The Health Benefits Of Storing Bread In The Freezer

Bread could also be a easy kitchen staple, however do you know that the way you retailer it will probably really influence its well being advantages?

Possibly you retailer yours at room temperature within the pantry or toss it into the fridge (we beg you to stop doing that, as a result of it solely dries it out).

However in case you retailer your bread within the freezer, chances are you’ll be getting some further advantages apart from long-lasting storage — as a result of freezing bread may also give a significant enhance to your intestine well being, blood sugar and digestion, because of a pure change within the starches via a course of referred to as retrogradation, which types resistant starch.

Starch is a sort of carbohydrate present in meals like bread, potatoes and grains, and it absorbs moisture and gelatinizes when cooked with water. At a molecular degree, starch is made up of two glucose polymers: amylose and amylopectin. In bread, as an example, registered dietitian Avery Zenker explains that the warmth of baking disrupts the hydrogen bonds that usually preserve starch molecules tightly packed in a crystalline construction, permitting amylose and amylopectin to develop into simpler for digestive enzymes to entry.

Because the bread cools after baking, these starches start to shift once more. “Throughout retrogradation, a few of the starch molecules realign and type new crystalline constructions which can be harder for the physique to digest and take up, therefore their identify, ‘resistant starch,’” Zenker mentioned. The quantity of resistant starch that types in bread can range significantly, relying on components like the kind of wheat, how the bread is processed, the substances used and the baking technique. “Recent-baked white bread incorporates about 0.5 to 1.7% resistant starch by weight. After cooling or freezing and thawing, this may enhance to 1 to three%” mentioned Zenker, as a reference level.

Cooling is essential to retrogradation, and storage temperature influences how a lot resistant starch types.

Bread saved within the fridge really develops more resistant starch than bread at room temperature or frozen, however the trade-off is that it goes stale faster. Whereas freezing could trigger slower formation of resistant starch, it’s usually advisable to protect its high quality.

Storage impacts the feel, too. “For refrigeration, the feel finally ends up being drier because the cooler temperature and circulation of the fridge dehydrates the product until tightly sealed when cooled,” mentioned Brian Chau, principal meals scientist at Chau Time. A simple repair is so as to add a little bit of water when reheating, whether or not you’re toasting it or warming it within the oven or on the stovetop.

Freezing, then again, makes bread extra inflexible. “When thawing frozen meals, the cell constructions rupture from the ice formation,” Chau mentioned. “This will additional rearrange the starch alignment to create a distinct and presumably extra resistant construction of starches within the meals.” Whereas freezing could alter the construction on this method, the overall quantity of resistant starch shaped is usually larger in bread saved within the fridge.

These temperature modifications have an effect on digestion — contemporary bread produces the next glycemic response than refrigerated or frozen. In reality, one study discovered that toasting bread after freezing and defrosting lowered glucose response even additional, possible as a result of the freeze–toast–cool cycle creates a number of heat-and-cool phases that favor resistant starch formation.

As a result of resistant starch isn’t absorbed into the bloodstream, it has little impact on blood sugar, making it useful for folks with insulin resistance, together with Kind 2 diabetes. “Resistant starch slows the absorption of different carbohydrates into the blood,” Zenker defined. “As a result of much less of the carbohydrates within the meals are absorbed, the influence on blood sugar is extra blunted, lowering blood glucose and insulin spikes. This helps regular vitality all through the day, helps forestall sugar crashes and promotes emotions of fullness.

Past impacting blood sugar, resistant starch helps intestine well being, because it reaches the colon intact, the place it feeds intestine micro organism. “[Gut bacteria] eat resistant starch and launch useful compounds referred to as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate,” Zenker mentioned. Butyrate fuels wholesome colon cells, reduces irritation, and even influences mind well being by way of the intestine–mind axis. SCFAs additionally assist preserve the intestinal lining, decreasing the chance of what’s generally known as “leaky intestine.”

There’s additionally rising proof that resistant starch could assist emotions of fullness. “Not directly, resistant starch could influence satiety and blood sugar by growing GLP-1 manufacturing within the intestine,” Zenker defined. SCFAs stimulate colon cells to provide GLP-1, a hormone that indicators fullness to the mind. This is identical pathway focused by common GLP-1 drugs resembling Ozempic. Whereas boosting GLP-1 naturally could assist cut back starvation and cravings, Zenker notes that extra analysis is required to completely perceive the influence of resistant starch on GLP-1 and satiety.

Past bread, starchy meals like rice, pasta and potatoes additionally acquire resistant starch when cooked and cooled. One study discovered that cooled and reheated rice led to a 30% decrease rise in blood glucose in contrast with freshly cooked rice. “It’s necessary to notice that the advantage of resistant starch is small, so average parts nonetheless matter,” Zenker mentioned.

Like bread, storage performs a job in balancing resistant starch formation and texture. “I usually suggest storing meals like potatoes within the fridge for as much as three days as a result of freezing could make them disagreeable,” mentioned Sarah Glinski, a Canadian registered dietitian specializing in intestine well being. For rice and pasta, she advises selecting storage based mostly on if you’ll eat them: refrigeration works for as much as three days, whereas freezing is greatest for longer-term storage — as much as three months — earlier than texture begins to endure.

A small 2008 study checked out how freezing and toasting white bread impacts blood sugar. The research discovered that in contrast with contemporary, selfmade white bread, bread that had been frozen after which thawed (or toasted after freezing and thawing) triggered considerably decrease glycemic responses, by as much as 39%.

“For folks with diabetes or prediabetes, this might assist with blood sugar administration,” Glinski mentioned. “Many individuals with these circumstances have been suggested to keep away from carbohydrates, however that is often pointless. Consuming meals excessive in fiber, like resistant starch, generally is a method to take pleasure in carbohydrates with out them impacting your blood sugars as a lot.”

Past storage, the important thing to wholesome bread is what’s contained in the loaf and the way a lot you eat. “I usually suggest folks select entire wheat bread or sprouted grain bread, which is of course larger in fiber,” Glinski mentioned. Breads with seeds like chia, flax and sunflower are additionally good sources, aiming for not less than 3 grams per slice. “For wholesome blood sugar ranges, select bread with lower than 3 grams of sugar per slice, and test the ingredient record for cane sugar, honey, molasses or brown rice syrup,” Glinski added.

For many who have to restrict fermentable carbs (FODMAPs), sourdough generally is a good possibility, because it usually has decrease FODMAP content material and could also be gentler on digestion. Finally, portion dimension and what’s in your bread nonetheless play an enormous function in making every slice more healthy.