Turmeric Whole Wheat and Rye Bread

Turmeric Whole Wheat and Rye Bread

I made this bread because I was hungry and needed something to eat.  No great overwhelming curiosity drove me to make it.  I just wanted food.

It was time for another rye bread, I felt that.  But I didn't know what else it should be.  I just grabbed some turmeric, and added it to the flour.  Not sure how much.  Maybe 1 1/2 TBSP.  Didn't weight it.

• 750g ww flour
• 250g rye flour
• 50g wheat germ
• 770g water
• 20g salt
• 200g sourdough starter
• some turmeric

I've used turmeric in bread before, in different ways.  Example, here I rolled up some dough with turmeric spread on it; and here, I used it with pumpkin for a nice loaf.  But I haven't really done the proper research on turmeric yet, to learn why it is so good for you.  

I haven't done that much work on it here, either.  I know it is the curcumin in the turmeric, its main active ingredient, that makes it so beneficial.  It has long been known that turmeric has potent anti-inflammatory properties.  Because of this, it has been used to treat problems as diverse as tendonitis or cirrhosis of the liver.  It has also been found that it lowers your risk of developing diabetes.

It also has anti-tumour properties.  This is not mere conjecture.  We are only beginning to understand how it works to break down some tumours.

Recently it was learned that turmeric helps us express a protein called CAMP which boosts the immune system's ability to fend off foreign bacteria, viruses and fungi.

So from a health standpoint, this is a good spice to use.

Results
In bread, the turmeric it makes the loaf a strange golden colour (which isn't unappealing, to me).  But its just a whole wheat and rye bread.  I can't really taste the difference.  It didn't affect the way the dough felt, when making the loaf.  It costs very little to add this to bread.

It's tricky to capture the colour of this loaf with flash photography, or with natural light, using this camera of mine.  IRL, it is a lot more golden than this funny gray loaf looks, in the photos.

Notes to Myself

• This was a good loaf. In the beginning I thought it was staling quickly, but it actually lasted well, and on the third day it actually improved. Bread with rye sometimes does this, curiously.