Did you know real bread can be good for your health and immunity? And we know that with the COVID-19 crisis, we are all looking for ways to boost our immune systems. After all, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, warned last fall:
“When you talk about the multiple multivitamins and the herbs and the things that people do to so-called boost immunity, that really doesn’t boost immunity, and may have a better placebo effect than anything else.
“If you really want to keep your immune system working optimally, there are things that you do that are normal things: Get a reasonable amount of sleep, get a good diet, try to avoid or alleviate severe stress, which we know can sometimes impact the immune system. That is much more healthy living than giving yourself supplements of anything.”[1]
Then warns Dr. Michael L. Barnett, a primary care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and assistant professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health:
“A second, hidden pandemic will follow COVID-19. The question isn’t so much whether it will happen, but how bad it will be. Many diets will slump. Expecting the typical American to keep up with regular exercise under the circumstances is probably a joke. Patients will avoid filling their prescriptions, out of fear of pharmacies or financial desperation. And mental-health issues will flare as the economy worsens and people are stuck at home for weeks.”[2]
With Fauci’s suggestion to do simple things and Barnett’s suggestion to be on guard against poor diet, missing exercise, and prescriptions, we have pulled together seven ways you can boost your immunity with the help of sourdough bread. And just so you know, 80% of your immune system is found right in your gut—so let’s start there
Eating and Sleeping Your Way to a Better Immunity
1. Mill and Eat Your Own Whole Grains
Whole grain and other plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes, contain vitamin C, antioxidants, and fiber. All of these may help to build up your immunity. With the COVID-19 outbreak, people concerned about their health are looking more and more at their dietary habits. “Yet, most are unaware of the potential nutritional value of bread, which makes up a major part of their diet.”[3]
For example, 25 grams (an average serving or slice) of whole-wheat bread offers 85 calories with 3.3 grams of protein, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 2.7 grams of fiber, and .6 grams of fat. Along with these values, a slice has 1% of your daily calcium, 3% of your required iron, and 4% of your sodium.[4] But that same slice of bread can also be a good source of minerals and vitamins depending on the soil the wheat was grown in.
Wheat, especially non-GMO, old-strain wheat, and other ancient strains, contain many of the essential nutrients we need for more robust immune responses. After all, “whole-grain wheat can be a rich source of various antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.”[5]
2. For Better Immunity, Don’t Take Your Vitamins and Minerals, Eat Them
“If you really want to keep your immune system working optimally, …get a reasonable amount of sleep, get a good diet, try to avoid or alleviate severe stress, which we know can sometimes impact the immune system. That is much more healthy living than giving yourself supplements of anything.”—Dr. Anthony Fauci
Though supplements might help to fight viral infections and build immunity, “none have been proven to be effective against COVID-19.”[6] But according to Atli Arnarson, Ph.D., “whole wheat may be a decent source of several vitamins and minerals, including selenium, manganese, phosphorus, copper, and folate,”[7] all of which may help build natural immunity.
He listed these minerals and vitamins found in whole-wheat that becomes bioavailable when processed during a long ferment:
- “Selenium. This trace element has various essential functions in your body. The selenium content of wheat depends on the soil—and is very low in some regions, including China.”[8]
- “Manganese. Found in high amounts in whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables, manganese may be poorly absorbed from whole wheat due to its phytic acid content,”[9] which of course, can be eliminated through long fermentation with a sourdough start. An autolyse or wheat-soak can also help to mitigate the problems of phytic acid.
- “Phosphorus. This dietary mineral plays an essential role in the maintenance and growth of body tissues.
- “Copper. An essential trace element, copper is often low in the Western diet. Deficiency may have adverse effects on heart health.”[10]
- “Folate. One of the B vitamins, folate is also known as folic acid or vitamin B9. It’s particularly important during pregnancy.”[11]
3. Improve Your Gut Health
As explained above, once baked, sourdough bread has a prebiotic effect that works with your probiotics to foster good bacterial growth in your gut.
Baked sourdough bread offers the body a prebiotic effect that is similar to eating lots of fiber.
In other words, sourdough fertilizes the good bacteria in your gut, providing better nutrition. Because whole grains have high fiber content, they reduce constipation, add bulk to your stool, and also feed healthy gut bacteria even further.
Whole wheat, which is rich in insoluble fiber, can be healthy for those who eat it regularly. It also seems to improve digestion.[12] Fiber also shortens the time it takes for undigested material to move through the digestive tract, helping to prevent colon cancer.[13]
Unfortunately, refined flour has had the bran removed, which is where the fiber is. Some research shows that bran may act like a prebiotic, feeding good intestinal bacteria that benefit immunity.
However, in modern, “industrialized countries, the consumption of refined flour products is much more common.
Many studies with animals and recorded cases dealing with people show the serious effects of the lack of nutrients when refined flour products make up the dietary staple… It is advisable to avoid refined, bleached flour, even if it is enriched, and to choose whole-wheat flour.
“However, store-bought whole wheat flour is likely to be void of the germ and a part of the bran, in which the nutrients are most concentrated. Also, it is usually treated with the same chemical improvers as white flour and may have been irradiated. Only organic, stone-ground, whole wheat flour can be complete and untreated by chemicals.
