• PLEASE NOTE: 'Sourdough' bread made with white flour, yeast, without long fermentation (3 days preferably), will have none of these benefits.
We use sprouted grain flour in addition.
Frequent articles have been appearing lately on Glutathione and a supplement called NAC concerning its effectiveness against the Covid-19 virus.
Knowing how surprises keep turning up in our bread method, I did some research. The results are simply astonishing.
Several academic papers are quoted below, with links to the original articles. The main document is below this article.
The source of the majority of our technical information comes from: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.govU.S. Govt. National Library of Medicine / National Center for Biotechnology Information.
To make this an easier read, we will list the critical strands in a brief description followed by some, by no means all, science and academic paper extracts, where you can judge for yourself how consequential a finding this all is. It also helps understand how the mechanics play in the general health benefits we report our bread-making method provides. If you would like further information, please email us. We can call on help from qualified professionals.
This is what we are looking at:
Quoting from Academic paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7402141/ Department of Oncology, University of Torino.
The Role of Glutathione in Protecting against the Severe Inflammatory Response Triggered by COVID-19
“...therefore, levels of glutathione (GSH), the key anti-oxidant guardian in all tissues, could be critical in extinguishing the exacerbated inflammation that triggers organ failure in COVID-19”.
Subjects include:
• What is Glutathione? It is the most potent antioxidant in our system, particularly effective in preventing the virus, any virus, and other illnesses from getting a hold on our system. NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) is a supplement that can be purchased and taken to help our body produce Glutathione.
However, we stress that wherever possible, wisdom tells us our choice of food is the best way to gather the mineral and vitamin intake we need. In natural food, nature has worked out how to get everything in a balanced ratio.
• The effectiveness of Glutathione against Covid-19
• Our bread contains a wealth of Glutathione
• Our bread (bread made with whole grains, using a long fermentation with a sourdough starter) is effective against all five symptoms of metabolic syndrome, Glutathione being a principal factor. The five symptoms: Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease and neurological disease.
Wikipedia – Glutathione
Glutathione (GSH) is an antioxidant in plants, animals, fungi, and some bacteria and archaea. Glutathione is capable of preventing damage to important cellular components caused by reactive oxygen species such as free radicals, peroxides, lipid peroxides, and heavy metals. It is a tripeptide with a gamma peptide linkage between the carboxyl group of the glutamate side chain and cysteine.
Glutathione reductase (GR) also known as glutathione-disulfide reductase (GSR)is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the GSR gene. Glutathione reductase catalyzes the reduction of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) to the sulfhydryl form glutathione (GSH), which is a critical molecule in resisting oxidative stress and maintaining the reducing environment of the cell.
What does glutathione reductase do?
Glutathione reductase is responsible for maintaining the supply of reduced glutathione; one of the most abundant reducing thiols in the majority of cells. In its reduced form, glutathione plays key roles in the cellular control of reactive oxygen species ROS.
About Free Radicals
Free radicals (reactive oxygen species ROS) and reactive nitrogen species are generated by our body by various endogenous systems, exposure to different physiochemical conditions or pathological states. A balance between free radicals and antioxidants is necessary for proper physiological function. If free radicals overwhelm the body's ability to regulate them, a condition known as oxidative stress ensues. Free radicals thus adversely alter lipids, proteins, and DNA and trigger a number of human diseases. Hence application of external source of antioxidants can assist in coping with this oxidative stress.
The US National Library of Medicine (our primary source of information) lists many articles/papers showing Glutathione effectively protects against the Covid virus. More than 1000 clinical trials worldwide are completed or underway. The featured paper is below at the end of this article (without the pages of references).
if you do a simple Google search for example: ‘Glutathione and Covid’, you will pick up more information.
Quoting from Academic paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7402141/
Department of Oncology, University of Torino.
Title: The Role of Glutathione in Protecting against the Severe Inflammatory ResponseTriggered by COVID-19
Abstract
The novel COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the world’s population differently:mostly in the presence of conditions such as ageing, diabetes and hypertension the virus triggers a lethal cytokine storm and patients die from acute respiratory distress syndrome, whereas in many cases the disease has a mild or even asymptomatic progression. A common denominator in all conditions associated with COVID-19appears to be the impaired redox homeostasis responsible for reactive oxygen species(ROS) accumulation; therefore, levels of glutathione (GSH), the key anti-oxidant guardian in all tissues, could be critical in extinguishing the exacerbated inflammation that triggers organ failure in COVID-19.
That gives you the direction the paper is going in.
In all, it is 11 pages plus references. The paper is in full below at the end.
Here are a few quick snippets:
“ we highlight the relevance of restoring Glutathione (GSH) levels in the attempt to protect the most vulnerable subjects from severe symptoms of COVID-19”.
