While it may be old news for some of you, various websites are re-showcasing a food hack that got carb lovers jumping for joy last year.
Presented at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, a short presentation by a Sri Lankan undergraduate chemistry student, Sudhair James, revealed the secret to halving the calorie of rice: coconut oil.
Did he just say we can cut down calorie by adding fat?
The Ultimate Goal
Obesity is no longer a problem that solely affects industrialized countries. This notorious conqueror is rapidly scurrying his way into developing countries as well. To fight back against obesity, the young chemist opted to focus on “food-based solutions.” Specifically, he decided to work on a cooking method that can boost the amount of resistant starch (RS) in rice.
For more information on resistant starch, we invite you to read the recent article on the matter here.
The Protocol
The best part of his finding is that we can replicate his study protocol right from home. No need for fancy gadgets or to play around with dangerous chemicals. All you need is coconut oil, water, rice, a pot, and a refrigerator.
Add 1 tsp. of coconut oil (=3% of the rice weight) to boiling water.
Add ½ cup of dry rice. Simmer for 40 minutes.
Chill for 12 hours.
Before the experiment, Sudhair and his team analyzed the RS content of 38 kinds of uncooked Sri Lankan rice. Following his analysis, he selected the type of rice that had the least amount of RS to conduct his study.
The Results
By applying the above cooking method and chilling procedure to the least amount of RS rice, the amount of RS hiked up by more than 50% while the number of calories was cut down by 10 to 15%.
“If the best rice variety is processed, it might reduce the calories by about 50-60 percent,” shared the young scientist.
The Science Behind The Magic
There are two types of starch: digestible and non-digestible. Resistant starch is a type of non-digestible starch, which means that it cannot be broken down by digestive enzymes. Instead, it reaches the colon where it is fermented by bacteria, thereby contributing to a healthy gut.
When adding oil to rice, “the oil enters the starch granules during cooking, changing its architecture so that it becomes resistant to the action of digestive enzymes.” This reaction produces type 5 RS, an amylose-lipid complex. The chilling process further increased the RS content by giving birth to type 3 RS. Sudhair specified that reheating does not modify the content of RS.
Coconut vs. Olive Oil
Before coconut oil started to make its way into Americans’ kitchen, olive oil was perhaps everyone’s go-to oil.
During Sudhair’s presentation, a member of the audience asked him whether replacing coconut oil with olive oil would result in the same findings.
Sudhair answered the question by listing the reasons behind the use of coconut oil in his experiment. He explained that coconut oil contains a good amount of medium-chain fatty acids, a type of fatty acids that complex well with the starch found in rice to form type 5 RS. Moreover, coconut oil is a staple in Sri Lanka, and much cheaper than olive oil.
My Thoughts
People aren’t getting their facts right.
Here are the ACTUAL findings.
- The experiment did not lead to a 50% decrease in calorie, but a >50% increase of RS.
- There was only a 10-15% reduction in calorie. Considering that one cup of cooked rice contains 200-250 calories, this reduction equals to roughly 20-40 calories. It is SPECULATED (not confirmed) that using the “best rice variety” may reduce calorie by 50-60%.
- The research was conducted using a type of Sri Lankan rice and following a specific protocol. Whether these results can be translated to every type of rice remains to be seen.
A neat trick that needs to be further investigated, especially in the context of postprandial glycemia.