“To obtain maximal nutrition from bread, traditional sourdough bread is best, since the mineral-binding phytates have undergone more breakdown and have freed minerals, so that they may be absorbed. The mineral and vitamin content may also be enhanced with other ingredients that also add variety”[14]
4. Eat Fermented Foods to Promote Immunity
Plus, fermentation helps to break down and impair antinutrients, such as phytates and lectins. These compounds found in grain, legumes, nuts, and seeds can interfere with the absorption of nutrients.[15]
The “advantages of the acidic environment and the lengthy fermentation of sourdough bread include the breakdown of phytates—increasing mineral bioavailability, increased digestibility, and decreased rate of spoilage.
“Various additional ingredients may also enhance the mineral and vitamin content in bread, as well as its protein quality.”[16]
5- Soak Grain Overnight Before Using It
Soaking wheat berries overnight in warm water activates the enzyme phytase on the grain. This phytase then helps to break down phytic acid that binds minerals in wheat like iron, calcium, and zinc. As phytase does its work, it releases minerals in whole grains making them easier to absorb.[17]
The autolyse when you soak wheat flour before making it into bread improves the nutritional value. When combined with sourdough, the nutrition is bolstered. Both processes are vital in making bread more nutritious.
6- Eat Healthy Fats
Chronic inflammation may suppress your immunity, but fats like olive oil and omega-3s are very anti-inflammatory. Plus, is there anything better than a fresh baguette dipped into olive oil or smeared with almond butter as a snack? As it turns out, this yummy indulgence may improve your body’s immunity.
7- Get Enough Sleep
As you work to stay well, remember that most adults need at least seven hours[18] of sleep a night. For reference, Healthline suggests, “teens need 8–10 hours and younger children and infants up to 14 hours,”[19] to decrease the risk of illness.
Need a snack before bed? “Proteins from the food we eat are the building blocks of tryptophan, which is why the best bedtime snack is one that contains both a carbohydrate and protein.[20]” For me, a cup of chamomile tea and a deli slice of turkey on a sourdough baguette, and I am ready for bed.
And rightly so. According to the National Sleep Foundation, you can eat things like a slice of whole-wheat sourdough with milk or eat peanut butter on sourdough toast to promote sleepiness.[21]
Nutrition, Wheat, and Sourdough, a Marriage for a Better Immune System
For millennia, bread made from whole-wheat and other whole grains have been a vital part of the human diet. During most of history, that bread has been made with sourdough that is filled with wild yeast and good bacteria.
Little did bakers from long past know that using sourdough to leaven bread and then allowing it to ferment for an extended period delivers nutrition not found in most commercial bread. The process of fermentation, or leavening with sourdough, also improves digestibility. Each slice has a nutritional boost that we miss in yeasted bread.
Naturally, since Abigail’s Oven bakes only sourdough bread, we want to share some ways that bread may boost your natural defenses against disease and strengthen immunity as we brace for future rounds of COVID-19 and other health crises we may face.
In the comment section below, share your thoughts about diet and immunity.
Resources
1 Hilary Brueck, “The Fauci interview: How to ‘keep your immune system working optimally,’ gather safely, and get by until summer 2022,” Sep 17, 2020
2 Michael L. Barnett, “A second, hidden pandemic will follow covid-19. We need to plan for it,” Washington Post Opinions, APRIL 8, 2020
3 Campbell, Hauser, and Hill, Nutritional Characteristics of Organic, Freshly Stone-ground, Sourdough, and Conventional Breads,” Ecological Agriculture Projects Publication – 35, McGill University (Macdonald Campus), 1991
4 USDA, Whole-wheat Bread, Food Central Search Results
5–7 Atli Arnarson, “Wheat 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Effects,” Healthline, April 4, 20198 Margaret Rayman, “Selenium and human health,” Elsevier, 2012
Malcolm, Hawkesford, and Fang-JieZhao, “Strategies for increasing the selenium content of wheat,” Journal of Cereal Science, Volume 46, Issue 3, November 2007
9 Davidsson, Almgren, Juillerat, and Hurrell, “Manganese Absorption in Humans: The Effect of Phytic Acid and Ascorbic Acid in Soy Formula,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1995 Nov
10 L M Klevay, “Cardiovascular Disease From Copper Deficiency—A History,” Journal of Nutrition, 2000 Feb
11 Fekete, Berti, Trovato, Lohner, Dullemeijer, Souverein, Cetin, and Decsi, “Effect of Folate Intake on Health Outcomes in Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Birth Weight, Placental Weight, and Length of Gestation,” Journal of Nutrition, 2012 Sep
12 Chen, Haack, Janecky, Vollendorf, and Marlett, “Mechanisms by which wheat bran and oat bran increase stool weight in humans” Am J Clin Nutr. 1998 Sep
13 European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, Lancet. 2003 Sep
14 Campbell, Hauser, and Hill, “Nutritional Characteristics of Organic, Freshly Stone-ground, Sourdough, and a Conventional Breads,” Ecological Agriculture Projects Publication – 35
15 Gupta, Gangoliya,and Singh, “Reduction of phytic acid and enhancement of bioavailable micronutrients in food grains,” Journal of Food Science Technology, 2015 Feb
16 Campbell, Hauser, and Hill, ibid.
17 Gupta, Gangoliya,and Singh, ibid.
18 Prather, Janicki-Deverts, Hall, and Cohen, “Behaviorally Assessed Sleep and Susceptibility to the Common Cold,” Sleep. 2015 Sep
19-21 David G. Davila, MD, “Food and Sleep,” National Sleep Foundation
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