This article presents a study showing that doing the following on white bread can lower the blood sugar response after eating them.
They are:
- Freezing and defrosting
- Toasting from fresh and
- Toasting following freezing and defrosting
Background
White bread is made of refined flour and is rapidly digested. The result is the immediate release and absorption of glucose in the bloodstream.
This leads to a sudden increase in blood sugar. If the after-meal or post-prandial blood sugar goes to ≥140 mg/dL or 7.8 mmol/L, the risk of causing damage to the blood vessels and developing atherosclerosis increases.
Atherosclerosis can eventually lead to cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes. This situation applies to people with and without diabetes.
I presented the studies that showed that in — After-meal high blood sugar predicts Atherosclerosis better than Fasting blood sugar and HbA1c.
The Research
The study was published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition and included ten healthy (three male and seven female) subjects.
All participants served as their own control. The reference or control meal was 50 grams of glucose.
They all ate homemade bread or commercial bread thrice randomly on separate days. Each bread had 50 grams of carbohydrates.
The homemade bread was made using a breadmaker.
Each test bread had four different storage and preparation conditions:
- Fresh
- Frozen and defrosted
- Fresh and toasted
- Toasted following freezing and defrosting.
Fresh bread was tested on the morning following baking or purchase.
Frozen bread was defrosted overnight at room temperature before consumption the following morning. Breads were frozen between 2 and 7 days.
The bread was toasted on the morning following baking or purchase or following defrosting overnight at room temperature.
Each bread was eaten with 200 ml of water. No other foods were consumed other than the test bread.
Blood sugar testing
Fasting blood samples were taken before eating the test bread. After the meal, the blood sugar levels were tested at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 minutes.
Results
Commercial bread
The line graphs below show blood sugar levels after eating commercial bread under different storage and cooking situations.
Note that the rise in blood glucose for commercial fresh toasted bread (white squares) and commercial bread that had been toasted following freezing and defrosting (black squares) was significantly lower than for fresh commercial bread (white circle).
Homemade bread
The blood sugars were significantly lower for frozen, defrosted bread and toasted bread (black squares), frozen and defrosted (white squares), and fresh, toasted (white squares) than for fresh bread (white circles).
What explains the results?
According to the authors, the generation of forces during flour milling, intensive
mixing in bread dough formation and bread baking results in the starch granule breakdown and leads to the faster digestion of the starches in the bread after eating.
The faster digestion and absorption in the intestinal tract immediately leads to a rapid blood sugar rise.
Retrogradation
The process of freezing and defrosting results in resistant starch formation by rearrangement or realignment of initially heated starch molecules. A process called retrogradation.
Freezing and defrosting make the bread pass through retrogradation twice. Once while cooling after baking) and again during defrosting.
Lower glucose levels after homemade bread than commercial bread
If you take another look at the graphs, you will see that the blood glucose levels are lower after consuming homemade bread than commercial bread.
According to the authors, this is because of dough conditioners and improvers added to commercial bread to optimize dough formation and quality, reduce staling rate, and maintain water retention during baking.
Will refrigeration have the same effect as freezing?
It depends on the temperature of the refrigerator—retrogradation peaks at 0-4ºC or 32-39.4ºF.
Will freezing and toasting to the same for rice and noodles?
Yes. A study by Yu and colleagues from China showed that storing rice at 4ºC or 39.2°F can retrograde the amylopectin in rice. The same thing could be said for noodles.
Take Away Message
Freezing, defrosting, and toasting bread may help reduce the after-meal blood sugars and potentially prevent atherosclerosis formation and its complications.
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Reference:
Burton P, Lightowler HJ. The impact of freezing and toasting on the glycaemic response of white bread. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2008 May;62(5):594-9. doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602746. Epub 2007 Apr 4. PMID: 17426743.
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