
Scientists Pit Sourdough Against White Bread - prostoalex
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/sourdough-versus-white-bread/529260/?single_page=true
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arjie
Sourdough is purported to be healthier, have a lower glycemic index, etc. but
this effect was not observed. They speculate that it may differ from person to
person based on microbiome.

If I'd known that was the result I wouldn't have clicked through. The title is
fucking idiotic.

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nhebb
Plus, other researchers are skeptical of the results due to the low sample
size (n = 20).

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AstralStorm
It exposes the high amount of variability in even simple nutritional
experiments. At least it is honest. Unlike some research that suggest x is
good by testing on similarly small samples.

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steve_adams_86
It would be great to see a larger study, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Something I thought about fermented foods is that they tend to have more
bioavailable nutrients. So, sourdough contains less phytic acid than quick
breads, making it so the nutrition in the bread can be digested more easily.
Amongst other things. If this is true, that seems like a good enough reason to
choose it. Flavor and texture is good enough too, really.

The point about individuals discovering what works for them is critical. One
of the best things you can do for yourself is just pay attention to your diet
and how it makes you feel. Maybe the crappiest white bread is just fine for
you. Maybe it's totally not. I believe there aren't many absolute truths about
nutrition, so often the onus is on individuals to try and discover these
things about themselves.

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epistasis
Just a warning, as noted in the article, this is nothing to base a diet on.
But I wouldn't necessarily base a diet on the epidemiological studies alone
either.

A click-bait headline on nutrition scientific publication is a way for the
media to get ad revenue, not a way to inform.

That said, the article did a pretty good job at informing on some really
interesting science. It puts some good upper bounds one could expect in the
population this was drawn from. Other populations, or sub populations could
have larger possible effects.

The critiques are basically that this study should not be the end-all view. Of
course some one should do an n=20 on this type of profiling before expanding
to a larger cohort. And it seems that there's a lot to make a larger study
really interesting.

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mark-r
So people on average are average. That's not surprising at all. It bothers me
that so few studies are built to identify which individuals will see a
difference and which will not. Rather they assume all individuals are
identical and will have identical reactions.

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AstralStorm
To properly detect subgroups you need much larger sample sizes, in
thousands...

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ceratopisan
Outside of this not-really-helpful study, I can say that sourdoughs do tend to
have a longer shelf life without preservatives; they resist staling and mold
better than white bread, all things being equal. Commercial bread usually has
preservatives added to balance this out, but it won't work out the same.

I've found sourdoughs, especially big miches, will actually taste better after
2 or 3 days. Commercial packaged breads are usually a straight downhill slope.

Source: direct experience, various baking books, historical info.

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shusson
The trial only lasted for 1 week each way and contained a sample of 20. I
wouldn't be making any strong conclusions based on this.

