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Is Sourdough Bread Good For Diabetics


Gi Gl And Cancer Development

Sourdough Bread Encourages a Healthy Digestive System and Blood Glucose Regulation

Foods with high GI and GL indexes may favour cancer development. Chronic hyperinsulinemia, often associated with frequent intake of foods with a high GI and GL index, promote cancer development through stimulation of multiple cellular signaling cascades and increasing the bioactivity of insulin-like growth factor-1. As far as breast cancer is concerned, insulin and IGF-I inhibit the hepatic synthesis of sex hormone binding insulin . The bioavailability of estrogen is increased thus promoting cellular proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis in breast epithelium and endometrium . Moreover, hyperinsulinemia increases proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress which can, in turn, promote malignancy and neoplastic progression . A large nationwide population-based casecontrol study demonstrated that GI was positively associated with the risk of prostate cancer, while a high GL significantly increased the risk of colorectal and pancreatic cancers .

Will Sourdough Help To Manage Blood Sugar

Researchers havent entirely found out why sourdough bread has a better effect on blood sugar and insulin levels than other types of bread. Its believed that sourdough particles are able to modify the carb molecules of a dough somehow. This results in the reduction of the breads GI.

Of course, eating sourdough bread will be less likely to make your blood sugar levels rise than commercial bread. It also produces fewer phytates which are the antibodies that bind to minerals and prevent them from being absorbed in our body.

Is Sourdough Bread Gluten Free

Many people think that those with gluten sensitivity, irritable bowel syndrome, or celiac disease may tolerate sourdough better than other breads because most of the gluten in sourdough bread is broken down during the process of fermentation.


And this is truethere is less gluten in sourdough bread than in regular white or wheat bread.

But, sourdough bread is not gluten free!

This is most important for those with celiac disease to be aware of, because consuming any gluten at all can be very dangerous.

If you do not have celiac disease, going gluten free can actually cause more harm than good if you are relying on gluten free breads and pastas.

These products are often made from grains like rice, oat, and quinoa and may contain even more carbs than traditional wheat products.


If youre looking to maximize your gut health and steer your blood sugar into a healthy range, skip the gluten free diet and go a step further by adopting a totally grain-free diet. It will not only help your gut health but also benefit blood sugar levels too.

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Fibers And Sourdough Bread

Not only the ones that suffer from diabetes can benefit from consuming sourdough bread.

For example, diverticulitis is an infection of the diverticula, the bulges or pouches that develop along the sides of the long intestine. When bacteria get caught in these sections of the long intestine, it can lead to pain or cramping in the abdomen. There can also be blood found when you go to the bathroom.


In more severe cases, diverticulitis can lead to abscesses, inter-intestinal scars, fistulas, severe bleeding, and peritonitis. There are serious medical conditions and require immediate professional attention.

All of this can sound scary, especially the more severe symptoms. However, diet can help with this as well. Diets that are high in fiber can have a beneficial effect on intestinal health. It is recommended that the daily fiber intake of adults is between 25 and 30 grams from food and not health supplements or other sources.

When it comes to choosing good sourdough bread, it makes sense that a whole wheat choice will have a higher fiber content than its white bread counterpart.

To give you an idea of the differences in fiber content, a slice of whole wheat or multigrain has roughly 1.9 grams of fiber. A slice of sourdough bread has between 2 and 4 grams of fiber.

Making a sandwich using a couple of slices can really boost your daily fiber intake and help you to reach those recommended levels.


Sourdough Bread And Blood Glucose

Is Sourdough Bread Good For Diabetics

Other work has shown that its not just the ingredients used to make the bread that are important. The way the flour is milled and the fermentation methods used can influence how the bread is digested and assimilated by our bodies. A Canadian study, led by Terry Graham, found that blood sugar levels in overweight men showed a smaller spike after eating sourdough bread when compared with yeasted breads. What is especially interesting in this study is that the white sourdough bread resulted in a more moderate blood glucose response than the wholegrain yeasted bread. Further work suggested that sourdough breads made with flours milled from sprouted grains are even more beneficial than either white or wholemeal sourdough bread.

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What Is Rye Bread

Rye is a cereal grain in the same family as barley and wheat.

This hearty grain was originally cultivated by the ancient Romans. In modern times, rye bread is popular in the Middle East and well-loved by many European countries. Pumpernickel bread, for instance, is an all-rye bread with a unique flavor that hails from Germany.

Rye bread is typically made with a sourdough starter, which is a combination of water, flour and live yeast cultures. Breads made from sourdough tend to have a lower pH than other breads and are denser with a gummier texture.


Compared to your average loaf of bleached white bread, a slice of whole-grain rye bread starts to look pretty healthy but is it healthy for people with type 2 diabetes?

