A slice of white bread slathered in butter is a classic snack, but perhaps not the healthiest of things to eat — especially if we’re buying ultra-processed packaged loaves from the supermarket.
However, an NHS doctor recently went viral on TikTok for claiming that there was a way to make your white bread healthier.
Dr Karan Rajan, who posts online as @dr.karanr, told viewers that toasting a slice of white bread helps to lower the glycemic index (GI) of the bread.
The GI is the measure of how quickly a food will raise our blood glucose levels, and it runs from 0 to 100. Foods that are high on the glycemic index will cause a spike in insulin and blood sugar. It’s important to keep our blood sugar at a normal level to avoid damaging our bodies and reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
An average slice of white bread is thought to have a GI of more than 70, so it’s fair to say it’s pretty high on the scale, but Dr Rajan suggests in his video you can ‘lower the glycemic index of the bread by double’ if you freeze the bread, defrost it and then toast it when you’re ready to eat it.
He adds: ‘This all happens because more retrograded starch is formed and retrograded starch is a type of resistant starch which is beneficial for your gut health because it acts more like a fiber.’
Does freezing bread actually make it healthier?
Studies have found that the way you store and prepare your bread can, as Dr Rajan suggests, impact the glycemic index of it.
A 2007 study published in The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, aimed to investigate the impact of freezing and toasting on the glycemic response of white bread. As part of this, 10 healthy participants were recruited to eat bread that had been stored and cooked four different ways; fresh, frozen and defrosted, toasted, and toasted following freezing and defrosting.
The researchers found that the rise in glucose in the blood was ‘significantly lower’ in participants when bread was frozen, defrosted and then toasted afterwards, compared to fresh bread.
The glucose response was also found to be ‘favourably altered’ for bread that had been toasted or merely frozen and defrosted, compared to the fresh bread.
So it seems freezing bread does make a difference for your blood sugar levels in the short-term, but how it impacts your health in the long-term will depend on the rest of your diet.
What we eat rather than how we eat it is still considered to be the most important thing for our health, and as white bread is processed, it’s not always the best thing to opt for. Many nutritionists recommend making the swap to brown bread as it tends to have a lower GI.
How to defrost bread properly
To avoid freezer burn ruining your bread, ensure it is properly wrapped up when freezing.
To defrost a slice, or the whole loaf, simply take it out of the freezer and leave it on the side at room temperature for a few hours.
Some experts recommend popping the defrosted bread into the oven to warm it up after defrosting, as they claim this helps give it a ‘fresher’ taste.
You can also defrost bread by putting it in the fridge overnight, however, this can make your bread taste stale. Alternatively, you can pop a slice of bread straight into the toaster on the ‘defrost’ setting.
How long does bread keep in the freezer?
According to lovefoodhatewaste.com you can freeze bread in a sealed bag or container and keep it in the freezer for up to three months.
They add: ‘You can freeze all varieties of bread. Pop your bread in the freezer either in its packaging or put it in a sealed bag or container. For greater flexibility when using your bread, freeze it sliced so that you only need to take out what you need, keeping the rest frozen for another time. To make it easier to separate bread slices after freezing, bang your loaf gently on a work surface before you put it in the freezer.’
Before freezing, fresh bread should be stored in a cool, dry, dark place. Such as a kitchen cupboard or bread bin. Homemade bread will start to go stale within a few days, but store-bought should last for up to a week.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2024/05/03/freezing-bread-really-make-healthier-20771403/
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