Community Magazine May 2012

SOURDOUGH – THE BEST OF BREADS In Rambam’s book “Regimen of Health,” he gives us a list of wheat-based foods that are bad for health, including fried or unleavened breads, cakes, pancakes, and noodles. “The best bread to eat,” the Rambam writes, is “...made from unrefined flour with a proper amount of salt... it should be worked well by kneading, baked in an oven and the sour taste noticeable” (chapter 1, p. 6). Sourdough is an ancient bread with thousands of years of bread-making history behind it. The commercial production of baker’s yeast that began around the turn of the 20th century almost eliminated the need for sourdough – much to the detriment of our health. A sourdough culture is a combination of wild yeast and lactobacillus bacteria living in a mixture of flour and water. Over time, the culture will tend to become one of three wild yeast strains, and one of five different lactobacillus strains. The two form an intriguing symbiosis that makes the culture quite stable. In all sourdough cultures, the lactobacillus makes the bread quite acidic, and that acidity acts as an antibiotic, keeping out stray bacteria and yeast. Like all other fermentation processes, the bacteria present in the sourdough starter eat the starch and sugars present in the grain. This results in a lowering of the starch or carbohydrate content of the bread, which is helpful for keeping blood sugar levels regulated. The lactic acid in the bread creates a lovely tang and predigests the grain for our bodies. The acetic acid produced in the souring process inhibits the growth of molds, helping the bread store longer. Sourdough makes certain minerals (iron, zinc, magnesium, and others) in whole grains more available for absorption by our bodies by facilitating the breakdown of phytic acid, a compound in grain bran that inhibits mineral absorption, and can be hard on digestion. Sourdough has also been noted to degrade or deactivate proteins in gluten, making it a viable option in some cases, for gluten-sensitive people. But beware of imposters. Many store bought sourdough breads are just commercial yeast breads with vinegar added for taste. Make sure you read your labels to know that the bread you buy is real sourdough. Rabbi Moshe Rafael Sror is the founder and director of the Rambam Institute and College of Jewish Medicine in Safed, Israel, and a doctor of natural medicine. www.rambam.co.il • moshe@rambam.co.il 718-807-9643 • 011-972-4-6923450 Ancient Jewish Medicine Based on the teachings of Rambam By Rabbi Moshe Rafael Sror illness and medication use may also be related. Obesity is generally defined as being 35 pounds overweight, and is linked with inflammation and elevated blood sugar, which may affect the fetus’ developing brain. The study does not prove that obesity causes autism, but it does raise concern in light of the growing obesity rates. OBESITYMAY BE UNDERESTIMATED Half of women and 20 percent of men may be misclassified as obese or vice versa when using the 180-year-old system of measuring body mass index (BMI) which evaluates people based on their weight and height. The study, published in the journal Plos, suggests that assessing body fat may be a more accurate health measure. High BMI has been linked to diabetes, heart disease and some cancer. CAFFEINE AND EXERCISE PREVENT SKINCANCER Treatment with caffeine and exercise has been found to reduce non-melanoma skin tumors by 62 percent, and reduce the size of tumors by 85 percent. Researchers at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy in Piscataway, New Jersey tested subjects who were treated with caffeine and exercise for 14 weeks. The subjects showed markedly better results than the control group. These findings may help reduce the risk of sun-exposure skin cancer development. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. IYAR 5772 MAY 2012 75