An NHS doctor has taken to TikTok share the little-known benefits of freezing bread.
Storing food in the freezer will help it last longer, but according to Dr Chintal Patel there are health perks to keeping some items at colder temperatures.
In a video shared to her DrChintalsKitchen account, she explained freezing and reheating your bread affects the starch, and in turn how it impacts your gut.
“Freezing your bread overnight and then reheating or toasting changes the molecular structure of the starch in the bread to a more resistant starch,” she said.
“This is the type of starch that feeds your gut bacteria and helps to build a healthy gut microbiome. This also reduces the glycemic index of the bread.”
She went on to explain freezing bread also results in a 30% reduction in glycemic index, and there are benefits to treating pasta and rice in the same way too.
Followers were quick to ask Dr Chintal whether keeping bread in the fridge is also beneficial. She said it can hage similar effects as it is “the cooling process that changes the structure” of the molecules.
Some praised Dr Chintal for her tip, with one TikToker responding: “Thank you for your exceptional care and for always putting your patients first. You are truly appreciated as a doctor.”
A second wrote: “Ahh great to know – thanks.” And a third commented: “This is so true. And its easier on digestion.”
Others, however, remained sceptical. One person who said she had been reading up on bread science penned: “The research I read found that just toasting it without freezing it had a higher impact in this regard. Freezing is only worth it if you’re not going to toast it.”
Another hit out: “Bread wasn’t mean to be put in the freezer. Utter rubbish.” And a third slammed: “It makes negligible difference unless you eat vast amounts of it.”
According to the NHS, “starchy foods are a good source of energy and the main source of a range of nutrients in our diet. As well as starch, they contain fibre, calcium, iron and B vitamins.”
Information on its web site continues: “Some people think starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram they contain fewer than half the calories of fat. Just watch out for the added fats you use when you cook and serve them, because this will increase the calorie content.
