Many people are addicted to bread for so many reasons. You can modify its taste and serve it in several ways. One of the favorite ways to serve bread is by toasting it. Lately, there are some ongoing debates about toast bread. Is toasting bread healthier? Or is toasting bread making it less nutritious? To reveal the fact, here are some explanations about toast bread. Click here for the best bread toaster prices in Sri Lanka.

Mailliard reaction

Toast bread is enjoyable because of the firmness and caramel-y flavor. Those characteristics come from the Mailliard reaction as the result of the heating process. During the reaction, the amino acid (protein) and sugars in bread react due to the heat and then transform into the browning part of the bread.

Apart from the browning, the Maillard reaction also creates Acrylamide compounds. The compounds are carcinogens and prone to cause cancer if they are consumed regularly in an excessive amount. To minimize the creation of Acrylamide, it is highly suggested to toast in the temperature range of 110 – 160 Celsius degree and less than two minutes. Burned parts contain high carcinogen compounds.

Lowered glycemic index

A study in 2008 confirmed that toasting could lower glycemic index in white bread. The results are compared to different ways of serving white bread such as frozen and plain. So, what is the glycemic index? It is a number that shows the possible sugar blood rise due to carbs consumption.

Therefore, is toasting bread healthier? The answer is yes, it can be. When you consume carbs from toast bread, your sugar blood will rise. Yet, the rise will not go higher than the sugar blood rise which comes from eating plain white bread. It is good for those who have diabetics. 

Less microbiological

Toasting bread reduces the water content in bread. Water content moistens the bread which makes the bread as the perfect medium for microbiological such as fungi and bacteria to develop. The heat from toasting could kill the microbiological in bread more hygiene compared to stale bread.

Nutritional value

Viewed from the calories, several studies state that there is only a slightly different amount of calories between toast bread and plain bread. The other nutrients and their amount also show slight differences. It can be said that toast and non-toast bread contain that same amount of healthy nutrients. Specifically, gluten in toast bread is not affected by heat. 

Based on the previous fact, it can be inferred that to have a healthy toast bread, we need to choose the healthy bread. Different types of bread carry a different amount of nutrients. The examples are whole grain bread which is high in fiber, whole wheat bread which is high in protein, and many others. 

In conclusion, the answer to ‘is toasting bread healthier?’ is depending on the way you toast the bread. High temperatures could create carcinogen compounds. Meanwhile, low temperatures will not do any differences to the nutrients in bread which means you just consume plain heated bread. Toasting at the right temperature, duration, and method could bring some health benefits to you.  

Donny white