A Potentially Guilt-free Rice? Science to the Rescue!

Rice is a perennial favorite of many a cook. It’s amazingly adaptable and quite affordable. However, it’s also starch-heavy and that is bad news for many people. Eating white rice, especially, is linked to a higher risk of diabetes. Well, that’s not particularly appetizing, is it?

It’s the fact that the starch in rice is a digestible starch that makes it unhealthy. This type of starch digest quickly, becomes glucose and later, glycogen. The excess glycogen turns into stored body fat. However, other starches are resistant. These take longer to digest and do not become glucose. Wouldn’t it be great if we could magically turn rice into a resistant starch?

Science to the rescue! Specifically, an intrepid undergrad at the College of Chemical Sciences in Sri Lanka and his mentor; together, they’ve developed a means of converting the starch in rice from digestible to resistant. It’s chemistry not magic, but the results are miraculous all the same!

This dynamic duo, Sudhair James and his professor, Dr. Pushparajah Thavarajah, found that a simple twist in cooking rice not only converts the starches, but reduces the calorie content by as much as 50%. Surely, there’s a Nobel Prize in their future.

So, what’s the secret? Before adding rice to boiling water, add coconut oil. The amount of oil is about 3% of the weight of the rice you’re cooking. Finish cooking it as normal. Once it’s done cool it in the refrigerator for 12 hours. The coconut oil begins the conversion process and the cooling down period keeps it going. The converted rice maintains its new healthy properties even after reheating.

You’ll need to plan ahead (12 hours, to be exact), but a little planning is worth the joy of healthy, guilt-free rice! Bon appétit!

Post provided by regular Live To Eat guest blogger Jay Belle Isle you can find out more regarding Jay’s work here.