A simple way to cook rice that dramatically cuts the calories

[dalsingh101]

Scientists have discovered a simple way to cook rice that dramatically cuts the calories

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-have-discovered-a-simple-way-to-cook-rice-that-dramatically-cuts-the-calories-10137508.html

Going to try this. 

 

"What we did is cook the rice as you normally do, but when the water is boiling, before adding the raw rice, we added coconut oil—about 3 percent of the weight of the rice you're going to cook," said Sudhair James, who presented his preliminary research at National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on Monday. "After it was ready, we let it cool in the refrigerator for about 12 hours. That's it."

 

How does it work?

To understand what's going on, you need to understand a bit of food chemistry.

Not all starches, as it happens, are created equal. Some, known as digestible starches, take only a little time to digest, are quickly turned into glucose, and then later glycogen. Excess glycogen ends up adding to the size of our guts if we don't expend enough energy to burn it off. Other starches, meanwhile, called resistant starches, take a long time for the body to process, aren't converted into glucose or glycogen because we lack the ability to digest them, and add up to fewer calories.

A growing body of research, however, has shown that it might be possible to change the types of starches found in foods by modifying how they are prepared. At the very least, we know that there are observable changes when certain foods are cooked different ways.

Potatoes, for instance, go from having the right kind of starch to the less healthful kind when they are cooked or mashed (sigh, I know). The process of heating and cooling certain vegetables, like peas and sweet potatoes, can also alter the amount of resistant (see: good) starches, according to a 2009 study. And rice, depending on the method of preparation, undergoes observable chemical changes. Most notably, fried rice and pilaf style rice have a greater proportion of resistant starch than the most commonly eaten type, steamed rice, as strange as that might seem.

"If you can reduce the digestible starch in something like steamed rice, you can reduce the calories," said Dr. Pushparajah Thavarajah, a professor who is supervising the research. "The impact could be huge."

Understanding this, James and Thavarajva tested eight different recipes on 38 different kinds of rice found in Sri Lanka. What they found is that by adding a lipid (coconut oil in this case, because it's widely used in Sri Lanka) ahead of cooking the rice, and then cooling the rice immediately after it was done, they were able to drastically change its composition—and for the better.

"The oil interacts with the starch in rice and changes its architecture," said James. "Chilling the rice then helps foster the conversion of starches. The result is a healthier serving, even when you heat it back up."

So far they have only measured the chemical outcome of the most effective cooking method for the least healthful of the 38 varieties. But that variety still produced a 10 to 12 percent reduction in calories. "With the better kind, we expect to reduce the calories by as much as 50 to 60 percent," said James.

[kdsingh80]

If you put 3 percent of coconut oil then what about calories from that oil? Also people prefer rice fresh for the sake of reduction in 10% calories nobody will eat refridgerated  rice, Just simple eat 10% freshly cooked rice

[dalsingh101]

1 hour ago, kdsingh80 said:

If you put 3 percent of coconut oil then what about calories from that oil? Also people prefer rice fresh for the sake of reduction in 10% calories nobody will eat refridgerated  rice, Just simple eat 10% freshly cooked rice

Fair point. Though the article did say the ten percent reduction was with the worst type of rice and suggested that it might be better with better quality rice (like basmati), but you are right, it's quite dubious science in terms of reliability.

As for coconut oil, some people think that this particular type of fat is special in that it breaks down into a readily available bio-source in your body which is not as easily converted into stored fat like some others. 

Bear in mind, that these days quite a few people think that the vilification of fats by the medical community was wrong and that carbohydrates are more responsible for medical conditions we see today like diabetes. 

[BhagatSingh]

@kdsingh80

There is another way to remove starch from rice as well.

I believe you can drain it using water.