22/05/2026
Great thought for a Friday 🍞
Go back to how it used to be made..
Stoneground Flour, water and salt 😊
For thousands of years, bread was one of humanity’s most basic foods. People have been baking it for at least 5,000 years — with some flatbreads going back even further.
Ancient bread was simple: just grain, water, and salt. It was left to ferment naturally for many hours or even days using wild yeast and bacteria. This slow sourdough process broke down gluten, reduced phytic acid, and lowered fermentable sugars (FODMAPs) that can trigger bloating and digestive issues.
That long fermentation made traditional bread easier for many people to digest.
Modern bread is very different.
Today, most commercial loaves are made in just a couple of hours using fast-acting baker’s yeast, dough improvers, emulsifiers, and preservatives. The wheat itself has also changed — modern varieties were bred for higher gluten content and stronger dough to suit industrial baking.
Because of these shifts, some researchers suggest that many “gluten problems” may actually stem from the way bread is produced today, not gluten itself.
For example:
Modern bread often retains higher levels of fructans (FODMAPs), which slow fermentation naturally reduces.
Some people who react badly to supermarket bread report they can tolerate traditional long-fermented sourdough or breads made with ancient grains just fine.
There’s also ongoing debate about agricultural chemicals like glyphosate, though the direct link to digestive issues remains controversial.
Bottom line: Bread today is not the same bread our ancestors ate.
Traditional bread = slow, simple, naturally fermented.
Modern bread = fast, highly processed, additive-heavy.
So the real question might not be “Why are people suddenly intolerant to bread?”
But rather: Has the bread itself changed?
What’s your experience — sourdough lover or bread avoider? Drop it below 👇
