[fgummett]

CTV.ca | Sourdough bread may be better than whole wheat

Updated Mon. Jul. 7 2008 4:50 PM ET

The Canadian Press

The type of toasted bread we eat for breakfast can affect how the body responds to lunch, a researcher at the University of Guelph has discovered.

Prof. Terry Graham, a scientist who specializes in carbohydrates, has been looking into the health benefits of various types of bread.

"One of the surprising things in our work is that whole-wheat products turned out to have the least healthy responses of all, and this is not what we expected," he said in an interview.

Using white, whole wheat, whole wheat with barley and sourdough white breads, Graham and his team of researchers examined how subjects responded after eating the bread for breakfast and again just hours after eating a standard lunch.

The 10 male subjects, who were overweight and ranged between 50 and 60 years old, showed the most positive body responses after eating sourdough white bread. Those positive responses remained even after eating a second meal that didn't include bread.

"With the sourdough, the subjects' blood sugar levels were lower for a similar rise in blood insulin," says Graham, whose findings are being published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

"What was even more interesting was that this positive effect remained during their second meal and lasted hours after."

He says that it's likely that the fermentation of the sourdough changes the nature of the starches in the bread, creating a more beneficial bread.

And while sourdough came out on top, the whole-wheat varieties used in the study came out on the bottom, even below white bread.

The whole-wheat bread caused blood sugar levels to spike and these high levels lasted until well after lunch.

Graham said the less positive blood responses sparked by the whole wheat are likely due to the fact that the milling process involved in making the whole-wheat bread used in the study is similar to that used for white bread.

"The parts of the grain like wheat germ and bran that have the health benefits are taken out to create white flour and then partially added back to make whole wheat," he says.

"Based on the findings of this study, as well as a followup study using whole grains rather than whole wheat, we are learning that the best way to get these nutrients is through whole grain, not whole wheat."

Graham says that he and his team assumed that standard white bread would be less beneficial "and everything would be better than that."

"In fact, the whole wheat and the wheat plus barley turned out to be the least healthy."

Graham cites recent literature mainly from Scandinavia suggesting that either the sourdough leavening or even taking organic acids and adding them to the dough itself could have some positive benefits in terms of metabolic response.

"And so that was our logic for incorporating a sourdough design and to facilitate a comparison would be to use an identical bread recipe but use sourdough starter instead of the standard yeast," he says.

Sourdough bread is raised with a leaven of flour and water in which wild yeasts have been encouraged to grow by keeping it warm and allowing it to ferment over a period of days. During this time, it sours and develops a characteristic tangy flavour.

Graham says the research is ongoing to find out what it is about sourdough that does this.

"And secondly if sourdough is good, what about other types of bread such as whole grain?"

Linda Haynes, former owner and now a consultant at ACE Bakery in Toronto, says she is amazed at Graham's findings and says "it is exciting that sourdough could prove to be a health benefit."

[xMenace]

This is very consistent with my own findings. My last 4-5 loaves have been whole wheat and they haven't behaved well at all. Rye is awful too. Multi-grain flour works much better for me. Sourdough is on my list, and it just upped a notch on the priority scale.

[fgummett]

I've been avoiding bread lately but will have to give this a try

[xMenace]

I had some at Denny's recently. Awful stuff there. I did well, but I was agressive that day.

[art]

Have to try it.

Art

[princesslinda]

I read this somewhere when first diagnosed, and have found that it does work well for me.

[xMenace]

Recipes please!

[jillybean]

Sourdough has been known to be a healthier bread for some time - not specifically for diabetics, but it has long been the only non-whole-grain bread "allowed" on the South Beach Diet plan.

It's nice to see a tudy relating it directly to blood glucose, though. Thanks for the info!

[soso]

very topical for me as yesterday we went to this great little bakery and they had a sprouted wheat sourdough that looked beyond good... Normally, I have the very occasional small slice, but cos it was fresh and smelled so good I had 2 for dinner.. Was really surprised to see my 90 min bg was 5.4... I did weigh the bread and take my bolus at 1/10 ratio, but that usually never works with bread for me.. I always have to add an extra unit either with the food or as a correction...

It was really good too....thanks for the post..

[HelenM]

I've found good results when eating local bread though not overly different to mixed wholegrain cereal. I have found that wholemeal bread brought from supermarkets in the UK has a much bigger influence on BS.
The local bread not a baguette but pain de campagne, a sour dough bread, made with unbleached white flour (+sometimes a bit of rye). Its quite coarse and rather rubbery with a very thick, hard crust. Maybe its not the wine but the bread which is responsible for my neighbours longevity... I'm sure its responsible for their lack of teeth!

[Evermont]

For years now I've met with a bunch of former coworkers on most Fridays for pizza at "Foodees". I almost always get the spinach pizza (Ricotta, spinach leaves, garlic, roasted red peppers, black olives, parmesan, feta and olive oil topped with 3-cheese blend) with artichokes - on sour dough crust. I often wondered why I wasn't seeing the typical pizza results I read about here on DF. 1/2 of 12" pizza + 12 oz ale, 2 hr pp is usually a little higher than normal (150-160) and drops off to 120 after 3 hours. Perhaps the crust changes the game.

[princesslinda]

I find that I do better with the bakery type bread as opposed to the "store-bought" in most types of bread, not just sour-dough. Now I just need to buy a breadmaker or learn to make it from scratch.

[notme]

I eat sourdough almost daily as morning toast. It rarely gives me a problem. Luckily, I love it.

[sparrow1]

I use stone-milled whole wheat bread from Country Harvest (recommended by Rick Gallop's GI diet ). But sourdough will make a nice change for me - I love alternatives. Thanks Frank.

[Kim_in_TN]

I love sourdough! Oh joy, joy! I can't wait to try this and see how my BG does!!! There's hope for bread in my life again! LOL!!!