“The aim of this review is to provide a brief overview of the protective action ofGlutathione (GSH) against the exacerbated inflammation triggered by COVID-19”.
“we discuss the evidence of the low levels of Glutathione found in the conditions associated with the severe outcome of the disease... looking into the relevance of restoring GSH levels in the attempt to protect the most vulnerable subjects fromCOVID-19”. “If we consider the conditions clinically associated with severe COVID-19 disease, we find evidence of a perturbed Glutathione replenishment”.
“many clinical trials have evaluated the efficacy of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC)administration, and many are still ongoing (714 studies, 349 completed), as well as the effects of Glutathione supplementation (162 studies, 100 completed) (https://clinicaltrials.gov/). [Note: NAC is a supplement taken to produce glutathione.]
“Several pieces of evidence reported in our biochemical analysis suggest that low levels of Glutathione could be one of the major causes of the excessive inflammatory response linked to severe COVID-19 symptoms and indicate that increasing bodyGlutathione could reduce the number of symptomatic patients”.
Glutathione is effective against Covid 19. Further comments
In this extract, the statement is that once Covid has a hold, what patients die from is: respiratory failure due to not having an adequate defence made up from crucial anti-oxidants of which Glutathione is the body's main 'guardian in all tissues'.
The present review provides a biochemical investigation of the mechanisms leading to deadly inflammation in severe COVID-19, counterbalanced by Glutathione (GSH).Drawing on evidence from literature that demonstrates the reduced levels of GSH in the main conditions clinically associated with severe disease, we highlight the relevance of restoring GSH levels in the attempt to protect the most vulnerable subjects from severe symptoms of COVID-19.
• The paper goes on to explain why some people are affected more than others. This is described as ACE/ACE2 imbalance (see detail in PDF full article)
Glutathione (GSH) has the function of “master antioxidant” in all tissues; the high concentration of the reduced form (millimolar) highlights its central role in the control of many processes such as detoxification, protein folding, antiviral defense and immune response.
The aim of this review is to provide a brief overview of the protective action of GSH against the exacerbated inflammation triggered by COVID-19 upon ACE/ACE2imbalance.
Furthermore, we discuss the evidence of the low levels of GSH found in the conditions associated with the severe outcome of the disease, with the intension of looking into the relevance of restoring GSH levels in the attempt to protect the most vulnerable subjects from COVID-19.
3) Our bread (wholegrain + long fermentation) contains Glutathione in the germ and bioactive antioxidant compounds in the bran.
The Evidence for high levels of Glutathione in Bread.
The best people to listen to are the bread industry themselves. They have a real problem with Glutathione. It makes bread tough, prevents it from rising, and alters its flavour. Therefore, they go to great lengths to get rid of it.
The following comments are taken for an invention from a Patent Office document to remove Glutathione from wheat.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3396033
3,396,033 WHEAT GERM AND SOYBEAN PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING GLUTATHIONE THEREFROM Peter J. Ferrara, 50 E. 78th St., New York, N.Y. 10021,
“The problem of wheat germ in baking is that it contains high levels of glutathione, a tripeptide of three amino acids: glutamic acid, cysteine and glycine.
In our work we have confirmed the generally held views that glutathione is present in wheat germ in three states: the reduced form commonly referred to as GSH; the oxidized or disulphide state generally known as G-S-S-G; and, an oxidized form wherein the disulphide bridge links glutathione with a cysteine molecule of the flour protein.
Numerous experimenters have applied a variety of techniques to avoid the baking difficulties caused by the presence of glutathione in wheat germ. We have found that previous methods to resolve the problem of glutathione in wheat germ have failed to satisfy the requirements of the baking industry”.
“We have found that removal of glutathione by solvents is ideally served by combining some of the usual paraffinic solvent materials with primary and secondary alcohols of low molecular weight. The alcohols impart to the paraffinic solvents the properties of high polar action. A polar type of solvent system is greatly preferred for the solution of glutathione as GSH. We have found that primary low molecular weight alcohols including low cost materials such as methanol, ethanol, isopropanol and butanol work exceptionally well with petroleum ether, hexane, and other volatile paraffins”. [For the removal of glutathione].
The bread industry "is ideally served" by using fractions of distilled paraffin to dissolve the Glutathione out of the wheat/flour. Using 'paraffinic solvents' is an example of what is known as 'ultra-processed food'.
However, natural wholegrain contains "high levels of glutathione" in their own words. Many other articles point to the 'problem' of high Glutathione levels in wheat grain for the baking industry.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128144664000197
Science Direct. Academic Press.
