Doctor Explains Why You Should Freeze Your Bread Before Eating It

Bread is often demonized along with many more carbs but Dr. Chintal Patel has recently shared a video encouraging consumption—but under one condition.

In a viral clip shared to Instagram @drchintalskitchen, the general practitioner, from London explains why you should always freeze bread before eating it.

The 47-year-old told Newsweek: “Bread is a type of starchy carbohydrate, ideally starchy carbohydrates should make up about 25 percent of your plate for a balanced meal. I would focus on the quality of bread, as well as quantity.”

During the clip that has had 2.3 million views, she explains that freezing bread overnight and then reheating it changes the molecular structure of the starch in the bread.

“This is the type of starch that feeds your gut bacteria [and] helps to build a healthy gut microbiome,” she says, adding “this also reduces the glycemic index of the bread.”

Patel said: “Regular, mass-produced, ultra-processed bread is broken down by the body quickly into sugar. The speed at which carbohydrate foods are broken down into sugar is known as the glycemic index. Mass-produced, ultra-processed bread will have a higher glycemic index than whole-grain bread so it will increase blood sugar levels more quickly.

“However, when you freeze or refrigerate bread, or other starchy carbs like rice, potatoes and pasta, for 12 hours and then reheat or toast it, you change its molecular structure so it contains more resistant starch. This increases the glycemic index of that same slice of bread. This is particularly helpful for diabetics for example.”

The most popular types of bread in the United States is whole-wheat or multigrain. In 2020, this doughy staple was consumed by 192 million Americans, according to Statista. Followed by white bread which was consumed by more than 135 million Americans and bran bread was the least favored.

Should You Eat Bread Every Day?

According to 2017 research published in the journal Nutrients, people are consuming fewer grain-based food products. The study found that consumption of bread, rolls, tortillas and ready-to-eat cereals makes up less than 15 percent of all calories in the diets of U.S. consumers.

The statistic may not come as a surprise to many as bread is often the first thing thrown out by dieters. Country Life Natural Foods, a wholesale and retail distributor website states that store-bought bread is made with many ingredients such as artificial fertilizers, pesticides, high-yielding wheat varieties, preservatives, and enzymes that are used by wheat farmers and pushed by industrial bread companies to meet the massive consumer demand and keep bread fresher for longer.

Patel told Newsweek that daily bread consumption depends on an individual’s overall diet, indicating that there is no harm in adding a slice of bread to a healthy and balanced diet. In fact, studies have revealed that the Mediterranean diet is the best one to follow and that involves eating bread daily.

What Bread Is Best?

There are many different types of bread ranging from those made from whole grains to ultra-processed refined breads with many additional additives.

Patel told Newsweek: “Ideally try to avoid or reduce mass produced ultra-processed bread which often contains lots of additives to increase shelf life etc. Try to eat bread made from whole grains that are higher in fiber. This could be wholemeal wheat bread or bread made with alternative whole grains or sprouted whole grains, such as Ezekiel, pumpernickel or rye bread.

“My personal favorite is a seeded wholemeal sourdough. or if you can make your whole-grain bread, then you know exactly what’s in it. It’s a lot easier than you think.”

Instagram Reacts

So far, the May 15 video has almost 40,000 likes and 990 comments—many from users who already freeze bread, but for different reasons such as saving money.

“Always freeze my bread/but also because it takes me forever to go through a loaf! Never knew I was doing something good!” said one person.

Another wrote: “Freeze bread, make sandwiches in the morning, it’s perfect by lunch, no ice pack needed.”

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