Simple rice cooking method drastically lowers calories

An uncomplicated change in how rice is cooked could reduce its calories by up to 60 percent. The technique converts the “normal” starch in rice into more a indigestible form, thus reducing the quantity of calories the body is obligated to absorb.

The simple technique starts with boiling rice with a small amount of coconut oil. It is then cooled for several hours and then briefly microwaved.

Supervised by Dr. Pushparajah Thavarajva, who is a self-described “R&D, Management, and Innovation Expert,” the study’s scientists researched 38 types of Sri Lankan rice. Through them all, one strain was observed to naturally have the most optimal amount of hard-to-digest starch. They figured out that, after experimenting with a number of cooking techniques, adding oil while cooking – and subsequent cooling – was best for potential calorie reduction.
 The preliminary research findings were presented by graduate student Sudhair James at the latest National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society in Denver. James said at a news conference that “the beautiful piece” is that the amount of digestion-resistant starch increased fifteen times when the prescribed cooking method was used. “This,” he said, “led to a 10 to 15 percent calorie reduction.”

Because the shape of starch molecules is similar to doughnuts, the oil added while cooking permeates into the holes, blocking digestive enzymes. Next, once rice is cooled, its molecules tend to pack more tightly together, further increasing their resistance to digestion.

James gushed about the possibilities, predicting the technique could be used commercially as a relatively low-cost way to fight diabetes and obesity. “This could be a massive breakthrough,” he said, reiterating that rice calories could be reduced 50 to 60 percent.

But Thavarajva was clear that the cooking technique is not effective with all varieties of rice even as he admitted that exactly why it works with some types of rice but not others is not fully understood. If the experiment is to be effectively translated into the real world, he said, more research is needed.

Although it is now understood that the level of resistant starch can be increased and the amount of calories reduced, what still needs to be examined is how the starch is used by bacteria in the gut. Thavarajva points to similar efforts at Harvard University on potatoes, as well as studies involving legumes and cereals at universities in India. The real question, he proposed, was whether similar conversions could be done with other starches, such as those in bread.

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