Interesting video on the changes in bread. The Medieval peasants diet was 70% bread, and diabetes, celiac, IBS, etc., were almost completely unknown. Since 1900, our cancer rate has risen from 1 in 100 to 50%. Maybe it is the bread?
Modern Bread
- Thread starter LoreD
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Lou
Forum Legend
Solution: buy organic bread (at least in California organic bread is not GMO)
buy bread with just the 3 ingredients flour sugar salt.
I believe in order for French bread to be called French bread it can only contain those 3 ingredients
And buy bread that is mostly whole grain.
and Greager and Fuhrman both agree - eat less than 5 servings of grains per day. Maybe just 3. Although I find 3 to be hard to achieve goal.
If you are interested in this topic you can check out the book and/or documentary Cooked by Michael Pollan
and the history book or documentary Guns, Germs, and steel.
Guns, Germs, and Steel - Wikipedia
Can't remember who to attribute this to but there is theory that all of humanity's evils can be traced back to when we started growing wheat. cities, money, slavery,
Solution: buy organic bread (at least in California organic bread is not GMO)
buy bread with just the 3 ingredients flour sugar salt.
I believe in order for French bread to be called French bread it can only contain those 3 ingredients
And buy bread that is mostly whole grain.
and Greager and Fuhrman both agree - eat less than 5 servings of grains per day. Maybe just 3. Although I find 3 to be hard to achieve goal.
If you are interested in this topic you can check out the book and/or documentary Cooked by Michael Pollan
and the history book or documentary Guns, Germs, and steel.
Guns, Germs, and Steel - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Can't remember who to attribute this to but there is theory that all of humanity's evils can be traced back to when we started growing wheat. cities, money, slavery,
You only need 3 ingredients to make bread, flour, salt and water. No sugar.
I only use ancient organic grains and flour for baking and cooking. The same goes for pasta. I buy whole wheat durum pasta which is made in Italy. You really cannot even compare the taste to white supermarket pasta.
Organic sourdough made with ancient grains is widely available in speciality bakeries and also health food stores. They taste nothing like the cheaper supermarket sliced bread. However, there isn't a big demand for these kind of products.
I had a hard time finding organic whole wheat bread when I was in California. It seems far more popular over here in Europe and far easier to find as there are still many independent bakeries.
Organic sourdough made with ancient grains is widely available in speciality bakeries and also health food stores. They taste nothing like the cheaper supermarket sliced bread. However, there isn't a big demand for these kind of products.
I had a hard time finding organic whole wheat bread when I was in California. It seems far more popular over here in Europe and far easier to find as there are still many independent bakeries.
Lou
Forum Legend
well, I'm in California and I don't have any problems finding "Good" bread.
Just about every supermarket has Ezekials in their frozen food section. It's a little expensive but worth it.
Dave's Killer Bread is also in most supermarkets and organic. It's also less expensive than Ezekiel's. and it tastes great. There is also a social aspect to this company, founded by an ex- con who only hires ex-cons.
Trader Joe's has a number of good breads. my favorite is their Super Bread. All organic. Although the ingredients list is long, as far as I can tells it's almost entirely made from organic foods.
Also we still have a few very good bakeries. I used to live across the street from one but the woman who ran it retired and now a caterer rents the store front. Now the best bet is the farmer markets. We have a grocery store that is. like a permanent farmer's market. I get fruits and veggies there. I'll have to try the baked items sometime.
Also brand new is an industrial space that is broken up into stalls where all kinds of farmer's market stalls operate on a limited schedule. The biggest and best is the bakery. I went there the other day to pick up some pies for my niece's thanksgiving. None of them were vegan but I want to go back there and see what else I can find.
www.foodforlife.com
www.daveskillerbread.com
Just about every supermarket has Ezekials in their frozen food section. It's a little expensive but worth it.
Dave's Killer Bread is also in most supermarkets and organic. It's also less expensive than Ezekiel's. and it tastes great. There is also a social aspect to this company, founded by an ex- con who only hires ex-cons.
Trader Joe's has a number of good breads. my favorite is their Super Bread. All organic. Although the ingredients list is long, as far as I can tells it's almost entirely made from organic foods.
Also we still have a few very good bakeries. I used to live across the street from one but the woman who ran it retired and now a caterer rents the store front. Now the best bet is the farmer markets. We have a grocery store that is. like a permanent farmer's market. I get fruits and veggies there. I'll have to try the baked items sometime.
Also brand new is an industrial space that is broken up into stalls where all kinds of farmer's market stalls operate on a limited schedule. The biggest and best is the bakery. I went there the other day to pick up some pies for my niece's thanksgiving. None of them were vegan but I want to go back there and see what else I can find.
Ezekiel Sprouted Bread | Food For Life | Ezekiel Bread Ingredients
Looking for Ezekiel bread ingredients? Food For Life bakes the best-tasting Ezekiel Sprouted Bread. Discover why this is the healthiest bread on the market!
Dave's Killer Bread
Dave's Killer Bread is an American brand of organic whole-grain products. Packed with seeds and grains, made with only the very best organic and non-GMO ingredients.
www.daveskillerbread.com
well, I'm in California and I don't have any problems finding "Good" bread.
Just about every supermarket has Ezekials in their frozen food section. It's a little expensive but worth it.
