New Method For Cooking Rice Reduces Calories By 60 Percent!

Lynn Griffith – Rice is a staple household food item for nearly half of the 7 billion people across the globe. (1) In the United States, rice is often shied away from due to its carbohydrate composition. The concern of weight gain associated with carbohydrates has become a first world concern for those who are dieting or suffering from certain chronic illnesses.

New method of cooking rice changes structure of starch in rice to lower calories and reduce glucose.

For those whorice would like to enjoy rice, there may be a new option! Scientists from the American Chemical Society have developed a simple new way of cooking rice that cuts the calories in half! This may potentially help reduce obesity rates and help control blood sugar. (2,3)

Obesity continues to be a major health concern. As people have become more sedentary, their diets also need to change. Addressing serving sizes and food options is one way to do this. As a whole, it appears that we are consuming more fats and sugars than ever before and addictions to carbohydrates continue to grow. One cup of rice averages about 240 calories and when pairing that with your favorite side from your favorite restaurant, the calories escalate exponentially. (2,3)

“Because obesity is a growing health problem, especially in many developing countries, we wanted to find food-based solutions,” says team leader Sudhair A. James. “We discovered that increasing rice resistant starch (RS) concentrations was a novel way to approach the problem.” By using a specific heating and cooking regimen, the scientists concluded that “if the best rice variety is processed, it might reduce the calories by about 50-60 percent.” (2,3)

James explains that starch can be digestible or indigestible. In indigestible rice, the resistant starch is not broken down in the small intestine, where carbohydrates are typically metabolized into glucose and then absorbed into the blood stream. The research team searched for a way to transform digestible starch into resistant starch, which would lower the usable calories of rice. (2,3)

“And rice is loaded with starch (1.6 ounces in a cup),” says James. “After your body converts carbohydrates into glucose, any leftover fuel gets converted into a polysaccharide carbohydrate called glycogen,” he explains. “Your liver and muscles store glycogen for energy and quickly turn it back into glucose as needed. The issue is that the excess glucose that doesn’t get converted to glycogen ends up turning into fat, which can lead to excessive weight or obesity.” (2,3)

Boil half cup of rice in water with one teaspoon coconut oil and refrigerate for 12 hours before eating.

The team experimented with 38 varieties of rice from Sri Lanka and developed a new cooking technique. The new method is simple. Just add one teaspoon of coconut oil to boiling water and add half a cup of rice. Allow the rice to simmer for 40 minutes and then refrigerate for 12 hours. This simple procedure increases resistant starch by 10 times for traditional, non-fortified rice. (2,3)

How does this simple technique work? The oil enters the starch granules during cooking and changes the structure of the rice, making it resistant to the digestive enzymes. “The cooling is essential because amylose, the soluble part of the starch, leaves the granules during gelatinization,” explains James. “Cooling for 12 hours will lead to formation of hydrogen bonds between the amylose molecules outside the rice grains, which also turns it into a resistant starch.” Reheating the rice for consumption, he notes, does not affect the RS levels. (2,3)

Sources for this article include:

(1) irri.org
(2) www.sciencedaily.com
(3) www.eurekalert.org

riceLynn Griffith is a licensed therapist who enjoys cooking, creativity and enjoys helping other’s learn how to care for their minds and bodies through healthy eating.  In the past four years, Lynn has altered her lifestyle and is committed to empowering other’s to have improved self care, mental health, and stress management.  Each article and recipe submitted is with the intent to help each person move forward in their journey.

SF Source Raw Food World  March 2015

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