Love rice? Here's why you should have cold rice rather than eating it freshly cooked
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Eating freshly cooked meals is considered often best for our health. But, did you know that in the case of rice, it might not be true always? Dieticians say that freshly cooked rice has a higher Glycemic Index (GI), causing a rapid spike in your blood sugar. Apparently, when you cool it in the fridge and reheat it, the GI drops, leading to a slower, more stable rise in blood sugar due to something called resistant starch( a carb that resists digestion). It feeds the kind of gut bacteria that helps protect a healthy digestive system. According to the John Hopkins Patient Guide to Diabetes, as resistant starch is not digested in the small intestine, it doesn’t raise glucose.
It can also improve your insuline response and bulk up your stool, alongside making the gut microbiome diverse. Make sure that you store the rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use it within 3 days max. Here are a few tips to eat cold rice for best results:
1) Mix cold brown rice, basmati rice or wild rice with chopped veggies, grilled chicken, herbs, tofu, nuts, chickpeas and a tangy dressing for a filling meal.
2) Stir fry it with soy sauce, scrambled eggs, vegetables, tofu, chicken or shrimp.
3) Make sushi with it, with layers of avocado, seaweed, fish, sesame oil, rice vinegar or soy sauce for flavour
4) When you reheat the rice, do not make it overly hot and do not add too much water.
5) Add cold rice to hot stews or soups, chicken broth or lentil mixes.
6) Mix cold rice with fermented foods like pickles, kimchi and yoghurt, for gut health