Most of us today, especially in the United States, eat bread every day. Whether it’s breakfast toast, a sandwich, a wrap, bread sticks or a burger bun, most eat bread multiple times a day. But bread is not what it once was. It would actually be unrecognizable to our ancestors. It has lost most of its nutritional content, most of its fiber, and honestly, bread today could resemble more of a sugar drink. You can imagine how this would affect our gut bacteria. But you won’t have to research long to find that true sourdough bread is one of the healthiest breads out there! It is naturally leavened the way bread use to be and this makes a world of difference.

It’s only been in the last hundred years that we have been using commercial yeasts as a leavening agent. Which has brought with it many health issues (not to mention, most bread now days is a highly processed food). But before commercial yeasts, all bread was “sourdough.”

Sourdough is the ancient method of leavening bread. Which is quite simple. You add a yeast culture to flour and water and let it ferment. This mixture is what makes the bread rise. Here’s a little video to educate you on the process.

But the easiest way is by getting a little starter from somebody else. This is what we did! And we got our sourdough starter from none other than our friend Barbara O Neil! Check out this little clip from the last time she was in the states and came by to visit us!

Barbara shared the starter to our founder about 10 years ago. We took a small amount and have been feeding it gluten-free grains ever since! We have many celiacs that enjoy our bread and it has been changing people’s lives through it’s wonderful ability to heal the gut microbiome.

Sourdough is truly a beautiful and amazing ancient science. Here’s a little clip on the art of sourdough with Dr. Vanessa Kimbell for your enjoyment…

Sandy K Workman
SK Director of Brand Development