To find out, lets break down the nutrition facts for rye bread.

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Making Low Carb Breads At Home

Baking breads at home is going to be your best option. And its actually very easy to do if you know how.

For instance, we have a wholemeal bread where you put all the ingredients into a food processor, blend, pour into a loaf pan and bake. Easy prep, easy cook. And best of all, its just 1 gram net carbs per slice!


Since low carb breads use almond flour, flaxseed meal, coconut flour, and sesame flour, it can be an expensive trial and error because you cant use low carb flours in the same way as you do regular wheat or gluten free flours.

Thats why we created the Low Carb Breads Masterclass it takes the guesswork out of making low carb breads at home and provides over 30 recipes and cooking classes to choose from. You can whiz up low carb breads you and the family enjoy, without wasting any ingredients!

Another example is our 3 Minute Bun. It is ZERO net carbs and can be loaded with any of your favorite fillings.

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What Kind Of Bread Is Best For A Diabetic

Weve recently covered the types of flours that are best for diabetes, so before we dig in and talk about breads, lets briefly look at the flour cheat sheet.


See how everything above coconut flour goes up from 30 g net carbs and above, which is really getting up there.

In reality, the best breads for you to eat are ones made from flaxseed, almond, chickpea or coconut flour, which are a bit more difficult to come by.

Of course, the simplest way to overcome this is to make your own. But, we understand that not everyone wants to make their own bread. So thankfully, there are quite a number of companies that supply great low carb bread options you can buy.

Is Sourdough Bread Better For You

5 Worst And Best Breads For Diabetes

The bottom line Sourdough is a healthier alternative to regular white or whole wheat bread. Although it has comparable nutrients, the lower phytate levels mean it is more digestible and nutritious. The prebiotics also help to keep your gut bacteria happy, and it may be less likely to spike blood sugar levels.

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Should I Eat Sourdough Bread If I Eat A Low Gi Diet

Definitely! Sourdough bread is great for people who eat a low GI diet. Sourdough bread has a lower GI than the usual white bread, its also a great source of fibre, B vitamins, and minerals. If youre diagnosed with diabetes or youre just trying to reduce the risk, its best to have sourdough bread instead of standard sliced white bread.

Can Diabetics Eat Whole Wheat Bread

Diabetes is a metabolic disease, meaning there is a glitch in the way the body converts food energy into usable energy. A healthy reaction to eating carbohydrate is a rise in blood sugar followed by insulin being released as a response. The insulin acts as a key to open up cells within the brain and organs to let glucose in to be used as an immediate source of energy. Any unused energy is then stored in the liver, muscle, and fat tissues. Someone with diabetes has a rise in blood glucose but insulin is either not released or cells are resistant to the insulin. This is why diabetics have difficulty returning their high blood sugar levels back down to normal and thus need to control how much carbohydrate they put into their body throughout the day.

Control carbohydrates. With a little effort and control diabetes can easily be managed. Diabetics should not condemn, but rather control carbohydrates. They should focus on allowing their body only the amount of carbohydrates it can handle at one time . Despite being diabetic, the body still needs and uses carbohydrates as its preferred source of energy. In fact, it is the only source of fuel for the brain! So it should never be eliminated, just merely controlled so your body can handle the glucose load.

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Is Rye Bread Good For Diabetics

For those with type 2 diabetes, one of the choices in foods that you will have to greatly limit is wheat bread. This is because bread made from wheat is high on the glycemic index and will spike your blood sugar if consumed even in normal amounts. This is especially true of white bread as it is perhaps the most egregious in terms of boosting the blood sugar levels.

However, breads made from pumpernickel and sourdough is actually safe to consume because they are both low on the GI listings. Is the same true for rye bread? The case whether rye bread is actually good for those who suffer from type 2 diabetes is the subject of this article.

The Difference Between Sourdough And Normal Bread

The Best is whole Grain Bread Good for Diabetics

To start with, its helpful to understand the difference between the different kinds of bread. Most breads use commercial yeast to rise, but sourdough bread uses a fermentation process. A starter is made from a mixture of flour and water, which is left for at least 24 hours to start the fermentation process. The starter contains yeasts and lactic acid bacteria, which, when added to the rest of the sourdough ingredients, causes the bread to rise.

The fermentation process in sourdough bread may also break down some of the particles in the dough which cause gastrointestinal fermentation and gas production . This may be helpful for those who suffer from bloating after normal bread.

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Breads With High Fibers

Breads that are whole grain, and high in fiber, such as oats or bran, are the best type of bread for people with diabetes to eat.

