Effect of consumption of ancient grain bread leavened with sourdough or with baker’s yeast on cardio-metabolic risk parameters: a dietary intervention trial

Introduction and Aim. Recent studies have suggested that the consumption of ancient grain bread may have beneficial effects on health. However, there is currently only little evidence on the influence of the type of leavening in conferring such beneficial effects. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of consumption of ancient grain “Verna” bread obtained by two different leavening agents, sourdough (SD) and baker’s yeast (BY), on inflammatory parameters and cardiometabolic risk factors. Materials and Methods. Seventeen clinically healthy subjects (9M; mean age 34.6 years) were included and randomized to consume SD or BY for 4 weeks each. Before the second intervention phase, a 4-week wash-out period was performed. Participants were provided 150 g/day of bread. At the beginning and end of each intervention phase, a blood sample was taken from each participant. Results. The consumption of ancient grain “Verna” bread obtained with the two different leavening agents led to a significant improvement of LDL cholesterol. In particular, a reduction of –10.6% (p=0.025) and –8.53% (p=0.047) was observed after dietary replacement with SD and BY bread, respectively. Furthermore, a statistically significant increase in fasting blood glucose (+6%; p=0.012) was observed only after the intervention with BY bread. With regard to the mineral profile, a significant increase in potassium (+8.3%; p<0.001) and a significant decrease (–3.6%; p=0.028) in calcium was reported after the BY and SD bread replacement periods, respectively. The inflammatory profile showed a decreasing trend after both interventions. In addition, a 10.7% decrease (p=0.039) of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was observed after the SD bread replacement period. Conclusions. The consumption of bread made with ancient grain “Verna” was found to be significantly associated with an improvement in the cardiometabolic and inflammatory profile, regardless of the type of leavening agent used. However, only consumption of bread made with BY determined a significant increase in blood glucose levels.