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Dieticians Swear By This 2-Step Hack to Reduce Carbs and Calories in Cooked White Rice

Researchers discovered that an unusual type of carbohydrate inside rice can dramatically reduce its calorie content if consumed this way.

BY GREEN MATTERS STAFF

PUBLISHED NOV 22, 2024

Cooked plain white basmati rice in a red plate on red background (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Adina Vlasceanu)

When it comes to its dietary properties, rice is notoriously blubbery for the human body. Just one cup of cooked white rice contains around 205 calories- not too good for the waistline. Hence, over the years, experts have been attempting to figure out ways to reduce calorie content in cooked rice, and it seems, they’ve found one. In a 2015 study, researchers from Sri Lanka discovered a way to cook rice that promises to reduce as much as half of its calorific content, reported Science Alert. The key to this method lies in a magical ingredient that rice contains: resistant starch.

A bowl of boiled rice with a cilantro leaf as garnish. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Dmitrii Ivanov)

Unlike digestible starch, “resistant starch” is a special type of carbohydrate that has the property that it resists digestion. Instead of getting converted into glucose molecules in the small intestine, it is simply metabolized in the colon and fermented into short-chain fatty acids that lubricate the colonies of healthy gut bacteria. The more resistant starch a food has, the lesser its ability to trigger a huge blood sugar spike in the body. By simulating the human digestive system in test tubes, the researchers devised a remarkable recipe that can slash nearly 60% of calories from the rice by increasing its resistant starch.

The Human Gut Microbiota - Microorganisms that Live in the Human Gastrointestinal Tract (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Artemis Diana)

The method is simple. It just involves adding a spoonful of coconut oil to the boiling water, adding white rice, and then cooling the cooked rice in the refrigerator for about 12 hours. This cooling process increases the resistant starch, which decreases the amount of sugar the body will absorb when this rice is consumed. “Resistant starch acts like a dietary fiber,” Darrell Cockburn, associate professor of food science at Penn State University, told TODAY. “In addition to feeding the microbes in the gut, resistant starches slow down sugar production and absorption, which means they do not spike blood glucose as much as other starches.”

A person placing a container of rice inside the refrigerator. (Representative Image Source: Getty Image | 1ShotProduction)

Grace Derocha, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, further explained how the cooling process cuts down the calorific value of cooked white rice. Cooking, she said, typically destroys all the resistant starches in the foods. When served hot, rice carries a loose structure of glucose molecules that are easily digestible and can, therefore, increase blood sugar. The enzymes in the stomach can easily break down these loosely held glucose chains and instantly convert them into body fat.

Young woman eating lunch alone at the restaurant. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Aja Koska)

The process of cooling ensures that these loose-bound structures are tightened and resist digestion. “When you cook the rice and cool it in the refrigerator, what you’re doing is tightening those molecular bonds (so) they’re more resistant to digestion... which builds up the resistant starch,” Derocha told the media channel. She further added that consuming cooked rice after cooling it down results in a double benefit, “Not only are you cutting out some of the carbs so your blood sugar doesn’t rise as fast, (but) you now have this resistant starch that works like fiber to feed good bacteria in the gut.”

Woman taking out and serving fresh boiled fragrant jasmine rice from the rice cooker in the kitchen at home (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Stefan Tomik)

Pushaparaja Thavarajah, lead co-author of the 2015 study, affirmed the same point in an interview with TIME, saying, “The resistant starch is a very good substrate, or energy source, for the bacteria inside the human gut.” Researchers are now wondering if they can apply similar hacks to cut calories from foods like potatoes and bread. If an individual could eat a potato sandwich or a bag of potato chips at half the calories, it could turn out to be revolutionary for the generation that is still grappling with the temptations of taste.