We saw this documentary ‘Cooked’ inspired in Michael Pollan’s book and it’s fascinating.

wwww.michaelpollan.com/videos/netflix-documentary-series-cooked/ 

The ‘Air’ episode especially got our attention. Michael talks about bread – Yes, bread! – and how it has changed since it first originated back in Egypt in 500 BC. It really makes you think.

If you are interested about food and how it influences your health, please read this:

Around 6,000 years ago, someone invented bread by simply leaving flour and water lying around. That mix started to bubble and to naturally ferment.

So basically, that is Sourdough: a culture of yeasts and beneficial bacteria that occur naturally in bread flour and dough using two organisms: wild yeast and bacteria. The yeast and bacteria transform the grain and make it easier to digest.

But by the 20th century, readymade yeast was now available for large-scale commercial baking, and the new roller mills, processing tons of grain and refined flour (white flour) appeared. This was the new industrial process for mass production – the start of ‘fast food’.

In order to produce an acceptable loaf in the minimum of time, a whole arsenal of additives is necessary: among them extra yeast, extra gluten, fat to improve crumb softness, reducing agents to help create stretchier doughs, soya flour to add volume and softness, emulsifiers to produce bigger, softer loaves and retard staling, preservatives – to extend shelf-life, and a wide variety of enzymes.

Commercial yeast is a single kind of organism that raises the bread very quickly and transforms grain into something that’s even less good for you.

What is the impact on our health of bread produced this way? An epidemic of diabetes, gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease.

But what are the healthy benefits of sourdough bread?

In the long slow fermentation that produces sourdough bread, important nutrients such as iron, zinc and magnesium, antioxidants, folic acid and other B vitamins become easier for our bodies to absorb.

The longer soaking/rising time breaks the proteins (gluten) down into amino acids, making it more easily digested. This is why some who have a gluten sensitivity can tolerate sourdough wheat breads.

Source: The Guardian

Basics: bread, almond butter, banana and cinnamon.

Total time: 10m

Author: Honest Onion
Recipe type: Breakfast & Snacks
Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread (I used sourdough)
• Almond butter
• 1 ripe banana
• Ground cinnamon

Steps:

1. Toast the bread.
2. Spread the almond butter evenly.
3. Slice the banana and divide it between the slices.
4. Spread the ground cinnamon on top.
5. Warm the slices on the oven or microwave for 40-50 seconds, just enough to warm it.

The smell of cinnamon and the contrast from the salty bread and the sweet banana it’s amazing.

Please share your thoughts about Sourdough bread and this article.

It’s amazing how we can improve our health by what we eat, the choice is yours. When you know better, you do better, right?

We hope it will make you think too!

Enjoy!

xx