What Is Ezekiel Bread and Is It Healthy?

What Is Ezekiel Bread and Is It Healthy?

In contrast to most commercial breads – which consist primarily of refined wheat or pulverized whole wheat, plus added sugar – Ezekiel bread is made of several different types of grains and legumes, and no added sugar.

But the biggest benefit of Ezekiel bread is not just its blend of ingredients, but rather that its ingredients are sprouted first.

Sprouting, which is soaking the grains in water and allowing them to germinate, causes a number of biochemical reactions in the grain.

This has two huge benefits: It increases the amount of healthy nutrients, and reduces the amount of harmful anti-nutrients in the grain.

STUDIES: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17497874, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11474896

Studies show that sprouting wheat may lead to significant increases in soluble fiber, folate, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Beta-Carotene.

STUDY: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2692609

Sprouting also partially breaks down the starch, which leaves sprouted grains with slightly less carbohydrate.

Sprouting grains can also increase their content of the amino acid lysine, which is a building block of protein. Combined with the addition of legumes, this increases the protein quality of Ezekiel bread somewhat.

Sprouted grains also have lower amounts of anti-nutrients, which are substances that inhibit the absorption of certain beneficial nutrients.

Phytic Acid is a substance found in grains and many other foods. It can bind minerals like Zinc, Calcium, Magnesium and Iron and prevent them from being absorbed.

Enzyme inhibitors are present in seeds, which protect them from spontaneously germinating but may also make the nutrients in them harder to access. Sprouting inactivates some of them.

Sprouting also reduces the amount of gluten in the grain, a protein that many people are sensitive to.

I should point out that it still contains gluten though, so Ezekiel bread is out of the question for people with celiac disease or strong gluten sensitivity.

So there you have it, if you’re not on a carb restricted diet and not gluten sensitive, then Ezekiel bread can be a healthier choice to commercial bread.

But remember at the end of the day, Ezekiel bread is still bread. For optimal nutrition, you may be better to cut down on bread and other processed foods altogether.

Further reading: https://authoritynutrition.com/ezekiel-bread/

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Studies mentioned in video:

Study 1: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17497874
Study 2: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11474896
Study 3: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2692609