Our Sourdough Bread-Making Experiment: One Month In!

My husband, John, recently decided to become a master of whole-grain sourdough bread.

Why Did He Start Making Sourdough Bread?

First, I told him that my kids loved it when they were growing up and still talk about it. And I work a lot, and lost my zeal for projects like this when I had no kids to feed.

Second, he loves bread, and is now married to someone who doesn’t like bread in my house.

Third, to test my hypothesis that it’s not really “gluten” – it’s other things.

Our Results from Eating Homemade Sourdough Bread Every Day for One Month

We’ve eaten bread every day for a month and have zero noticeable inflammation.

Despite playing pickleball almost daily, and all our other usual fitness activities. We have no achy joints; we feel great.

I know everyone’s commitment level to the “gluten-free” thing, but we white Euro- and Scandinavian-descent people wouldn’t even be here without wheat.

It’s how our ancestors lived through the winter. So it’s never made sense to me that the “staff of life” is the problem. For thousands of years, eating wheat was a part of human life. (It was in King Tut’s tomb, after all.)

Is Gluten Really the Problem with Bread?

So I think the anti-gluten crowd hasn’t separated these factors that may play a role in why modern wheat causes inflammation for many:

• Sprayed TWICE with glyphosate (Roundup) in the US and Canada since the 90s.

• Hybridized (many strains of wheat, especially durum) hundreds of times.

• Processed, removing germ (nutrients) and bran (fiber), plus leaving chemical residues in the white flour.

• Quick-rise yeast that doesn’t die in the gut (so we use sourdough starter).

• Wheat proteins are harder to digest if they’re not broken down in the natural sourdough fermentation process.

• Nobody in history ate processed “gluten” all day long–many people, cookies, bagels, sandwiches, cereal, and more.

I lean toward #1 being the big issue, since Europe has mostly abandoned glyphosate, especially glyphosate sprayed a second time as a desiccant –

– and so many wheat-sensitive people eat even processed European breads with no problem.

A Tip to Make Fluffy Homemade Sourdough Bread

We were able to make fluffy bread with 100% whole organic wheat!

Most people who want fluffy bread use a combination of white flour and some whole wheat.

We were committed to milling 100% whole organic wheat, though, and John’s got some pretty nice rising going on lately.

After about a month, he baked a loaf that I was willing to photograph.

He said what made the difference was “rising” more – he left the dough out all day before baking. Not just for a few hours.

Our Favorite Homemade Sourdough Recipe

My kids’ favorite was to dip it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

If you try it, let me know!

Here’s the recipe John used – but we use 100% soft white wheat, fresh milled, and less salt:

This is where we bought our sourdough starter:

I buy organic wheat from Azure Standard (dot com), where a local person tells you when you come to pick up your order. I’ve ordered from them for 30 years.

Should You Make Sourdough Bread?

Homemade, organic sourdough bread might be a way to reduce your food budget, increase your fiber intake (a top American diet deficit) and nutrition, and have something delicious to look forward to.

Read Next: Wheat Is Good For You! (But Not How You’re Eating It)