Maria V.Dimitrova

Author of article

August 20, 2019

Date

How to Make Your Own Healthy Bread

Making your own healthy bread means two things: choosing natural ingredients and using a natural way of bread making.

According to growing evidence from scientific studies, the old type of bread rising with a sourdough starter breaks down gluten in such a way that it makes it harmless. In an Italian study, published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, in January 2011, celiac patients fed sourdough bread for 60 days had no clinical complaints, and their biopsies showed no changes in the intestinal lining.

Other important health benefits of natural yeast include:

• making nutrients in grains more easily digestible
• preventing a sharp blood sugar spike (like what happens when you eat a commercial type of bread)
• the lactobacillus cultures in sourdough reduce the levels of phytic acid in bread (this acid should be decreased since it is an anti-nutrient – it hinders the absorption of certain nutrients)

You can choose different types of whole-grain flour – wheat, rye, chickpea flour, oat flour, millet, and quinoa. Organic einkorn is nature’s original wheat and is considered the purest wheat. It’s important to buy stone-ground, freshly milled whole grain flour in order to fully benefit from the nutrients in grains.

Here is a simple and easy recipe for home-made bread:

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup wild yeast starter (stir before measuring)
2. 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
3. 2 tsp. Himalayan salt
4. 1 TBS. coconut oil
5. 5-6 cups whole wheat flour

Instructions

1. Combine water, starter, salt and coconut oil in a mixer.

2. Add 5 cups of flour, then continue adding until the dough “cleans” the most of the sides of the bowl.

3. Knead for 10 minutes.

4. Lightly water a working surface and your hands. Place the dough on the surface and hand-knead until the texture is uniform.

5. Place dough into a large bowl and cover with a wet dish towel or greased plastic wrap.

6. Leave the bowl on the countertop for 6-8 hours or overnight.

7. Wet the surface and your hands again to form into loaves. Place in pans and let rise another 2 hours or until doubled in size.

8. Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. Let the bread cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing it.

Enjoy your healthy and delicious home-made bread!