Why Bread Isn’t What It Used To Be (And How To Make Better Bread)

For more than 30,000 years, humans have been making bread. The cultivation of cereal grains such as wheat made civilization possible and occurred independently in human cultures all around the globe.

This staple food is deeply embedded in our culinary practices and collective history. But today, bread isn't what it used to be.

Technological advancements have radically changed how we make bread and what we make it from. These changes have turned bread into an industrial food product, often stripped of nutrients and filled with harmful chemical additives.

In the article we'll review the problems with modern bread, and how you can make bone-healthier bread choices. Plus, you'll get a recipe for a simple and delicious bone-building bread you can make at home!

Wheat And Bread, Then And Now

You may have heard that our ancestors didn't eat bread, but that simply isn't true. For tens of thousands of years, humans have been turning grains into various forms of bread.

In 3,000 BC, the Egyptians were the first to use wild yeast to create the light fluffy bread we know today. Before that, bread would have been unleavened.

Over thousands of years, people in different corners of the world discovered how to grind down grain native to their homeland and turn it into bread. Grains could be cultivated in large quantities and then dried and stored, allowing humans to settle down and create towns and cities.

Then, in the 1870s, the introduction of the modern steel roller revolutionized grain milling. This new technology was more efficient and made it possible to easily separate the parts of the wheat. White flour, once a luxury, became the standard.

The process of milling fine, shelf-stable white flour removes the most nutrient-rich parts of the wheat kernel. The gran, germ, shorts, and other components contain the proteins, vitamins, fats, and minerals that allowed bread to nourish past generations. As a result, almost all commercially available wheat flour is devoid of the nutrients in wheat kernels.

In the 1950s and 60s, agricultural scientists developed high-yield varieties, hybridized seeds, and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Modern industrialized agricultural practices radically increased production capacity, but they also led to the toxic contamination and genetic modification of wheat. Modernity has radically altered the plant that once gave birth to civilization.

Synopsis

Wheat and other grains facilitated the growth of human civilization. Then, modern steel rollers made shelf-stable nutrient-barren white flour the standard. Industrialized agriculture introduced genetic modification and chemical pesticides.Commercial bread is no longer the nutrient-rich staple it once was.

Gluten And Inflammation

One of the primary health issues with bread is that it is most often made from wheat, and wheat contains gluten. Gluten is a set of proteins found primarily in wheat, but also in barley, rye, spelt, and other grains. Gluten constitutes approximately 80% of the total proteins in wheat.

Gluten is what gives bread dough its stretchy elastic consistency, but unfortunately, gluten's special properties also make it difficult to digest. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that causes the body to damage the small intestine when it comes into contact with gluten. Others may experience less severe symptoms due to gluten sensitivity.

However, even for people who can digest gluten without digestive discomfort or other immediate side effects, gluten has undesirable impacts on the body.

Gluten triggers inflammation, which poses a concern for Savers because it hinders bone health and proper bone remodeling. Other potential effects of gluten can include disturbances to the gut microbiome, increased oxidative stress, and changes to gene expression.¹

Studies have linked gluten intake with neurodegenerative conditions, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease (PD), depression, and anxiety. Researchers observed that participants with these conditions improved when gluten was eliminated from their diets.²

These downsides of gluten have become more widely known, allowing people to identify the cause of these symptoms and alter their diets to reduce or eliminate gluten.

Synopsis

Wheat contains gluten, a set of proteins that have been linked to unwanted symptoms in many people. People with celiac disease cannot eat gluten at all, while other people have gluten sensitivities that cause unwanted side effects. Gluten can disturb the gut microbiome, cause oxidative stress, and may contribute to or worsen neurodegenerative conditions.

Wheat And Bone Health

Wheat is acidifying. It is also inflammatory — due to its gluten content. These two factors make wheat a net negative for bone health, especially when milled into nutritionally barren white flour. As farming practices have shifted to prioritize production levels over safety and nutritional value, wheat has largely become genetically modified and exposed to chemical pesticides.

Conventionally grown, non-organic wheat is increasingly treated with glyphosate. It's the active ingredient in the weed-killer Roundup, the most widely used herbicide in the world.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that in 2017 approximately 12.4 million pounds of glyphosate were applied to wheat grown in the U.S. More than 58 percent of that acreage was durum wheat, commonly used to make pasta.

The impacts of glyphosate are broad and troubling. Consider this passage from a study published in the Journal of Molecular Science.

“Glyphosate also seems to exert a significant toxic effect on neurotransmission and to induce oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction, processes that lead to neuronal death due to autophagy, necrosis, or apoptosis, as well as the appearance of behavioral and motor disorders. The doses of glyphosate that produce these neurotoxic effects vary widely but are lower than the limits set by regulatory agencies. Although there are important discrepancies between the analyzed findings, it is unequivocal that exposure to glyphosate produces important alterations in the structure and function of the nervous system of humans, rodents, fish, and invertebrates.”³

Glyphosate provides yet another reason why wheat is bad for your health, and your bones. Brain health is essential for maintaining a bone-healthy lifestyle, so glyphosate’s negative impact on brain function directly threatens your ability to maintain strong bones.

Synopsis

Wheat is acidifying and inflammatory, making it a net negative for your bones. Additionally, wheat is often treated with glyphosate, a toxic herbicide that has been linked to neuronal death and behavioral and motor disorders.

A Wheat (And Gluten) Free Bread Recipe

For all of the reasons we've covered in this article, at the Save Institute, all of our recipes are gluten-free. But that doesn't mean we can’t enjoy delicious and satisfying bread!

When grocery shopping, opt for non-GMO, organic, sprouted breads made from alternative grains. The simpler the ingredient list, the better.

Or take the next step and try one of our favorite bread recipes at home– you'll be amazed at how easy it is to become a bread baker!

What This Means To You

You don't have to give up the ancient human tradition of making and enjoying freshly baked bread. You just have to compensate for wheat's glutenousness and modern agriculture's disregard for public health.

For more gluten-free recipes that provide everything you crave from baked goods without the inflammatory side effects, check out Bone Appétit. It's a compendium of bone-healthy recipes for every meal, every occasion, and every taste.

With smart substitutions and informed choices, you can enjoy healthier bread from the store or your own kitchen. Don't give up on the things you love, simply commit to making them healthier.

References

¹ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33808124/

² https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8848113/

³ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9101768/