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The Staff of Life
by Jack Kittredge
True bread needs only flour, water, salt and yeast. But few of us eat true bread anymore. It made up 50% of the calories in the diet of most Europeans for hundreds of years and has gone through many modifications over that time.
Wheat flour is produced by grinding the wheat berry, or kernel, which is otherwise too tough to use in baking. Grinding breaks and mixes the wheat’s parts:
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the outer coating of brownish bran, providing fiber, plus some antioxidants, and B vitamins,
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the inner tan germ, embryo of the new plant and rich in fats, B vitamins, vitamin E, antioxidants, and minerals, and
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the white endosperm, intended by nature as food for the germinating new plant, containing 83% of the kernel by weight, composed mostly of starch (carbohydrates) and protein.
Grinding wheat is crucial. Doing it by hand is laborious and stone grinding mills, powered by animals or water or wind, were one of the earliest machines humans developed. Grinding stones produced a powder from which it was possible to remove most of the bran by sifting or sieving. But it was not easy to remove much of the oily germ – which provided some darkness and most of the healthfulness of bread. Once steel roller mills were developed, in the 1870s, the germ could be fully removed. This had several consequences: whiter flour had always been considered to be of a higher status and now it was easily available, germ oils had caused flour to go rancid over time and now without them flour could last indefinitely. This meant local mills were no longer necessary in each town and a national milling industry developed. Sound familiar? Technology promotes industrialization of our food supply and worsens chronic disease by eliminating key nutrients.
Wheat, like most crops, has of course also been intensively bred. Two primary types exist: “Hard” and “soft”. Hard, high in protein, thrives in the hot and arid regions of North America. Proteins, when wet, become elastic and create dense and chewy items like bagels. Soft wheat prefers the milder climate of Central Europe and is used for lighter bread textures. Since proteins form gluten, consumers sensitive to that will find European breads easier on their digestion. But beware, most wheats have been bred to increase protein levels.
Gluten is not the only issue making bread a modern problem. To increase uniformity, speed and shelf life, additives are added to it as dough conditioners, oxidizers, emulsifiers, bleaches and maturing agents. Some have been shown to increase the risk of cancer. Since the 1940s, U.S. millers have been required to add iron and B vitamins — to address the nutrient deficiencies they just brought about by stripping off bran and germ during milling. Many U.S. breads include added sugars (often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup) to accelerate browning, enhance flavor, and appeal to sweet-leaning palates.
One difference between traditional and modern breads lies in how long the dough is fermented. Extended fermentation gives microbes time to transform the dough, breaking down gluten and sugars while enriching flavor and nutrition. Many European bakeries maintain fermenting dough for 12 to 48 hours, allowing wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria to break down proteins and carbohydrates. US bakers typically mix, proof, and bake within a few hours, however, skipping the microbial transformations of slow fermentation.
In America the herbicide glyphosate is used to suppress weeds and to speed up drying – a use prohibited in Europe. Glyphosate works by blocking the shikimate pathway, a chemical enzyme system used by bacteria. Disrupting microbial communities affects one’s digestion, immune regulation, and even mood, however, since your microbiome interacts with nearly every part of your physiology. In 2015 glyphosate was classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” citing evidence from animal studies and human data.
Next time you reach for a slice of bread, think about whether you want a high-tech industrial food or one evolved by Nature to feed your body and your soul.
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