels.
Enzymes and bacteria begin breaking down gluten proteins into smaller pieces during fermentation.
This changes how the proteins behave when you’re digesting them. However, there is still gluten in it, and you’ll have to get specially tested bread if you’re looking for gluten-free sourdough.
It can change how full you feel after eating bread
You might think that fullness isn’t something that researchers measure. But they do. They’ve actually compared people’s sense of fullness after eating bread, and people who ate sourdough reported feeling fuller than those who had regular bread.
It’s because your body processes carbohydrates more slowly when you eat sourdough than normal bread. As such, you’ll likely feel hungry later when eating sourdough bread.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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