Whether you prefer your toast golden or dark, your bread frozen or fresh, it changes the structure of bread and the impact it can have on your health.
FROZEN BREAD
Bread’s glycemic response (the rate at which starches break down into sugars) varies when frozen, thawed, and toasted, compared to fresh bread.
That’s what a 2008 Oxford Brookes University study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found, blaming it on the fact that it changes the composition of starch molecules, making them more resistant to digestion, says Dr. Sangeetha Thondre, head teacher. in nutrition at the university’s Center for Nutrition and Health.
The starch structure is broken down by the freezing process, making it difficult for digestive enzymes in the mouth and intestine to break it down, says Dr. Thondre.
“Even when the bread is thawed, those starches can’t go back to their original state, in fact they become even less digestible,” he adds.
For most people, this is a good thing, as the higher proportion of “resistant” starch means that the body digests bread more slowly once frozen, leading to a milder blood sugar spike than bread. fresh, and potentially reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes.
This is one of the reasons Daily Mail columnist Dr. Michael Mosley is such a fan of keeping his bread in the freezer and toasting it from frozen, one slice at a time.
“Resistant starch means your body absorbs fewer calories and therefore more are available to your microbiome (your gut bacteria), giving the ‘good’ bacteria something to feed on and proliferate,” he says.
FRESH BREAD
The health advantages of fresh bread lie in its higher moisture content. Dietitian Dr. Sarah Schenker explains: “White flour is fortified with iron and calcium, as well as two B vitamins, niacin and thiamin, which are water-soluble.
“The higher moisture content improves its absorption.”
And while freezing and toasting bread will slow down digestion, fresh white bread is still a useful source of energy before exercise, says Sarah Schenker, due to its higher glycemic index, which means it turns into blood sugar more quickly, providing energy. for exercise.
With low levels of resistant starch, fresh bread is also easier for people who may suffer from bloating and gas to digest.
And while a mass-produced, sliced, white bread is classified as an “ultra-processed food (whose regular consumption is linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes), a fresh natural bread from your local baker is a nutritious option.
STALE BREAD
Stale bread may not be very appetizing, but it could be a healthy choice, possibly even reducing the risk of bowel cancer.
For a 2017 study, researchers at Australia’s Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology baked white bread and let it sit at various temperatures for up to a week.
They then analyzed ground samples and found that stale crumbs had higher levels of resistant starch than fresh bread.
When gut bacteria feed on these starches, the researchers said, they convert them into fatty acids, which protect against bowel cancer.
These fatty acids also stimulate hormones that tell the brain that we are full.
Dr. Thondre says it’s better to let bread go stale in the breadbox than in the fridge, since the drier it is, the slower it is metabolized in the intestine.
OVERTOASTED BREAD
Like freezing, toasting changes the starch molecules so they are more resistant to digestion, and less likely to cause sudden spikes in blood sugar.
The 2008 Oxford Brookes University study found that fresh toast produced a 25 percent lower blood sugar response than fresh bread, but toasting frozen bread puts the molecules through an additional distortion process, which reduces that response by nearly 40 percent.
But while lightly toasting bread destroys some of the B vitamins, burnt toast contains acrylamide, a compound that forms in starchy foods during high-heat cooking methods like grilling, baking, and frying.
High amounts of acrylamide can increase your risk of cancer.
Human research remains inconclusive, but in 2017, the Food Standards Agency recommended cooking toast until golden yellow, rather than dark brown or black, to reduce exposure to acrylamide, as it is found more acrylamide in the darker areas.
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