Prof Tim Spector issues leftover bread warning as he says 'don't throw it away'

Prof Tim Spector issues leftover bread warning as he says 'don't throw it away' The co-founder of Zoe, a renowned epidemiologist and noted TV science expert, says you should never throw it out UK households have been told not to throw away leftover bread by a prominent British scientific expert. Tim Spector, the co-founder of the Zoe app and Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London, issued the guidance in a new post on Instagram. In it, he told people that they should not be throwing away leftover bread. Instead, he offered a solution that is good for your health - and it can also be applied to potatoes and pasta. He told his 775,000 followers: "I've got a hack for you. You've got to start freezing your bread. Next time you have a bit of leftover bread, don't just throw it away. "Stick it in the freezer because it will be healthier when it comes out. And the reason is because the starch in the bread gets converted by that cold into resistant starch." He said doing this tweaks that chemical into something that does not get absorbed early on in the gut. Instead, he said it goes further on to the lower part of the colon. Once there, it meets our gut microbes and can help our gut microbes. "And it's treated like fibre," he said. "So the same thing applies to potatoes and pasta, and you can improve both of those just by keeping them in the fridge or the freezer and reheating them afterwards. So if you want to fiber max your bread, store it in the freezer." The text accompanying the post notes: "When bread is freshly baked, most of its starch is easy for your body to break down into glucose. Freeze it, though, and a portion of that starch changes its structure through a process called retrogradation, becoming what’s known as resistant starch." It says that resistant starch resists digestion in your small intestine. Rather than turn it into sugar, it goes into your colon where your gut microbes ferment it, producing beneficial compounds that help support the gut lining. The post states: "Because less total starch is converted into immediate glucose, freezing bread can also lead to a smaller blood sugar rise than eating the same slice fresh." Yet it advises: "The quality of the bread still matters, try to choose a wholegrain or authentic sourdough where possible. But if you regularly eat bread, freezing it, and even better, toasting it straight from frozen, is a simple habit that can give your gut microbes a little more to feed on." One follower said simply: "Love love love this one." Another added: "As a person who loves bread but can't eat one by myself before it goes bad (prefer to get the big ones for financial reasons lol), I've been doing this for years." Professor Spector is far from the only one to offer this advice. The Good in Bread website says that a scientific study from 2007 suggested that freezing white bread could lower its Glycaemic index, especially when the bread is toasted after being defrosted. Another study in 2017 showed similar results, it said - along with a more recent study from 2023. The Conway Medical Center in America also says on its website: "Instead of being digested in your small intestine like regular starch, resistant starch travels to your large intestine, where it ferments and produces short-chain fatty acids. These support gut health, help reduce inflammation, and may even benefit your immune system. "So freezing your bread before eating it gives you two benefits: better blood sugar control and a healthier gut microbiome."