Rice is a common ingredient in our dishes, mostly due to fact that it goes well with other foods, plus it is cheap and easily available. Most cuisines use rice, and since there are so many cultures in the US, you get some rice in your dish regardless of whether you are eating Italian, Chinese or other tasty food.
USDA says that Americans eat tons of rice, and an average American gets 500 calories more that the recommended intake. So it is no wonder why obesity is a major issue in the US, right?
Starchy foods with rice may harm your health, because they increase the risk of developing diabetes. A single cup of cooked rice has 240 calories. You get these as starch, which later turns into sugar, and eventually into fat.
However, a group of researchers at the College of Chemical Sciences in Sri Lanka came with an idea of how to burn fat and absorb more than half of the calories.
Their ‘method’ involved using a single ingredient along with rice. It is coconut oil. Add a healthy amount of coconut oil to decrease the absorption of calories by astonishing 50%.
The secret of adding coconut oil to your rice
This cooking method will help you increase the RS content of plain, white rice.
First, cook your rice as usual. There is only one additional step to your regular procedure. Add a teaspoon of coconut oil to your boiling water before you add the rice in.
The simmering part should take about 40 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked.
Keep your rice in the fridge for 12 hours, and you are ready to eat.
This cooking method is excellent for those who deal with diabetes or obesity. It raises the resistant starch content for up to 10 times. That applies to traditional, non-fortified rice.
How does this method work?
James says that during the cooking process, coconut oil gets inside the starch granules, and thus makes sugars resistant to digestive enzymes. Next, the cooling process stimulates a so-called ‘gel’ amylase.
Rice releases its starch during the 12-hour cooling part. Starch binds to molecules outside the rice, and rice sugar is transformed into resistant starch. You can reheat the rice if necessary, because the heat cannot change its chemical composition.
In other words, by reducing the digestible rice in your steamed rice, you will also cut off the calories.
This sure requires some thorough research, because experts have not found which type of rice works better for your calories. It is also necessary to determine whether other oils have the same power as coconut oil.
Rice is not the healthiest food you can get, so consider eating fiber-rich foods like quinoa, sweet potatoes, barley, leafy green veggies, cauliflower, mushrooms, and squash.
