Most breads labeled as “sourdough” on the market today are anything but.
These fake sourdough breads typically contain yeast and/or a sweetener. This is an easy giveaway clue that the bread is a phony and should be avoided if one seeks a traditionally baked loaf.
True sourdough bread does not contain bakers yeast and instead utilizes a lactobacilli based starter culture. True sourdough bread is also baked at a lower temperature for a longer period of time which protects the integrity of the cereal grains and preserves the nutritional value. Not only is the nutritional value maintained, but anti-nutrients such as phytic acid are eliminated and gluten, that very difficult to digest plant protein, is broken down.
When baker’s yeast was first introduced as an alternative to sourdough starters in 1668 in France, it was strongly rejected because scientists at the time already knew that it would negatively impact people’s health.Â
While yeast is used almost universally for baking breads anymore, the skyrocketing cases of gluten intolerance and celiac disease are causing many to look backwards at how nonindustrialized peoples consumed gluten containing breads with no digestive difficulty.
One study that examined how celiacs tolerate true sourdough bread was conducted in Europe. 17 people suffering from celiac disease were given 2 grams of gluten containing bread risen with either baker’s yeast or a normal lactobacilli culture.  13 of the 17 showed negative changes in intestinal permeability consistent with celiac disease. 4 people did not show any negative changes.
Then, the 17 study participants were given true sourdough bread risen with a special lactobacilli culture able to hydrolyze the 33-mer peptide which is the primary amino acid building block that causes an immune response in people with celiac disease. None showed any negative changes in their intestinal permeability after consuming the bread which was made up of 30% wheat flour and a mix of oat, millet, and buckwheat flour.
The researchers’ conclusions were summarized as follows:
These results showed that a bread biotechnology that uses selected lactobacilli, nontoxic flours, and a long fermentation time is a novel tool for decreasing the level of gluten intolerance in humans.
What I find interesting about the study is that even when the people who consumed the gluten containing bread risen with either baker’s yeast or a normal lactobacilli culture, 4 did not show any negative changes to their baseline values of intestinal permeability.  Did these 4 consume bread raised with a normal lactobacilli culture? If so, perhaps even a normal sourdough culture would be sufficient for many celiacs to consume.
Certainly, most with simple gluten intolerance would find true sourdough bread to be easily consumed with no digestive distress.
Clearly, more study on this needs to be done, but the results are incredibly promising.
It seems that the noblemen in the court of Louis XIV of France back in 1668 had it right all along. Abandoning the traditional methods of bread preparation in favor of baker’s yeast would have disastrous effects on people’s health. Little did they know that their wisdom several centuries later would be termed “novel” by scientists in the biotechnology industry!
Sarah, The Healthy  Home Economist
Sources and More Information
Study Finds Wheat-based Sourdough Bread Tolerated by Celiac Patients
Einkorn Sourdough Crackers with Nut Butter
No-Knead Einkorn Sourdough Bread
The Good Gluten You Can Probably Eat Just Fine
The Real Reason Wheat is Toxic (It’s Not the Gluten)
Phil
All sourdough bread contains yeast. The bacteria are NOT the rising agent, they simply flavour the bread. Sourdough is just the ancient way of making bread with wild yeast (they are everywhere), which is what makes the bread unique to wherever you live … so you’ll never get true SF sourdough if you don’t live there 🙂 And the moral of the tale is don’t take medical advice from the internet, especially if it’s dated 1668.
cheryl
Sourdough culture ( Lactobacilli) do not simply flavor the bread. The Lactobacilli (wild yeast) feeds off the gluten, which breaks it all down into tiny pieces, which makes the bread rise.
paul konkowski
Distrust of the Internet is irrational. It’s just another medium for communication. You should be questioning of all sources including books, magazines, papers and ” experts” .in the long run all educated sources are just informed opinions.
jessica
Just realized the Cultures for Life has great videos on making sourdough, but I am still wondering what type of flour you recommend and if I have to use a bag of Bob’s Red Mill, should I sift out the germ and bran, if possible?
Jess
Sarah, If you ever find it possible, please consider making a sourdough video. Please include info. on the best type of sprouted, milled, flour to use (and if we should remove the bran and germ), etc. Thank you! If you already have this and I missed it-sorry, do you have a link? TIA
Cynthia
I tried a fermented sourdough by a baker specializing in long fermentation to eliminate the gluten problems. He has been written about in many publications and blogs, including Mark’s Daily Apple, where I read about the bread. Nice man, he warns that this bread won’t work for everyone (and nobody should use raw flour to dust pan, boards, hands, anything…).
The bread tasted good, I was fine for about an hour and happy to be able to eat true sourdough, but then I spent the next 18 hours with severe diarrhea. So be very careful.
johnny
HI
Can you please tell me where i can buy sourdough bread made without yeast.
Thanks
Johnny
Hlias
You dont have to buy any sourdough starter. Just mix previous boiled water – now att room temperature with any good quality organic flour untill a thick consistency. Place it at a warm place and wait 4-7 days untill it bubbles. And voila! 🙂 you have your sourdough yeast. All grannmas hwho know are making it the same way 😉 Enjoy!
Claire
One thing I’m not clear on from the article is the difference between the bread raised with normal lactobacilli culture and that raised with the ‘special’ lactobacilli culture. It does not explain the difference. We make our own sourdough bread just with flour and water, having made our own starter. Does this mean we have the ‘normal’ or the ‘special’ culture???
Susan
Thanks for the article, it’s not dangerous to publish these findings, I think it’s dangerous not to, as you said, more work needs to be done, but it’s encouraging – we need hope and solutions beyond the grocery store or the M.D’s. I believe there’s a nutritious way to consume grains because God told Joseph to store grains for 7 years of famine – which saved their lives. Hopefully, we can heal our guts and again enjoy grains in some manner, yes, processed grains have in part devasted peoples health, but perhaps with brave studies like this, we will uncover lost knowledge and learn a way they actually contribute to our healing. Times are tough, getting tougher. Our bodies are resilliant and God gives many ways to nourish them, if even for a limited time –
Cassie
One thing to remember here is that the research shows that the bread contains only 25-30% wheat. Using other grains cuts down on the amount of gluten involved. The other part to remember is that the bread needs to sit on the counter to rise for at least 12 hours to allow the Lactobacilli to build up do it’s digesting work. This is also what gives sourdough it’s sour taste.
Spelt could be a good option as it is much lower in gluten than wheat.
Jessie Hawkins at Vintage Remedies will be coming out with a bread book next spring that focuses on sourdough and it’s history. It will discuss the gluten intolerance/Celiac issue and include gluten and gluten-free sourdough recipes.
sgcr
Aaaand, thank you for someone finally mentioning using spelt which is what they’re recommending sourdough’d on the fodmap diet to also break down the carb. part of flours now thought to be a problem for people too.