Doctor reveals the surprising reason why freezing bread actually makes it healthier

Heather Wake
Wed, 08 Oct 2025 21:14:42 +0000
Blood sugar, Blood sugar response, Bread freezing benefits, Doctors, Fat burning superfood, Freezing bread, Glycemic index, Health, Health hacks, Healthier gut bacteria, Kitchen hacks, Whole grain bread, Science

Many people freeze their bread to make it last longer and prevent waste without ever realizing they’re giving themselves an added health benefit. As UK-based surgeon Dr. Karan Rangarajan explained on TikTok, “If you take a slice of white bread and then freeze it, and then defrost it and toast it again, you could lower the glycemic index of the bread by almost double.”

When bread is frozen, the starches inside undergo a chemical process called retrogradation, causing them to become more compact and crystalline.

When this happens, those digestible starches become resistant starches, which don’t get digested in the small intestine, and instead move to the large intestine to be digested by our “good” gut bacteria. In this way, the resistant starches act more like prebiotics. Think of the money you’ll save on fiber supplements!

@dr.karanr Kitchen hacks
? original sound - Dr Karan Rajan

While this doesn’t significantly reduce calories (boo), the resulting benefits can include better blood sugar levels, a controlled appetite, a healthier gut microbiome, a reduced risk of colon cancer, improved digestion, and even lower cholesterol levels.

And this hack isn’t just for white bread. You can also try it on rice, pasta, and other similar dishes.

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Is toasting bread healthier for you?

Furthermore, freezing followed by toasting white bread can be a glycemic-lowering double whammy, according to studies. This is a byproduct of the Maillard reaction, a fancy name for the crispy, browning process that naturally occurs when heat meets protein, sugar, or starch. It’s what gives us the crunchy, nutty, savory goodness we know and love.

This sounds like good news for folks who are fans of directly freezing, defrosting, and toasting white bread, and science seems to support that theory further.

Should you freeze and toast bread?

One study (albeit with a small sample size) involved ten healthy adults who sampled both homemade and store-bought white bread prepared in four ways: fresh, frozen, then defrosted, and toasted, or toasted after freezing and defrosting.

Researchers discovered that fresh bread had the most significant effect on blood sugar levels, while the other methods significantly reduced the blood sugar response. Freezing followed by toasting held the highest score in this regard.

However, neither toasting nor freezing magically turns white bread toast into a fat-burning superfood. These improvements are quantifiable, but slight in the grand scheme of things. Meaning that the freeze-toast method becomes moot, followed by gobs of syrup or other sugary fix-ins. It also goes without saying that opting for whole-grain bread nearly eliminates the need for this strategy if health is our goal.

Still, little things like this, primarily when we intentionally aim for a truly balanced diet, do add up. If nothing else, let this be a reminder that if you are a bread-lover (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?), there are healthy ways to incorporate it into your routine.