Do Sprouting, Culturing, Or Sourdough Reduce Carbs? | #AskWardee 095

Do Sprouting, Culturing, Or Sourdough Reduce Carbs? | #AskWardee 095

Transcript: http://tradcookschool.com/aw095
FREE yogurt recipe: http://tradcookschool.com/freeyogurt
FREE no-knead sourdough bread recipe: http://tradcookschool.com/freebread
FREE THM Purist 1-week menu: http://tradcookschool.com/freemenu

One of the best ways to lose weight is to reduce excess sugar consumption and did you know that grains, beans, and dairy contain “sugar” as well?

Yes — they are called “carbs”. The starches in grains, beans, and dairy behave much like sugar in our bodies. In a healthy person, might not be an issue at all. Yet for others — those with gut issues, excess weight, diabetes, or hormone imbalances — it really helps to pay attention to how many of these carbs we're consuming.

For some, this means eating none of them. For others, it means scaling back or only eating them at certain times (ala Trim Healthy Mama).

**The Question: Do Sprouting, Culturing, Or Sourdough Reduce Carbs?

Mathew M. asked: I have been a member for close to a year. I have a couple of questions. I am trying to bring down my weight and at the same time improve my health and immunity (actually for all my family). One way I am trying to do it is to reduce my carb intake. When sourdough is made from spelt/einkorn or sprouted wheat, are the anti-nutrients, gluten, carbs and sugar reduced, too? Does kefir made from grass fed raw A2 milk contain carbs or sugar? Does sprouting eliminate carbs and anti-nutrients from legumes/lentils or beans?

**My Answer: It Depends…

In this case because we're talking about different methods (soaking, sprouting, or souring) and different foods (grains, beans, dairy). All of these foods have carbs. Grains and beans have starches, and dairy has lactose (milk sugar).

Soaking doesn't really reduce carbs so I'll leave it out of the rest of the discussion.

Sprouting and souring (fermenting) can reduce carbs if done long enough — because consumption of the “sugar” in these foods is part of these two processes and how it works.

**Sprouting & Souring Grains & Beans

When you sprout grains, you're taking them from their storage state (a seed) to a young plant (a seedling). During this conversion, involving warmth and water, the stored starches turn into food for the young plant. The carbs are reduced.

When souring, the fermenting organisms use the starches in the grain as their food source. The longer the souring, the more the carbs are reduced.

**How much are they reduced, though?

Souring bread changes the glycemic index from high to low. However, bread is still bread. There are still carbs in it. The carbs are lower, though! You can also make bread with sprouted grains and get a further reduction in carbs by combining the two methods!

Sprouting/souring beans is similar so I won't discuss it separately.

**What About Souring Or Culturing Dairy

Since there's no sprouting of dairy, so let's just talk souring — or culturing it. Like making kefir, yogurt, clabber, or other cheeses.

The culture that you introduce to the milk to create kefir, yogurt, or a cheese eats the milk sugar (lactose) as its food source. The longer the culture is in the milk at the ideal culturing temperature, the more it eats the sugar (and the more sour the end product becomes!).

While every culture is slightly different, we can say that a 24-hour ferment/culture of kefir or yogurt will reduce the carbs to virtually zero. When making hard cheese, you're looking at needing to age it 60 days to reduce the sugar. Additionally, some cultured dairy will continue to age and reduce sugar even in cold storage, albeit more slowly.

**The A2 issue.

This has nothing to do with the carbs, it has to do with whether or not the cow has a genetic defect that affects the casein (milk protein).

**What About Trim Healthy Mama?

What we've been talking about today works well within Trim Healthy Mama, which I combined with Traditional Foods to lose more than 30 pounds in a year.

The fermented yogurt or kefir (homemade) has no sugar when soured for 24 hours or more. When full-fat, it's an S (fat + protein). If it's skimmed (skim the cream away) then it's a Fuel Pull (just protein) and can be used in either S or E settings.

The sprouted or sourdough bread foods that have no added fat (like my FREE No-Knead Einkorn Sourdough Bread Recipe) work well eaten moderately in E (carb + protein) settings.

**Helpful Links

FREE yogurt recipe: http://tradcookschool.com/freeyogurt
FREE no-knead sourdough bread recipe: http://tradcookschool.com/freebread
FREE THM Purist 1-week menu: http://tradcookschool.com/freemenu
Is Sourdough Bread Low Glycemic? #AskWardee 035: http://traditionalcookingschoo....l.com/2016/06/29/sou
My Kefir Recipe: http://traditionalcookingschoo....l.com/2009/06/01/why
Trim Healthy Table: http://amzn.to/2xxBBqk

Join the fun live each Wed @ 10amP/1pmE: http://tradcookschool.com/fblive