Healthy bread is the bread that we want to eat healthily.
There are recognised ways to incorporate carbohydrates into a healthy lifestyle and reduce potential glycemic impacts.
If we are going to eat carbs it makes sense to do it in a way that feels good and promotes wellbeing. That means paying attention to how our bodies use energy and adjusting what, when, and how we eat.
1. Lifestyle
A body that moves regularly handles carbs differently to one that doesn’t.
Being healthy and active: walking, training, surfing, running after a dog; muscles want that energy. Glucose is processed more efficiently, which means fewer big spikes and crashes.
Being more sedentary, or not in great health right now; we need to be a little more intentional. Paying attention to how we feel after certain meals. Noticing energy levels, mental focus, and cravings.
Well-considered bread and toppings bring on sassiation faster than fluffy or sweet choices. One to two slices of bread for most. Three to four slices for a young fit person with a baseline of good health and high metabolism.
2. Carb dressing
Pairing carbs with fats, protein, and fibre helps slow digestion and keeps blood sugar steadier. Spreads like butter or olive oil. Add cheese, avocado, sustainable meats, nut butter, greens, and other savoury toppings.
Interestingly a white sourdough ham-and-cheese toastie can result in lower blood sugar levels than a plain slice of wholemeal bread with no topping, and definitely a sweet topping.
Fibre content of bread slows glucose absorption, but bread toppings have the potential to alter absorption more significantly.
Similarly, eating bread with other foods will alter glucose absorption. For instance: lamb or eggs, avocado and greens, with buttered sourdough fingers on the side.
Commercially produced 'fibre-rich' bread can be an issue. The distinction between wholemeal flour (flakes of bran added to white flour) and wholegrain flour (the entire ground grain including the germ) is often blurred.
Baking at home let's us identify and choose the source and quality of flour and other ingredients.
Research support:
- Dietary fibre in bread can reduce glycaemic index (GI): Cambridge University Press
- Breads with higher fat & protein content show lower post-meal glucose responses: MDPI Study
3. Home sourdough
At home we have full control.
Big commercial “sourdough” bakeries often fall short. Some abandon Organic, locally sourced, long fermentation, artisan skills, ancient grains, and community for commercial gain.
Home bakers are empowered to bake bread that invites healthy eating. Considered ingredients; considered process and toppings. The kind of bread that goes with a savoury breakfast, or on the side with a lunchtime salad.
- A well-fermented (more acidic) sourdough tends to have a lower glycaemic index. MDPI Study
- Wholegrain flours and added fibre lower GI. British Journal of Nutrition
- A bit of fat in the dough — olive oil or butter at ~5% baker’s weight — helps too (though direct research on this ratio is limited).
- Choose good ingredients: clean flour, natural fermentation, no weird additives.
- For some people, ancient grains like khorasan and spelt are better tolerated (less gut irritation, less inflammation) than modern wheat. Science Direct, SpringerLink
- Some ancient grains have been shown to be lower in FODMAP's than modern grains
4. Full fermentation
A well-acidified dough is one aspect of lower GI bread. That happens in stages: starter, bulk proof, and final proof.
Experiment by:
- Fully fermenting (or slightly over-fermenting) starter.
- Playing with moderate to almost fully fermented bulk proofs
- Three-quarter proofing shaped loaves from a fully fermented bulk proof,
- OR Fully proofing shaped loaves from a moderately fermented bulk proof
Examples of final rise of formed loaves:
- Overnight in the fridge (4C) at 8–16 hrs)
- OR Overnight in a cool space (8C - 14C) at 6-10 hours
Cooler, longer fermentation and slightly stiffer dough encourage more acetic acid than lactic acid — and this correlates with a lower GI. MDPI, 2021
In summary
Sourdough is a lower GI bread due to its inherent higher acidity and (potentially) higher quality fibre content. We can build a lower GI bread by incorporating higher quantities and qualities of fats, proteins and fibre.
However there is also space for culturally magnificent (often white) sourdough that begs to be enjoyed with real foods containing fat, fibre, and protein. These foods moderate the effect of glucose absorption from carbs, and are perhaps are a more enjoyable solution than forcing bread to be a purely functional 'Lower GI' food.
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