Dave's Killer Bread is also in most supermarkets and organic. It's also less expensive than Ezekiel's. and it tastes great. There is also a social aspect to this company, founded by an ex- con who only hires ex-cons.
Trader Joe's has a number of good breads. my favorite is their Super Bread. All organic. Although the ingredients list is long, as far as I can tells it's almost entirely made from organic foods.
Also we still have a few very good bakeries. I used to live across the street from one but the woman who ran it retired and now a caterer rents the store front. Now the best bet is the farmer markets. We have a grocery store that is. like a permanent farmer's market. I get fruits and veggies there. I'll have to try the baked items sometime.
Also brand new is an industrial space that is broken up into stalls where all kinds of farmer's market stalls operate on a limited schedule. The biggest and best is the bakery. I went there the other day to pick up some pies for my niece's thanksgiving. None of them were vegan but I want to go back there and see what else I can find.
Ezekiel Sprouted Bread | Food For Life | Ezekiel Bread Ingredients
Looking for Ezekiel bread ingredients? Food For Life bakes the best-tasting Ezekiel Sprouted Bread. Discover why this is the healthiest bread on the market!Dave's Killer Bread
Dave's Killer Bread is an American brand of organic whole-grain products. Packed with seeds and grains, made with only the very best organic and non-GMO ingredients.
We definitely don't have the same idea of what good bread tastes like. The above are industrial style breads and one of those brands contains sugar. I also never found that TJ's had a good sourdough bread.
I include a small amount of sugar because I use yeast- but I think I read someplace that yeast will make dough rise even if you don't give it a bit of sugar. I add the sugar to the warm water when I "proof" the yeast at the start. But I've left the salt out of my bread for years.
I'll never forget the bread I made without salt--it was inedible! It was just white and whole wheat, yeast and water--and not spread could save the taste. I think I did make crumbs. I don't usually add sugar.
I should add things like quinoa. I have made a bread with millet that was quite good
My mom always made bread without salt and it was fine. Maybe we just got used to it.
I also add a small amount of sugar to yeast bread. It does not make the bread sweet at all.
"Have you ever wondered why sugar is a common ingredient in bread recipes? You might think it’s just for sweetness, but sugar actually plays multiple roles in the bread-making process. From enhancing flavor to promoting browning and even contributing to the overall texture, sugar is a versatile ingredient that can take your homemade bread to the next level."
I also add a small amount of sugar to yeast bread. It does not make the bread sweet at all.
"Have you ever wondered why sugar is a common ingredient in bread recipes? You might think it’s just for sweetness, but sugar actually plays multiple roles in the bread-making process. From enhancing flavor to promoting browning and even contributing to the overall texture, sugar is a versatile ingredient that can take your homemade bread to the next level."
@silva Bread without salt is a bit bland, comparatively. I think "salty" is one of those 4 basic flavors. But over the years, I've become accustomed to low-salt or no-salt foods. I still consume salt, of course, because it is a necessary nutrient, but I've come to feel that many commercial foods use so much that we've become used to a very high-salt diet.
500channelsurfer
Forum Legend
Most of the changes in bread described in the video (use of pesticides, selective breeding, genetic engineering, modern harvesting, industrial high processing etc.) apply to most products in our entire food system.
I don't disagree with the video, but why such an emphasis on bread when the same can be said about most other large-scale crops as well?
Cancer and disease rates have also greatly increased due to increased longevity, use of plastics and chemicals, and are identified and studied, rather than ignored, due to great advances in medical diagnosis (in Medieval times it was common for peasants to simply accept a person as having died, and not even seek out the cause of death, because deaths were just so common).
I buy from an organic bakery that makes sourdough bread. It is just down the street, and, surprisingly, their loaves are fairly competitive. My favorite sandwich bread is made from semolina. And my favorite breakfast bread is fig hazelnut. I pay $8-9 per loaf, and the supermarker organic is $6-7 per loaf. Not that big a difference.
The co-op (3 blocks away) has an organic in store bakery, and about 20 minutes away there is a commercial space that is used by rotating bakers and cooks that sell their products through the store. Everything organic, and changes daily depending on which group is baking.
This is a smaller Wisconsin town, so my prices are a lot lower than more urban cities.
I have two large organic supermarkets (run by the same Mennonite family) that are on the way to my daughters house. They have large bakeries, and I usually stock up for the freezer. A bit more expensive, but worth it.
I am going over to the Winter Farmer's Market on Saturday. They usually have several people selling organic bread.
I'm pretty lucky. I live in an area that seems to have quite a few sources.
The co-op (3 blocks away) has an organic in store bakery, and about 20 minutes away there is a commercial space that is used by rotating bakers and cooks that sell their products through the store. Everything organic, and changes daily depending on which group is baking.
This is a smaller Wisconsin town, so my prices are a lot lower than more urban cities.
I have two large organic supermarkets (run by the same Mennonite family) that are on the way to my daughters house. They have large bakeries, and I usually stock up for the freezer. A bit more expensive, but worth it.
I am going over to the Winter Farmer's Market on Saturday. They usually have several people selling organic bread.
I'm pretty lucky. I live in an area that seems to have quite a few sources.
It will rise without sugar. Actually, a slow rise will have a better end result. You can even leave it to rise in the fridge.
I believe that this is relevant to industrial style bread. I never add sugar to bread dough and it works out fine. You really do need good quality flour and salt.
