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Sourdough and Gut Health: The Benefits of Fermented Bread

by Launch Lab

The science behind Sourdough Bread

Traditional sourdough is derived from the mixture of flour and water, where the flour's native lactic acid bacteria and native yeast are responsible for driving fermentation. The replenishment process of sourdough bread-making is characterized by the use of small quantities of the original fermented dough as a starter culture to drive the next fermentation cycle.  

This continuous process of maintaining the sourdough culture promotes the synthesis of bioactive compounds such as organic acids, enzymes, antifungal compounds, including the partial or complete degradation of proteins and carbohydrates that collectively improve nutrient absorption in the gut [1]. 

The formation and concentration of these compounds in the sourdough culture depends on the quality of the grains used and the activity of the flour's natural microbiota used to initiate fermentation [2]. The search for novel ingredients that demonstrate an emphasis on their nutritional and functional properties has led to improvements in the sourdough fermentation process [3, 4, 5]. 

The health benefits of sourdough

The health benefits of sourdough are dependent on the bioavailability of nutrients available for the growing culture [2,6]. Sourdough fermentation made in this way produces bread having:

  • A decreased glycemic index
  • Improved dietary fiber content
  • And the release of bioactive peptides that improves the absorption of minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals

Also, microbial metabolism by the lactic acid bacteria present in the dough produce microbially-derived bioactive compounds such as peptides and derivative amino acids (i.e. aminobutyric acid). 

These peptides and amino acids have functionalities that play important roles in host energy metabolism, the control of inflammation, and antimicrobial activity [8]. 

The by-products from microbial metabolism that improve human health have stimulated renewed interest within the scientific community and among food manufacturers to create products that help treat chronic non-communicable diseases such as [8,9,10]:

  • High cholesterol
  • Cardiopathies
  • Autoimmune diseases
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Colitis
  • Cancer
  • Diabetes

rND’s Sourdough 

When it comes to rND bakery and our baking process, our goal is to use the best ingredients and high quality grains to ensure that the fermentation process of our bread will bring you all the health benefits we previously outlined. 

Both the Buckwheat and Millet Sourdough Loaves use the simplest and best ingredients and were the first products we ever created when we began on our journey. 

In our previous blogs we outline our process and dive deeper into the source of our oats. Check out those below:

  

 

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References:

  1. Di Nunzio M, Bordoni A, Aureli F, Cubadda F, Gianotti A. Sourdough Fermentation Favorably Influences Selenium Biotransformation and the Biological Effects of Flatbread. Nutrients. 2018 Dec 3;10(12):1898.
  2. Rodriguez-Ramiro I. Brearley C.A. Bruggraber S.F.A. Perfecto A. Shewry P. Fairweather-Tait S. Assessment of iron bioavailability from different bread making processes using an in vitro intestinal cell model. Food Chemistry. 2017; 228:91-98.
  3. Montemurro M. Pontonio E. Gobbetti M. Giuseppe Rizzello C., Investigation of the nutritional, functional and technological effects of the sourdough fermentation of sprouted flours,Intl. J. Food Microbiol. 2019: 302:47-58.
  4. De Vuyst L., Vrancken G., Ravyts F., Rimaux T., Weckx S. Biodiversity, ecological determinants, and metabolic exploitation of sourdough microbiota. Food Microbiol. 2009;26:666–675.
  5. Gobbetti M., Rizzello C.G., Di Cagno R., De Angelis M. How the sourdough may affect the functional features of leavened baked goods. Food Microbiol. 2014;37:30–40.
  6. Montemurro M., Coda R., Rizzello C.G. Recent advances in the use of sourdough biotechnology in pasta making. Foods. 2019;8:129.
  7. Diez-Gutiérrez L. San Vicente L. Barrón LJR. del Carmen Villarán M. Chávarri M.Gamma-aminobutyric acid and probiotics: Multiple health benefits and their future in the global functional food and nutraceuticals market. Journal of Functional Foods. 2020; 64:1-14.
  8. Sakandar H.A., Hussain R., Kubow S., Sadiq F.A., Huang W., Imran M. Sourdough bread: A contemporary cereal fermented product. J. Food Process. Preserv. 2019;43:e13883.
  9. Menezes L.A.A. Molognoni L. de Sá Ploêncio L.A. et al. Use of sourdough fermentation to reducing FODMAPs in breads. Eur Food Res Technol 2019; 245:1183–1195.
  10. C.G. Rizzello C.G. Coda R. Gobbetti M. Chapter 18 - Use of Sourdough Fermentation and Nonwheat Flours for Enhancing Nutritional and Healthy Properties of Wheat-Based Foods, Editor(s): Juana Frias, Cristina Martinez-Villaluenga, Elena Peñas, Fermented Foods in Health and Disease Prevention. 2017; 433-452.

 

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