Bread Can Be Nutritious, But There Are Rules
By: Tim Rees
Tags: Health, Diet, Lifestyle, Science, Food

Bread Can Be Nutritious, But There Are Rules

And modern bread breaks all of them.

Modern-day bread is the consequence of shortcuts made at every stage of its production. As a result, the human staple for millennia has now become junk food. It’s low in nutrients, high in energy, easy to eat, cheap to buy, and ubiquitous. Modern bread is also hard to digest and problematic for a burgeoning group of people. The old fashioned, ancient food is none of those things, for a whole host of reasons.

When the soil is rich, and the grains are processed appropriately; the end-product is a world apart from the highly processed, hyper-palatable pap you see on the shelves today. For many, bread can be nutritious if we use the keys, handed down to us by our ancestors to unlock the nutrients inside the grains, and banish their chemical defenses.

Here’s why you may want to make some changes to your daily bread, read on.

Grains in the human diet

Grains, the main ingredient in bread, have been in the human diet for a minimum of 105,000 years, budding in parts of the ‘fertile crescent’, an area spanning the Middle East in which ancient humans flourished. We’ve been milling grains for at least 23,000 years, and storing them before domestication for about 11,300 years. But, the first evidence of bread making was collected by a meticulous archaeologist, sweeping charred bits from around a fireplace that were later dated to 14,000 years old; the oldest bread crumbs in the world.

The archaic flatbread was made from wild einkorn, a type of unadulterated wheat that’s making a comeback as artisan bread in flashy restaurants. Other grains that have traditionally been used to make bread include, rye, spelt (Dinkel), corn, Teff, Kamut, emmer, and many others. Each has its idiosyncrasies, from growing, processing, cooking, to flavour, and nutrient content.

However, one thing they all had in common was how they were carefully processed. You may think ‘processing’ denotes a modern action, but humans have processed grains in low-tech ways, for important reasons, over millennia. Grains of all kinds, to varying degrees, contain defensive chemicals that human digestive tracts are not well equipped to deal with. Collectively, they are known as anti-nutrients.

We don’t need to evolve to eat grains

Herbivores have a digestive system that effectively grinds, soaks, and then ferments grains — pre agriculture these would have been wild — and other plants so they can extract the nutrients effectively. Humans are not herbivores, and so you shouldn’t skip the steps, which amount to predigesting hard to metabolize components using simple tools.

Tool usage has a direct influence on the stresses provoking adaptations and evolution. By predigesting grains in low tech ways, and making them easier to assimilate, our digestive systems have not evolved to perform the same task.

the ‘oysters & corn tortilla’ gang absorbed none of the zinc in the meal.

The basic steps of soaking, sprouting, and fermenting can be performed with just a bowl, some water, and little else. To this day, those with the least possessions ensure these traditions are honoured, when shortcuts are applied, problems arise. When the poorest populations rely on food aid, rather than preparing the foods themselves in traditional ways, a serious nutrient deficiency disease can manifest.

Nutrients & Antinutrients

Grains, when the soil permits, contain diverse B vitamins and minerals. So, if you eat them, you’ll obtain those nutrients, right? Sadly, it’s never that simple. Grains and other plants, including nuts, seeds, and legumes, contain chemicals that help ensure the seed survives to sprout into a plant and prolong their species’ existence. They include phytates, lectins, oxalates, gluten, and others. These troublesome components prevent micronutrients from being absorbed and cause inflammation in some people.

A study by the USDA, in collaboration with the Institute of Central America, demonstrated something quite remarkable about the effects of antinutrients in normal foods. Using blood to evaluate the bioavailability of zinc from oysters, the scientists tested three groups: Oysters only, oysters & corn tortillas, and oysters & black beans. Have a look at the line chart below.

Image from ‘Studies on the bioavailability of zinc in man.’

After the test meal, the ‘oysters only’ group measured high for zinc, the level rising straightaway as expected because the shellfish are excellent sources of the critical mineral. The ‘oysters & black beans’ group had reduced levels of zinc absorption, but the ‘oysters & corn tortilla’ gang absorbed none of the zinc in the meal. The researchers also demonstrated a similar, but not as dramatic, effect with white bread in place of corn tortillas.

When corn (maize) was first brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus, after his successful 1492 mission to the Americas, it took off quickly. Corn has a higher yield than the European grains of the time; rye, wheat, and barley. But it carried with it a hidden curse. The Aztec and Mayan civilizations had learnt, probably the hard way, that corn needed processing before eating.

The next logical step was to blame the victims by claiming they were Vampires right up until the 20th Century when scientists discovered the truth and the simple remedy; appropriate food preparation.

Low-tech Processing

The ancient Central Americans had a trick up their sleeves. They used limewater, an alkaline solution, to soak corn overnight before cooking. The limewater breaks down the antinutrients in corn, giving our digestive tracts the ability to extract the nutrients that are, without the preparatory step, locked away and untouchable. Although the ancient people’s couldn’t tell you what the mechanisms were, they knew it was a step not to be missed.

However, those growing the hardy crop in the Dark Ages, Europe, had no idea. Starting centuries before science advanced enough for answers, people were afflicted by a nightmarish disease called Pellagra, see the image below.

Sadly, the European settlers in the Appalachians, USA, were not as savvy as the ancient Central American cultures who knew how to make corn digestible. Image Credit.

The vitamin B3 (niacin) deficiency disease is classified by four ‘Ds’: Dermatitis, diarrhoea, dementia, and finally death, and reached epidemic proportions at times. By 1735, the learned of the time suspected a connection with corn, but couldn’t puzzle it out. After all, the Central Americans ate more corn, but pellagra seemed not to touch them. The next logical step was to blame the victims by claiming they were Vampires right up until the 20th Century when scientists discovered the truth and the simple remedy; appropriate food preparation.

The traditional techniques; sprouting, soaking, fermenting, and cooking, are low-tech ways of processing foods that have been done for millennia and are still taken seriously by traditional cultures, and foodies. Modern science, as ancient wisdom had done with trial and error, has determined how effective these simple techniques are for improving the bioavailability of nutrients within foods, and deactivating the chemicals that do cause real harm to some.