While you can have a serving or two of bread, you still need to stay within the appropriate amount of carbohydrates for your meal. You can even make your own bread by adding the ingredients to your favorite bread recipe, and enjoy healthier bread at home.

Healthier bread ingredients

If you are a bread baker, like my husband, then you may even have a whole book of bread recipes. You dont need to go out and get a new recipe book. You can just swap out ingredients. Go find your old bread recipe book, and your favorite recipe, and lets get busy swapping out the refined grains for the whole grains.

You want your bread ingredients to be high in protein, high in good fats, and high in fiber. This can reduce the amount that the bread will increase your blood sugar, and the rate at which it does so. The American Diabetes Association recommends that you replace white and refined flours with 100% whole wheat flour.


Once you have found your recipe, first swap out white refined flour for whole grain flour , then swap out one fourth of the whole grain flour for a flour such as almond flour, or flaxseed meal. This will give you protein in your bread, which will further keep your sugar steady.

I suggest reading the following articles:

Why high fiber?

  • Flaxseed meal
  • Coconut flour
  • Multi-grain bread

Research On Sourdough Bread And Diabetes

The research on sourdough has varied results about how it affects your blood sugar and insulin levels.

A 2008 study found that adult subjects with impaired glucose tolerance had lower blood glucose and insulin responses when given a meal of sourdough bread than when given a meal of regular bread made with bakers yeast.


In contrast, a 2012 study found that 50g of carbohydrates from sourdough bread produced a greater blood glucose response than 50g of carbohydrates from a sprouted-grain bread and a 12-grain wheat bread. They also found that 130 mins after the meal, the sourdough bread produced a greater insulin response than any of the other breads tested.

A 2008 study also found that sourdough bread induced a greater insulin response than a non-sourdough bread over a period of 180 minutes post-meal. Sourdough bread also did not curb appetite or promote satiety any more than the placebo bread did.

The ADAs 2017 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, state that: whole-grain consumption is not associated with improvements in glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. Or in other words, whole grains of any kind do not help you regulate blood sugar and A1c thats what the research clearly shows. There is really no evidence to show any type of whole grain provides any benefit for treatment sourdough or not!

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Which Bread Is Best For Your Blood Sugar Levels

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Bread is always tricky: its always a quick reach, and lets face it, a tasty, and filling option that can come in many varieties.

However, as you know, bread is a carbohydrate food that will affect blood sugar levels.

We speak with our diabetes expert, Susan Watkins, RD, CDE, to find out which breads will raise your blood sugar levels the least, and what to look for next time you are in the bakery section of your supermarket.

The good news is that bread can fit into a diabetic meal plan by using it in your total carbohydrate limit for that particular meal or snack.

How many carbohydrates you eat in one sitting has the biggest effect on blood glucose, not how much is consumed per day, Watkins points out, so the key, she says is to spread it out.

Also, it can be hard to control the portion size of bread for some people, especially if you buy it unsliced. So, be sure buy sliced bread or ask your bakery to slice up your loaf before you take it home.

Best Bread For People With Diabetes

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The smell of a freshly baked bread, or the sight of bread, is enough to send your senses reeling. Though people with diabetes should eat bread in moderation, sometimes it can be easy to get carried away. After all, bread is one of the most popular foods all over the globe.

Just because you have diabetes, it doesnt mean that you have to miss out on all the great bread that life has to offer. In order to be able to eat bread if you have diabetes, there are a few things that you will need to know.

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Low Carb Bread Options From Netrition

Netrition is another great online store to purchase low carb goods from. If you live in the US, they have a flat rate shipping cost of $5.99, which is much cheaper than Amazon. They also ship worldwide, just make sure to check the shipping guide.

Another great thing is their prices for items are much cheaper too. For example, remember the Mama Lupes Low Carb Tortillas from Amazon were $11.98?

Well, you can get them from Netrition for just $3.89 per pack!

The MiRico Low Carb Bread is $6.39 per loaf, with 3 g net carbs per serve, so if you buy a few loaves at a time it wont cost anymore in shipping so it makes the cost fairly reasonable. MiRico also have low carb bagels, and low carb tortillas too.

Is Sourdough The Best Bread For Diabetes

The matter of bread has long plagued diabetics. Most people, upon receiving a diagnosis, are encouraged to limit or cut out carbs altogether, including a carbohydrate culprit many hold dear: bread.

For those who have decided to go this route, there are some alternatives, including bread made with alternative flours, such as coconut flour. Finding ready-made alternative-flour bread can be a challenge, howeverparticularly if you hope to find a loaf low in sugar and at least somewhat decent in flavor. Fortunately, there may be a way to keep bread in your diet and maintain a grip on healthy carbs, and that way is sourdough.

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