The 6 Rules for Quality Bread

Bread is not your enemy.

The problem is most of the bread you see in stores is fake trash.

Here are the 6 rules for quality bread that will let you eat all the bread you want, without sacrificing your health: pic.twitter.com/HTBS2p4Qxw

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

Modern bread is in crisis.

It's either a soybean-oil cocktail of trash ingredients (i.e., wonder bread)...

Or a gluten-free flax and pumpkin seed monstrosity.

Both are fake versions...

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

Of a traditional food that has stood the test of time, allowing the Romans to conquer Gaul, and feeding the greatest artists of the Renaissance.

So, what makes bread "real"?

There are 6 key features that make for optimal bread:

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

1) Ingredients

Bread has 3 ingredients:

1. Flour
2. Water
3. Salt

Unfortunately, most bread in the grocery store has an ingredients list packed full of chemicals and preservatives.

For anything above and beyond the 3 core ingredients...

You should be asking "why?"

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

2) Sourdough

Wait...doesn't bread need a fourth ingredient - yeast - to rise?

Yes, but is yeast really an ingredient?

Not really.

"Sourdough starter" is just a mixture of flour and water that's been colonized by bacteria *and* yeast from the air.

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

Sourdough bread is better than chemistry-lab-yeast-bread in many ways:

- Longer shelf life
- Reduces gluten content
- Better mineral bioavailability
- Overall better for blood sugar

Choose sourdough over yeast.

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

3) White flour vs. whole wheat

What's the difference?

Well, to make flour, wheat seeds are simply milled into a fine powder between two grinding stones.

Refined ("white") flour is made by removing the bran and germ before milling.

But...why?

2 reasons:

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

1.Preservation

Wheat has a long shelf life...but once you grind it up, it oxidizes much faster. White flour has a longer shelf life.

2. Social status

White flour requires much more effort.

Before industrial technology, you could display your wealth by buying white flour.

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

Here's the thing:

With the bran and germ removed, white flour has:

- few to no nutrients
- no fiber (higher glycemic load)
- added chemicals ("enriched" with synthetic "nutrients")

The problem:

Most people think whole wheat flour tastes like cardboard.

And they're right...

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

4) Freshly milled flour

The issue with buying whole wheat flour from the store?

By the time you buy it, it's already oxidized.

Whole wheat flour doesn't taste bad...

OLD whole wheat flour tastes bad.

So how can we avoid this problem?

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

Drop a couple hundred bucks on a countertop grain mill.

Whole wheat bread made with fresh-milled flour has none of the cardboard-taste we associate with with store-bought whole wheat bread.

It's moist, sturdy, delicious, and full of nutrients.

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

5) Organic

Organic foods are better in general...

But it's SUPER important to buy organic wheat products.

Some of the worst pesticides are used on wheat - and in larger quantities than many other crops.

But it's not just pesticides that make American wheat dangerous...

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

6) Ancient Grains

Just like there are different types of bread, there are also different types of wheat.

You may have heard the term "ancient grains" - these would be einkorn (original wheat), spelt, rye, emmer, and kamut.

There are also more recent "heirloom" varieties:

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

Including red fife and turkey red.

Now, what's the difference?

Modern wheat has been selectively bred to have a higher gluten content.

The older strains are more natural, with less gluten, and we've had more time to adapt (12,000 years) to these strains.

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

Bakers in the past never worried about this-- all of these rules were followed by default.

Annoying, but up to us to figure this out and demand that our bread be made the right way (or make it ourselves).

Get the full details here:https://t.co/jZJJqpAEFK

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023

So, is bread a perfect food?

Probably not.

But is it dangerous? Hazardous to your health?

Nope, as long as you make it the right way, and eat it along with other quality foods.

Civilization was built on bread. It may not be perfect, but it can't be ALL bad.

That said...

— Tan Man (@reallytanman) April 17, 2023