probiotic bread

You heard that right. I’m not kidding. I ate probiotic bread was bursting with benefits – True Grains® Seed’licious, Purple Wheat Raisin and Honey Wheat. How can bread have probiotic benefits if all the good bacteria are killed in the baking process? Well, the True Grains® line of product from Orlando Baking Co. uses a patented strain of probiotics that are resistant to high heat in the baking process. And no, it’s not GMO either.

 

How do we know that the probiotics are working in the bread? Meredith answers this tough question here.

Probiotic Bread and More

True Grains® Purple Wheat Raisin, made with Purple Wheat that’s high in antioxidants and stops your glycemic index from spiking, was my favorite. If by now you haven’t figured out my weakness for fruity bread, you haven’t been following me very well. I really enjoy eating something so special and nutritious, and I’m very happy to see this particular innovation from Orlando Baking Co.

Beneficial bacteria are known as probiotics and found in foods such as yogurts, kim chee, sauerkraut, and kefir. The most common probiotic strains added to foods belong to several species of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.¹

Probiotics are thought to prevent or treat a variety of health problems such as digestive disorders, colic in infants, periodontal disease, and even the common cold.¹

The popularity of baked goods makes them the perfect vehicle to deliver probiotics to consumers. However, there are some challenges. During the baking process changes in pH, activity in water, ethanol production, Maillard reaction products and high temperatures are a challenge to the survival of probiotics. Microencapsulation is the only way to overcome this and produce probiotic bread. It is a coating technology that protects sensitive compounds or living cells during the entire food processing operation, including storage.

One study looked at application of encapsulated L. acidophilus on the surface of par baked bread loaves.  It was found that the shorter baking time and temperatures used for par baked bread allowed greater survival of  L. acidophilus while maintaining the desirable sensory characteristics of the baked bread.

Bread has the potential to provide both prebiotic and probiotic benefits. Once again proving that bread is the ultimate functional food!

 

1. Hibberd, P. L., Phd, Linda Duffy, Phd, and David Shurtlef, Phd. “Probiotics: In Depth.” National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 16 Jan. 2017. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/probiotics/introduction.htm#hed3. Accessed 19 June 2017.

Here’s what I ate on Days 75, 76 and 77 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 75
Seed’licious Probiotic Bread	4 slices (39g)	280
Purple Wheat Raisin Probiotic Bread	2 slices (39g)	160
Honey Wheat Probiotic Bread	2 slices (39g)	160
Buckwheat w/ Cherry	50g	100
Rye Sourdough	50g	100
Pumpkin Seed Currant	50g	100
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Smoked Ham	4 Slices	60
Swiss Cheese	1 Slice	106
Lemon Curd	2 Tbsp	120
Ricotta Cheese	1/4 C	100
Tamale	1 pc	200
Cherries	1 C	74
Kale (cooked)	1 C	33
Total		1793
Day 76
Seed’licious	4 slices (39g)	280
Purple Wheat Raisin	4 slices (39g)	320
Honey Wheat	4 slices (39g)	320
Hash browns, sausage and eggs	1C	400
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Strawberries	1C	50
Pineapple	3 oz	41
Lemon Curd	2 Tbsp	120
POG Juice	2 C	200
Terriyaki	3 oz	250
Roasted Pork	1 oz	100
Rice	1/2C	50
Total		2331
Day 77
Seed’licious	4 slices (39g)	280
Purple Wheat Raisin	4 slices (39g)	320
Honey Wheat	4 slices (39g)	320
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Nutella	2 tbsp	200
Breakfast Burrito	1	200
Butternut Squash Soup		150
Edamame		50
Steak		200
Asparagus & Portabello		150
Corb on Cob		100
Total		2170