Rice is a staple food for me, like millions of people living in this part of the world.
Starting from Indian sub-continent to other nearby Asian countries, rice is the most common food for majority of population.
However, if you are ever concerned with issues like blood sugar, you might have heard or know, “Eating rice can spike sugar fast”.
So, it is always a confusion between whether to give up rice or not. Let’s be honestly blunt, it is one of the most difficult dilemmas for a rice eater like me.
Giving up on something that you have eaten days in and days out for your entire life is easier said than done.
What Actually Happens when you Cool and Reheat Cooked rice?
I come across the simple idea of cooling cooked rice and reheating before eating on a social media reel.
In freshly cooked rice, the starch in rice is easily digestible, therefore, when you eat, most of starch is digested and spike the blood sugar.
But the same rice, when cooled in the refrigerator breaks down starch composition in the rice, and form resistance starch, a name coined by scientists.
The property of this kind of starch is different from the rice starch and it acts like slow digesting fibre.
It is harder to digest, hence release glucose slowly into the blood stream.
A study published in PubMed claims that rice cooled for 24 hours and reheated have significantly higher amount of resistance starch, hence gives a lower blood sugar spike.
What does this Research Actually Reveal?
Let’s consider some research insights from different sources;
- Cooling down rice can increase resistant starch by 2-2.5X – Healthline.
- Doing this will lower the post meal blood sugar spike.
- In some studies, a noticeable change has been found in glycemic response of cooled and reheated rice – Nature.
There are even more compelling studies done on people with diabetes. It has been found that cooled and reheated rice results in significantly lower blood sugar spikes.
So, this simply isn’t a viral reel claim or fitness hack.
But does it Cut Down Sugar Spike by 50%?
The most honest answer to this question is, not exactly.
Any such claims or idea as simply pushed in viral reels that have done this without due responsibilities. The reduction in blood sugar spike depends on factors, like;
- Type of rice you eat (Basmati, white, brown, red, etc)
- Cooling duration (the longer the cooling, production of more resistant starch)
- What you eat with it (depends, how much fibre and protein you are eating with it)
While some people also claim that sequence of eating food also matters, but its effect might be minimal as well.
How I personally do this?
I am following a special diet, known as DIP diet, for around 5-6 months. Additionally, for last couple of months, whenever I eat rice in lunch, I make sure to cool it and reheat.
- I soak parboiled rice atleast for 30 minutes in the evening.
- Then I pressure cook the rice for 3 whistles with double the amount of water to rice.
- Leave pressure cooker till releasing of the gas naturally.
- Shift rice to a smaller stainless-steel bowl, cover it and place in the refrigerator.
- Next day, before lunch, I steam the rice and eat with items like dal, veggies, etc.
Around Jan this year, I was at a point where I was thinking about stop eating rice.
But, like I said earlier, it isn’t easy for me, who has consumed rice (more than anything else) since childhood. So, this hack comes in handy for me.
The Conclusion
This easy rice hack isn’t making your food perfect from otherwise labelled “unhealthy” for people with diabetes. Rather it’s a small change that will add up into overall efforts.
One doesn’t always have to go extreme, like I was thinking at one point. Sometimes, subtle changes can make a noticeable difference.
If you are a rice eater (or read, rice lover, like me), you don’t have to quit rice completely.
Have you tried this hack earlier! If you have firsthand experience of eating cooled and reheated rice, please share your experience with us in the comments.
