Until about 150 years ago, sourdough was the only kind of bread around, because commercial yeast hadn’t been invented yet. Sourdough is made by fermenting flour in water to produce natural yeast that makes the dough rise. In addition, the fermentation process also produces gut-healthy bacteria.

Sourdough is so much better for our bodies than unfermented bread. Aside from being free of commercial yeast, which some people are sensitive to, fermenting grains makes them much more “nutrient-available.”

Flour contains lectins and phytates that:

1. make grain hard to digest, and 
2. impede nutrient absorption in our bodies.

Fermenting flour breaks down most of the lectins and phytates, making the bread easier to digest and the proteins, calcium, B vitamins, and iron in the bread more available.

Additionally, because the dough needs to be fermented for many hours before baking, natural yeast and bacteria develop and break down the “broken starches” that ground flour contains. This makes sourdough bread lower glycemic and gentler on blood sugar. These same microbes also break down and predigest the gluten in the dough, so by the time we eat it, it’s much easier to digest.

While wheat sourdough has all these benefits, spelt sourdough is even more special.

Again, anyone can enjoy it; it’s probably the easiest kind of sourdough out there, as the starter develops quickest and the baking process is extremely straightforward. But it’s life-changing for those who either can’t tolerate gluten, can’t tolerate carbs, can’t digest unfermented grains, or all of the above.