Let’s Talk About Sourdough

In the 8 years since adopting a paleo-based approach to eating, I’ve really come to tailor my diet to what my body loves, needs, and tolerates using the philosophy as guidelines and my body’s response as the compass.

One of those intuitive revelations lead me to reintroducing sourdough. An often sited qualm for followers of a paleo approach is the limitation, or rather outright ban, on bread. And, for most of my tenure, I’ve adhered to the strict approach.

It wasn’t until I was over a friend’s house, where I watched her roommate feed her jar of sourdough starter that I played with the idea of reintroducing sourdough. But what makes this type of bread different than others?

Uniquely, the fermentation makes all the difference. Sure, it’s still made of grains and technically has gluten and therefore doesn’t fit the paleo narrative, but after all this time I’ve come to recognize myself as paleo-ish anyway.

The saving grace here is the negating effect that the fermentation process has on the gluten structures, making them much more digestible. Your bodies treat sourdough as “predigested” — the enzymes from fermentation break up the gluten chains into smaller, more readily available peptides and amino acids. Obviously, if you have Celiac disease you should stay a way, but otherwise sourdough is a great option for non-celiac gluten sensitivities.

Not to mention, due to the fermentation, sourdough is a lower FODMAP, lower GI food. This means you’ll likely not experience gas, bloating, or glucose spikes and the subsequent crash. On top of that, the phytic acid (the dreaded antinutrient that blocks mineral absorption) is neutralized, increasing bioavailability!

So after considering this, barring any life-threatening conditions, sourdough seemed like something I should incorporate. And boy am I glad I did; that decision led me to finding such a joyful hobby, which I’d be happy to share more about.