Molecular Mechanisms of the Protective Role of Wheat Germ Oil Against OxidativeStress – Induced Liver Disease
El-Sayed Akool, in Dietary Interventions in Liver Disease, 2019
In this study, it was found that Wheat Germ Oil has the ability to protect against oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity induced by the immunosuppressive agent CsA as indicated by the improvement not only in the serum levels of liver enzymes but also in histopathological changes. These effects of Wheat Germ Oil were associated with an increase in the endogenous antioxidants Glutathione, superoxide dismutase and catalase.
...[These three] constitute a first line antioxidant defence system which plays a key and fundamental role in the total defence mechanisms and strategies in biological systems.
In our classes, we stress the importance of the ‘germ’ being a part of the flour in our bread (wholegrain). Vitamin E oil is precious for us; it contains Glutathione and many other high-priority advantages.
4) The value of bread made from wholegrain + fermentation + fibre
We inform how our bread has so many health benefits in our bread class. You lose weight by eating this bread. It is very suitable for diabetics, and all special diet needs, FODMAP, IBS, low carbohydrate, etc. I am a coeliac and thrive on this bread. We have had 70 coeliacs that have come through our classes; only five of them could not benefit from this bread. Better than 90% success. A local doctor's surgery monitors our progress for coeliacs with specialised blood testing.
However, there is one common denominator for all of it: an adequate fermentation time. We say that it is three days. You can have the very best of ingredients (wholegrain), but if you cannot digest it, what is the point? The fermentation is there to break it down and make it available to our systems. (If you use white flour and or commercial yeast, despite going through every correct procedure, you will have no benefit whatsoever.)
The 'patent application for the invention to remove glutathione' above mentioned:"glutathione is present in wheat germ in three states". As is the case with the protein in the gluten, it is modified by the microbiota enabling coeliacs to handle it. The Glutathione is there, but we still need long fermentation for the microbiota to engineer some changes.Oxidised Glutathione gets filled with the oxygen radicals it hunted down; we need it to be 'emptied' to get back to work foraging for more oxygen radicals. 'De-oxidised' Glutathione is called Glutathione reductase.
The following quote (from: Effect of Mixed Cultures of Yeast and Lactobacilli on the Quality of Wheat Sourdough Bread) states the action of a sourdough starter (San Francisco in this example) converts the Glutathione back to the reductase form which is what we want. Sourdough microbiota sorts out the issues to make it worthwhile for us.
Thiol-disulfide exchange reactions during bread making are impacted by microbial accumulation of glutathione (Jänsch et al., 2007; Tang et al., 2017), and by production of CO2, and organic acids that also impact gluten functionality (Clarkeet al., 2004; Rezaei et al., 2015). In turn, viscoelastic properties of wheat dough as determined by gluten proteins are critical for the expansion of gas bubbles and the retention of CO2 (Verheyen et al., 2015).
The accumulation of glutathione is mediated by glutathione reductase activity ofL. sanfranciscensis, which reduces oxidized glutathione at the expense of NAD(P)H that is generated in primary carbon metabolism (Jänsch et al., 2007).The role of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on reduction or oxidation of thiols in wheat doughs has been thoroughly investigated with L. sanfranciscensis, L. reuteri, and L.sakei as model organisms (Jänsch et al., 2007; Tang et al., 2017)
We all know there is, or should be, riboflavin in our bread, one of the components taken away from the whole grain in the fractionation process of producing roller milled white flour. A chemical substitute is added as a replacement, but that is not the same as the natural item in its original state.
What is the connection between riboflavin and glutathione reductase?
Riboflavin is a cofactor of Glutathione Reductase. Mild acquired GR deficiency is common and occurs in malnourished individuals because of riboflavin deficiency but has no hematologic phenotype. Glutathione reductase is one of a chain of enzymes which serves to maintain glutathione in the reduced form.
Glutathione Reductase - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/glutathione-reductase
Influence of Sourdough Fermentation on Amino Acids Composition
Department of Food Science and Technology, The Federal University of Technology, Akure 340001, Nigeria
Sourdough fermentation was observed to cause an increase in the free amino acids, which might be attributed to proteolysis caused by the flour enzymes, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), as well as the microbial enzymes in the flour. The increase is revealed by the higher values observed in the amounts of specific amino acids, such as the basic amino acids, sulphur-containing amino acids, aromatic amino acids, and hydrophobic amino acids. Proteolytic actions are dependent on the fermentation conditions, especially temperature. Previous reports have shown that LAB are precise in their needs for amino acids and could therefore spawn activities vital to obtaining the required peptides and amino acids. This observation corroborates the report of Thiele et al. that Lactic AcidBacteria fermentation of dough improves the amino acids profile in sourdough bread.
