They Say ‘Rice Makes You Fat,’ But This One Simple Trick Can Fix That

If given a choice, what would you prefer eating for a meal – a bowl of rice or bread? Most of you would prefer eating rice, especially if you are an Asian or if you belong to the Middle East or India. Isn’t it? We cannot even imagine a proper meal without a bowl of white, fluffy, and aromatic rice.

But, the sad thing is we often refrain from eating our favorite rice considering the health risks that it poses. It is said that a cup of rice contains around 180-220 calories as starch, and when you eat it, it turns into sugar. Thus, eating rice can cause diabetes and can also lead to the formation of those unwanted love handles.

Even after knowing the side effects of eating rice, giving it up is not an easy and pleasant option for most of us. But, if you are one of those who love eating rice and are health conscious too, here’s good news for you.

A student from the College of Chemical Sciences, Sri Lanka, Sudhair James, and his mentor have recently come up with a way of cooking rice that can cut almost 50% of calories from it. Not only this, it also adds a couple of health benefits to the rice.

This is what Sudhair James said when asked about how to make this staple food healthier – “What we did is cook the rice as you normally do, but when the water is boiling, before adding the raw rice, we added coconut oil — about 3 percent of the weight of the rice you’re going to cook.

After it was ready, we let it cool in the refrigerator for about 12 hours. That’s it.”

All they did was modify the normal process of cooking and make it in a scientific way. Research suggests that you can modify the content of starch by tweaking the way of preparation of food.

According to the research, adding oil while cooking rice and then cooling it afterward results in the reduction of calories by 10-12%.

His mentor, Dr. Pushparajah Thavarajah said, “If you can reduce the digestible starch in something like steamed rice, you can reduce the calories. The impact could be huge.”

James and Dr. Thavarajah performed this test on 38 varieties of rice, and came up with the conclusion that adding any lipid, such as coconut oil, can instantly reduce the calories present in the food. And this is the reason most people in Sri Lanka and South India use coconut oil while cooking food.

James added, “The oil interacts with the starch in rice and changes its architecture. Chilling the rice then helps foster the conversion of starches. The result is a healthier serving, even when you heat it back up.”

We all are aware of the fact that people these days are obsessed with weight loss and are always looking for ways to cut the calories from their food. Obesity has become a really major concern these days and fighting against it is a really difficult task. In this scenario, what else would be a better option than cutting almost 10% of calories from your favorite food?

When asked about obesity, Dr. Pushparajah Thavarajah said, “Obesity has been a problem in the United States for some time. But it’s becoming a problem in Asia, too. People are eating larger and larger portions of rice, which isn’t good.”

Their research has not come to an end yet. They are experimenting whether other oils such as sunflower oil or olive oil can serve the same purpose as that of coconut oil.

Some Other Simple Ways To Prevent Obesity

1. Do Not Skip Your Breakfast Ever.
2. Watch Your Portions.
3. Do Not Take Too Much Stress.
4. Include High-Fiber Foods In Your Diet.
5. Eat Green Leafy Vegetables.
6. Consume Healthy Nuts.
7. Have Plenty Of Calcium.

So, the next time you sit down to eat, you need not bang your head deciding whether to eat rice or not. Just cook it in a healthy way and have it in as much quantity as you want.

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Author

Jyotsana RaoBeauty & Lifestyle Writer

 

Jyotsana Rao is an engineering graduate from NIT, Nagpur, who discovered her love for writing during her undergraduate days. She is passionate about writing about everything related to beauty - makeup, fashion, hairstyles, skin care, or hair care and has 4 years of experience on writing in these genres.

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