Eating Sourdough Bread Has An Unexpected Effect On Your Muscles

Are you trying to bulk up or simply maintain your current lean muscle mass? On your next shopping trip, pick up a loaf of sourdough bread. Not only is sourdough a tasty choice for toast and sandwiches, but it may help you keep your muscles functioning at healthy levels.

This might seem counterintuitive, especially if you've heard for years that bread is nothing more than a high-carbohydrate food. Certainly, that's not untrue. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates, one slice of sourdough bread made with unbleached whole wheat flour contains 23 grams of carbohydrates. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing because not eating enough carbs can lead to unwanted symptoms like muscle cramps and constipation as cautioned by the Mayo Clinic. 

Besides, that same slice of sourdough bread isn't lacking in other nutritional components. On the contrary, it offers up a surprisingly substantial 5 grams of protein and 7.84 milligrams of calcium — both of which are muscle-friendly nutrients.

In other words, you don't have to forgo your favorite sourdough brand or recipe if you're hoping to strengthen your biceps or get well-defined glutes. Instead, you can leverage sourdough as a way to get the nutrition you need to fuel your muscles.

Your muscles need a steady supply of protein, and feasting on some sourdough bread is one way to give your body what it craves. Although improving your muscle tone and ability may be a primary reason for eating protein, remember that protein has tons of value for your system. As Healthline explains, protein is necessary for your bones, improves your satiety so you can resist cravings, and increases your metabolism.

Just how much protein should you aim to consume in a day? WebMD notes that a solid protein allowance for adults would be 0.8 grams of protein for each kilogram of body weight. This means you may need to recalculate your weight from pounds to kilograms.

Let's say you weigh 150 pounds. Using a conversion calculator like the one available at UnitConverters, you can see that 150 pounds equals about 68 kilograms. At that point, you would just have to multiply 68 by 0.8 to get your daily protein allotment count in grams. In the case of a 150-pound adult, the recommended amount of protein each day would be 54.4 grams. That's about 11 slices of sourdough bread, although you ideally shouldn't eat all your protein from one source.

Certainly, calcium has a reputation for being a must-have nutrient for healthy bone development. Yet it has some intriguing connections to the muscles, too.

As laid out in a 2020 study found in Nutrients, a calcium-deficient diet could lead to muscle mass loss. And the effect might be especially pronounced in older women over age 50.

Though a slice of sourdough doesn't have tons of calcium, it has some and can get you closer to meeting your recommended daily value of calcium. Generally speaking, that number will vary depending on your age.

If you're over 18, Healthline suggests trying to take in 1,000 milligrams to 1,200 milligrams of calcium throughout the day. But your healthcare provider may encourage you to up that amount. According to research from the Mayo Clinic, you may be comfortably able to take in 2,000 milligrams to 2,500 milligrams each day if necessary.

What if you're looking for as much protein from your sourdough bread as you can get in an effort to reach your muscle mass and fitness goals? In that case, consider purchasing a sourdough product made from high-gluten flour.

Healthline notes that the higher the gluten level of flour used for making a loaf of sourdough bread, the higher the protein concentration of the finished product. For example, sourdough made from all-purpose flour may be composed of just 8.7% protein whereas sourdough made from high-gluten flour can top out at 14.5% protein.

However, be cautious about loading up on high-protein sourdough bread made from high-gluten flour. If you have a gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, ingesting all that gluten could make you feel unwell. Even if you only have somewhat of a gluten intolerance, you may experience side effects such as gas, stomach discomfort, exhaustion, fatigue, topical reactions, and headaches, says the Cleveland Clinic. Accordingly, you might want to consider making your own sourdough bread at home using flours and other ingredients your digestive system can handle.

This doesn't mean that swapping sourdough bread for another type of bread will turn you into a powerlifter overnight. However, incorporating sourdough into your diet could nudge you toward seeing more results from your muscle-focused workouts.