Coconut oil to cut calories in rice
Rice or pasta, not fattening? Better rice, many argue. The battle is to the last calorie. In fact, one cup of rice will get to count to 200 calories, which are not few though it is thought that it is often served as a side dish. Its high calorie content, in the form of starch, is a health hazard because it can make you fat and cause diabetes. The starch is metabolized by the body in the form of sugars and fats. But now there's good news: a group of researchers has discovered a trick – very easy – to cut calories. By how much? More than half.
More and more people are overweight, especially in Asia and developing countries. Rice, for the latter, is a staple: it's cheap, therefore they eat so much. In fact, it is vitally important for the energy it contains. Here's what prompted researchers to ask themselves a simple question: is it possible to make the rice less caloric, and thus contribute to the fight against obesity? Yes, it is. The solution came from some of the chemical College of Chemical Sciences in Colombo (Sri Lanka) who have just presented their project on low-calorie rice at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver. As reported, among others, the Washington Post, were James Sudhair student and his Professor Pushparajah Tafti – through a series of experiments on 38 different types of rice in Sri Lanka – find a trick to make the dish less caloric.
Here's the recipe: once the water boils, pour a teaspoon of coconut oil in the pot. Then half a cup of rice. Cook for 20-25 minutes. Finally, you do sit in the fridge for about 12 hours at 4° c. That's it. The calorie content of our rice is thus reduced by up to 50-60 percent. Coconut oil and low storage temperature are at the base of the change of chemical structures of rice. This method, in fact, change the digestible starch (what is transformed into sugar before circulate in the bloodstream) in resistant starch. In essence, are increased resistant starch concentrations and reduced the calories. Rice, however, does not lose other nutritional properties. And even heating it before eating it, the process is inverted now no more.