Amino acids are essential for every function in our body. Our long sourdough fermentation increases the volume of amino acids in the dough. In turn, amino acids produce Glutathione in our system. We are getting benefits from every direction.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › pmc › articles
A Review of Dietary (Phyto) Nutrients for Glutathione Support
03/09/2019 Three conditionally essential amino acids, glycine, cysteine, andglutamic acid combine to form glutathione in a two-step biochemical reaction.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249911/
Free radicals, antioxidants and functional foods: Impact on human health
Glutathione has antioxidant properties since the thiol group in its cysteine moiety is a reducing agent and can be reversibly oxidized and reduced. In cells, glutathione is maintained in the reduced form by the enzyme glutathione reductase and in turn reduces other metabolites and enzyme systems as well as reacting directly with oxidants. Due to its high concentration and central role in maintaining the cell's redox state, glutathione is one of the most important cellular antioxidants.
5) Best prevention for the Virus, Metabolic Syndrome and all illness. Keep your body in shape.
On numerous occasions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said, "vaccines remain our first and best line of defence against the virus". Some articles point out, whether people are fully vaccinated and boosted or otherwise, all have a different level of susceptibility to the effect of the virus on themselves. How ill you might become, down to not being aware you have it at all, depends on your body's ability to resist it. Surely... the first line of defence is to be less susceptible to illness in the first place.
Viruses exist by mutating. It is a losing battle to try and keep up with vaccinations as the prime method of control.
Political correctness prevents politicians from telling people to lose weight, eat properly, consume less sugar. They need to keep the food industry happy and all other voters, paraffin and all.
At The Gift of Bread, we knew there was something special about our bread, which is nothing more than 'real' bread in the traditional sense. That is why we invested our own money and time in encouraging people to make this bread for themselves.
You cannot buy this type of bread in this day and age. Little did we know that what was known as the staff of life was just that – the basis of a healthy life.
Over time we learned that the hopeless poor health of Western nations (60% of adult UK andAmericans and are on medication for one or more of the symptoms of Metabolic Syndrome) could be alleviated by something so simple as (real) bread. Poor health and the cost of treating it will bankrupt nations if it continues.
Long Covid Effects
One of the concerns for Covid cases is the long term effects. After the Feb 1918 April 1919Flu epidemic, most people died (up to 50 million estimated) well after the primary outbreak up to twenty years afterwards. This extended period is the equivalent of long covid. There have been at least five major viral outbreaks since the 1600s. They all caused more fatalities due to lasting damage to organ tissues after the primary outbreak had subsided.
The central protein of the virus core body remains more or less constant. The viral spike protein is the target of all current vaccines. It is the viral spike protein that mutates the most as it mutates. If you can defend against the central protein (T cells do this), there is no need to keep chasing after every mutation. As clinical trials indicate, this is a more sensible approach.The argument is that Glutathione serves that purpose.
Sources of Glutathione in diet
It is acknowledged that our digestive system defeats some of the Glutathione that enters our diet. However, eating natural foods is universally recognised as the best way of obtaining both Glutathione and the necessary compounds that produce it in our system.
Medical News Today (Quoting: Free radicals, antioxidants and functional foods:Impact on human health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249911/)
As a result, it is important to seek out natural sources of antioxidants, in the form ofa healthful diet. Although there are several enzymes system within the body that scavenge free radicals, the principle micronutrient (vitamins) antioxidants are vitamin E (α-tocopherol), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), and B-carotene. The body cannot manufacture these micronutrients, so they must be supplied in the diet.
The use of natural antioxidants in food, cosmetic, and therapeutic industry would be promising alternative for synthetic antioxidants in respect of low cost, highly compatible with dietary intake and no harmful effects inside the human body.
Vitamin E is in the wheat germ oil. Also Vitamine B minerals (Riboflavin) and Phytonutrients. (The Greek word Phyto means plant.)
Therefore, it might seem that one of the safer approaches to fortifying the innate defense against oxidative stress and improving glutathione levels may be best implemented through the diversity and pleiotropism of multiple phytonutrients.
Phytochemicals have great antioxidant potential and are of great interest due to their beneficial effects on the health of human beings, and they give immense health benefits to the consumers. Epidemiological and animal trials suggest that the regular consumption of fruits, and vegetables, and whole grains reduces the risk of various diseases linked with oxidative damage. (Science direct)
“There are more Phytonutrients in wholegrain than in fruit and vegetables”.
Research reported at the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) International Conference on Food, Nutrition and Cancer, by Rui Hai Liu, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues at Cornell University shows that whole grains, such as whole wheat, contain many powerful phytonutrients...
Conclusion
We take bread for granted. Even worse, modern food production has sent bread to the back of the class. Up to forty per cent of the population have uncomfortable reactions to eating every day bread.
The motivation behind The Gift of Bread is to explain and demonstrate the difference between real bread and its ultra-processed alternative and – how easy it is to make a change for the better.
Real bread, the staff of life, has real benefits.
For all enquiries please use the email service. We are often unable to reach the phone during a class if we are up to our elbows in dough.
thegiftofbread@gmail.com 01935 823117
