Is the crust of bread healthier for you than just the bread?

[breadman]

Was having the debate the other day if the crust was in fact healthier for you than just the bread. We did some research and found this webpage which says that the crust is actually healthier for you. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1105080817.htm
Is this a valid claim?

 

[CharlieD]

I don't know, but back in Ukraine there was a sying "if you want to be healthy, then eat only the crust". How or why this came about to be I don't know.

 

[pdswife]

I don't think the crust is any healthier than the rest of it.
( unless the butter that I brush on the outside has some health value to it.)

 

[Chef_Jimmy]

I was told that as well, but in reality, the crust and the bread are exactly the same thing, the outside has only burned to form the "crust"

 

[QSis]

Well, breadman's link contains an explanation scientific-sounding enough to have convinced me!

Lee

 

[breadman]

Will this be a never ending mystery?

 

[Robo410]

yup it is. cause I say so, so eat your crusts! (dang best part of the bread...dip it in sauce, gravy, soup, you name it!!)

 

[Phantom of the Kitchen]

I was told that as well, but in reality, the crust and the bread are exactly the same thing, the outside has only burned to form the "crust"

Unless the heat required to burn the bread is coincidentally the same temperature that converts whatever it is into that anti-oxidant.

 

[licia]

I'd never heard that, but I was told if you eat the crusts, you will have beautiful children. It worked for me!

 

[Haggis]

Unless the heat required to burn the bread is coincidentally the same temperature that converts whatever it is into that anti-oxidant.

Unless it overcooks and blackens, then its carcinogenic supposedly (this is not limited to just bread).

 

[Phantom of the Kitchen]

Unless it overcooks and blackens, then its carcinogenic supposedly (this is not limited to just bread).

Could be. In the article they mentioned that overcooking reduces the amount of antioxidants in the crust. It would be kind of ironic if the antioxidants turned carcinogenic after further heating.

So burning your food not only tastes bad but it's a possible health hazard?

brad

 

[kitchenelf]

So burning your food not only tastes bad but it's a possible health hazard?

brad

Burned bread/toast definitely has some carcinogenic properties.

I've always heard the crust is better for you too - I have 2 friends that religiously eat only the crust, I don't - they're thin - I'm not

 

[Andy M.]

Was having the debate the other day if the crust was in fact healthier for you than just the bread. We did some research and found this webpage which says that the crust is actually healthier for you. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1105080817.htm
Is this a valid claim?

Suppose the crust is more healthful than the interior of the bread. Will that change your eating habits?

I think I'll start working on a loaf that's all crust just in case...

 

[Haggis]

So burning your food not only tastes bad but it's a possible health hazard?

Apparently it is. Though buggered if I'm going to stop using my cast-iron grill pan to put scorch marks on my meat (or some vegetable for that matter).

 

[scott123]

You might want to take a look at the source for that article. The American Chemical Society is a Washington Lobbyist. Scientific information from a lobby group, regardless of which group/their credentials, should always be taken with a BIG grain of salt. Unless you want to believe things like smoking isn't bad for your health.

Everything that I've read on the subject, most recently the new Harold McGee, says that browning creates unhealthy compounds. Not as unhealthy as burning, but unhealthy none the less.

 

[jasonhoggan]

I dont see how the crust could be any healthier. It has all the same ingredients. Unless for some stange reason the oven bakes the carbs out of the crust.

 

[Claire]

Gram used to say that burned toast makes you sing. I think that moms and grandmothers would tell you that the crust was good for you just to make you eat the crust and not waste it. The only thing I can think of is that it may have more roughage and be good for your digestive system compared to the softer parts.

 

[buckytom]

lurker surfing.

interesting non-info just left for dead.

so what's the deal?

i vwonder if this is an ole wives'-ey thing in an effort to get difficult to feed children to eat what was offered them without waste. drawing on the fact that vegetable and fruit skins actually have additional nutritional value (if for nothing else than fibre).

my wife has started to cut the crusts off of my boy's sandwiches, but it seems to me as though it might be due to his reluctance to eat the offering.

damned kids push limits just as a natural reaction. that's how they become their own people.

but what if they aren't offered an option?

ok, so getting back, is there really a benefit to a crust beyond texture and taste?

 

[GotGarlic]

I'm going with the theory that it's a ploy to get kids to eat it. The experiment described in the article was in a test tube, not on animals or humans, so the results might not hold up. Claire's suggestion about fiber isn't correct, either. Bread isn't roughage. I don't think the fiber in bread cleans out the intestines the same way as fiber in veggies does.