Many people buy a loaf of bread daily, along with fruits, milk, eggs, and other daily groceries. Some people keep the bread on the kitchen counter, while others may put it in the fridge after opening it. However, there is one storage method that can "improve the health benefits" of your bread, according to MD and nutritionist Dr Amy Shah. In a recent viral video on Instagram that has amassed more than 7 million views, Dr Shah explained how storing your bread in the freezer "is a way to cut the unhealthy 'carbs,' the blood sugar impact, and feed your gut bacteria all in one."
What Happens To Bread When You Freeze It Overnight?
"This is actual science. You take bread, freeze it overnight at least, and then take a slice and toast it as you usually would. What is happening overnight is that the starch is breaking down and becoming resistant starch. Now resistant starch is the healthy starch that feeds your gut bacteria. So not only are you reducing the glycemic index by 30%, but you're also feeding good gut bacteria," Dr Shah explains.
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So Does This Make It A Health Food?
"Well, I don't know about that, but when you want your occasional toast once in a while and you want to lower the glycemic response, or you're giving it to your children or feeding your family, you want to freeze it overnight and then toast it to improve its health benefits," Dr Shah says.
In the caption, she adds that this storage effect also works with "wheat bread, sourdough bread, rice, potatoes, and pasta."
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The information is also backed by a 2008 study titled 'The impact of freezing and toasting on the glycaemic response of white bread."
What Does Research Say?
The research recruited ten healthy subjects (three male, seven female), aged 22-59 years, from Oxford Brookes University and the local community. A homemade white bread and a commercial white bread were administered following four different storage and preparation conditions: (1) fresh; (2) frozen and defrosted; (3) toasted; and (4) toasted following freezing and defrosting.
The researchers found that compared to the fresh homemade bread, blood glucose IAUC (incremental area under the glucose response curve) values were significantly lower when the bread was 'frozen and defrosted,' 'toasted,' and 'toasted following freezing and defrosting.' Similarly, compared to the fresh commercial white bread, IAUC was significantly lower when the bread was 'toasted' and 'frozen, defrosted, and toasted.'
FAQs On Storing Bread In The Freezer
Since packaged bread is a popular daily food item, the informative video led to an interesting Q&A session between the viewers and the doctor in the comments. Here are some relevant ones:
Q1: "Excellent! Do the benefits apply to gluten-free bread too (GF oat bread, for example)?"
A: "I know it works for wheat bread and other types of carbohydrates, so I would assume the same for gluten-free bread."
Q2: "So you freeze it overnight and then after that does it go back in the fridge or room temp? I'm thinking what about sandwiches? You mentioned freezer straight to the toaster, but what about sandwiches?"
A: "So the real benefits happen when you freeze it, so I would assume that when you use it without toasting, you would be fine."
What are some other ways you follow to make your bread healthier? Could you tell us in the comments?