In a recent research, scientists have discovered a novel way to cook rice, which might drastically bring down the calorie content of the starchy grain.
The research comes as a breakthrough in tackling the alarming growth rate of obesity around the world. The research was presented at the world’s largest scientific society, National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Here’s how it works…
Each cup of cooked rice holds hundreds of calories, but by preparing by employing a special technique might lower the calories by about 50-60 percent. The recipe has been perfected by the researchers from the College of Chemical Sciences, Colombo, Western, Sri Lanka. The method to cook low-cal rice is as follows:
- Add a teaspoon of coconut oil to the boiling water.
- Add a half cup of rice. Simmer for 20 to 40 minutes.
- Refrigerate the cooked rice for about 12 hours.
For all those wondering that how the recipe works, the dig is that, the heating and cooling process applied while cooking stimulates a chemical reactions in the food and converts the digestible starch found in rice into resistant starch (RS), which is not further broken down in the small intestine, hence reducing the amount of usable calories present in the rice.
Moreover, the researchers also mentioned that the reheating of rice does not affect the resistant starch (ES) levels and keeps the level of digestible starch to low only.
After the successful study, the research team from Sri Lanka is also planning to do human experiments in order to learn about rice varieties that respond perfectly to the calorie cut process. The team also intends to find out whether any other oils other than coconut will help in stimulating the calorie cutting effect. Photo credit: Junho Jung.