Turns Out Sourdough Bread Has Less Gluten, But What Does This Mean For Your Health?

Sourdough bread isn't gluten-free, but it contains less gluten than other types of bread. Yet it's a little confusing to figure out what that means for the average person who's standing in the bakery and wondering which type of crusty loaf to buy.

Is going without gluten good for you, even if you don't have celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity? No, according to Rachel Gargano. She's the chief registered dietitian at Live It Up, and agreed to give Health Digest the nutritional lowdown on the sourdough-gluten relationship. Gargano starts by explaining the science behind what makes sourdough such a buzzworthy bread (that's constantly bubbling up among the latest TikTok trends).

"When the dough ferments, it's forming its own microbiome," says Gargano. "This microbiome feeds off the starches, breaking them down and forming carbon dioxide and lactic acid. It's this fermentation process that breaks down some of the gluten, making the bread a bit more tolerable for those with gluten sensitivities."

Sourdough bread is light on gluten. However, even a tiny bit of gluten can trigger a serious reaction (busting another of those gluten myths people should stop believing.) That's why Gargano cautions against assuming that sourdough belongs in the diet of anyone with celiac disease. If that describes you, don't worry: There is a bevy of healthy, gluten-free flour alternatives to use in breadmaking.

Here's where the discussion gets more interesting, though. Let's say you don't have celiac disease and have zero issues digesting gluten. In that circumstance, Gargano recommends keeping gluten in your diet because, as she puts it, "there is nothing sinister about this compound." She adds that gluten "is absolutely safe for most people to consume in their everyday diet."

In an article for Johns Hopkins Medicine, Dr. Selvi Rajagopal, a specialist in internal medicine and obesity, echoed the same sentiments. "For centuries, foods with gluten have been providing people with protein, soluble fiber and nutrients."

Gargano cites a 2017 study in the BMJ that highlights the potential benefits of gluten. The study authors found that heart disease risk was lowered, not increased, for the more than 100,000 individuals who consumed gluten over long periods of time. 

Gargano notes that gluten comes from whole grains, which are often found in different types of bread, and that "including whole grains daily results in better health outcomes." A 2023 review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition investigated the correlation between whole grains and cardiovascular disease. After analyzing 68 studies, the researchers found that eating whole grains could be beneficial and cardioprotective. (With that said, it's important to know a surprising side effect of eating only whole grains if you add them to your diet.)

"If there's one thing I'd love for people to take to heart, it's that unless you have a specific health reason to avoid gluten, gluten is not the bad guy," stresses Gargano, adding that incorporating more whole grains into your diet can improve your overall health.