Bread: It Really Is Good For You, When Done Right

A coterie of unabashed bread champions has emerged from the shadows to proclaim the inherent goodness of bread, long reviled by nutritionists and other self-proclaimed health experts. Leading the charge is Michael Pollan, author of An Eater's Manifesto, whose TV show explains in detail what makes good food good. He is especially hard on the anti-gluten movement and so-called gluten sensitivity – a real problem for the tiny troop of celiac suffers in the U.S. – but little more than a fad diet for others. Bakers like Canada’s Bryn Rawlyk, meanwhile, say customers simply don’t have a problem with his bread, made from whole grains grown and milled locally. It’s the industrialized, mass-market loaves that seem to cause the health problems. Pollan says, “In the case of bread, what we may have overlooked is the importance of a long, slow, sourdough fermentation."