Are your leftovers superfoods in disguise? Discover why leftover pasta and rice could be healthier!
- Replies 10
Leftovers are an easy way to prepare meals quickly—with little effort and cost.
Most of our leftovers include rice and pasta, which can be made into various dishes at home.
But what you might not know is that these leftovers could be even better for your health than freshly cooked meals!
Research has found that when carbohydrates (such as pasta and rice) are cooked and cooled, the starch molecules in the carbs present change to another type of starch called ‘resistant starch’.
According to gut psychologist Dr Balazs Bajka of King’s College London in the UK, the starches become more difficult to digest, meaning that some of the sugars in these carbs are not absorbed as readily into the bloodstream.
This keeps blood sugar levels steady and will make you feel fuller for longer and less likely to eat unhealthy foods.
Resistant starch has also been found to trigger the release of hormones that help to keep us full, such as cholecystokinin (CCK) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), the active ingredient used in anti-obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound.
This type of starch has been linked to improving gut bacteria’s health, which can help reduce the risk of heart conditions and hereditary cancers.
According to a 2022 study in the Cancer Prevent Research journal, resistant starch helped reduce the rates of esophageal, gastric, biliary tract, pancreatic, and duodenum cancers for those who are susceptible due to genetics.
The research split the patients into two groups—463 patients took a supplement with resistant starch for four years, whereas 445 took a placebo drug.
After ten years, five new cases of upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers were diagnosed among the starch group, while 21 on the placebo group.
Dr John C. Mathers, the author and professor of Human Nutrition at Newcastle University in the UK, said, ‘We found that resistant starch reduces a range of cancers by over 60 per cent. The effect was most obvious in the upper part of the gut.’
‘This is important as cancers of the upper GI tract are difficult to diagnose and often are not caught early on,’ he added.
This research has prompted many experts to share their findings on social media—with more than 1.3 million videos posted about the benefits of consuming resistant starch. Diabetes patients have taken to the platform to showcase the difference in blood sugar spikes after eating cooled rice.
However, some experts suggest that reheating cold carbs slightly reduces the resistant starch you consume.
A 2020 study published in the journal Nutrition Bulletin found that cooking, cooling, and reheating rice may decrease resistant starch by 20 per cent.
According to Kim Rose, a registered dietician and diabetes expert, the decrease was ‘not much’.
‘The resistant starch in a cooked then cooled then reheated potato is going to go down by a lot more because different carbs have different ratios of the type of starch that they contain,’ she said.
According to another study, resistant starch can feed cells in the bowel through the increased production of a substance called butyrate.
Butyrate decreases gut inflammation, can detect DNA damage, and prevents the growth and replication of cancer cells.
In Australia, RMIT University researchers have also developed a flavourless type of resistant starch that could be added to foods to improve their nutrition.
According to them, FiberX, the technology behind the flavourless resistant starch, claimed to have the ‘potential to help with weight management and diabetes’.
While eating leftover pasta and rice may be a good thing, don’t leave your leftover pasta or rice sitting on the counter for too long!
According to emergency medicine physician Dr Joe Whittington, food like pasta and rice should not be left out at room temperature for more than two hours because it could place you at risk of food poisoning.
Members, consult with your GP first if you’re allowed to eat pasta or rice. This article is also in no way intended to serve as medical advice, so again, please consult medical professionals before anything else. Always be safe!
What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments below!
Most of our leftovers include rice and pasta, which can be made into various dishes at home.
But what you might not know is that these leftovers could be even better for your health than freshly cooked meals!
Research has found that when carbohydrates (such as pasta and rice) are cooked and cooled, the starch molecules in the carbs present change to another type of starch called ‘resistant starch’.
According to gut psychologist Dr Balazs Bajka of King’s College London in the UK, the starches become more difficult to digest, meaning that some of the sugars in these carbs are not absorbed as readily into the bloodstream.
Studies show leftover pasta and rice can be healthier due to their ‘resistant starch’. Credit: Unsplash
This keeps blood sugar levels steady and will make you feel fuller for longer and less likely to eat unhealthy foods.
Resistant starch has also been found to trigger the release of hormones that help to keep us full, such as cholecystokinin (CCK) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), the active ingredient used in anti-obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound.
This type of starch has been linked to improving gut bacteria’s health, which can help reduce the risk of heart conditions and hereditary cancers.
According to a 2022 study in the Cancer Prevent Research journal, resistant starch helped reduce the rates of esophageal, gastric, biliary tract, pancreatic, and duodenum cancers for those who are susceptible due to genetics.
The research split the patients into two groups—463 patients took a supplement with resistant starch for four years, whereas 445 took a placebo drug.
After ten years, five new cases of upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers were diagnosed among the starch group, while 21 on the placebo group.
Dr John C. Mathers, the author and professor of Human Nutrition at Newcastle University in the UK, said, ‘We found that resistant starch reduces a range of cancers by over 60 per cent. The effect was most obvious in the upper part of the gut.’
‘This is important as cancers of the upper GI tract are difficult to diagnose and often are not caught early on,’ he added.
This research has prompted many experts to share their findings on social media—with more than 1.3 million videos posted about the benefits of consuming resistant starch. Diabetes patients have taken to the platform to showcase the difference in blood sugar spikes after eating cooled rice.
However, some experts suggest that reheating cold carbs slightly reduces the resistant starch you consume.
A 2020 study published in the journal Nutrition Bulletin found that cooking, cooling, and reheating rice may decrease resistant starch by 20 per cent.
According to Kim Rose, a registered dietician and diabetes expert, the decrease was ‘not much’.
‘The resistant starch in a cooked then cooled then reheated potato is going to go down by a lot more because different carbs have different ratios of the type of starch that they contain,’ she said.
According to another study, resistant starch can feed cells in the bowel through the increased production of a substance called butyrate.
Butyrate decreases gut inflammation, can detect DNA damage, and prevents the growth and replication of cancer cells.
In Australia, RMIT University researchers have also developed a flavourless type of resistant starch that could be added to foods to improve their nutrition.
According to them, FiberX, the technology behind the flavourless resistant starch, claimed to have the ‘potential to help with weight management and diabetes’.
While eating leftover pasta and rice may be a good thing, don’t leave your leftover pasta or rice sitting on the counter for too long!
According to emergency medicine physician Dr Joe Whittington, food like pasta and rice should not be left out at room temperature for more than two hours because it could place you at risk of food poisoning.
Members, consult with your GP first if you’re allowed to eat pasta or rice. This article is also in no way intended to serve as medical advice, so again, please consult medical professionals before anything else. Always be safe!
What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments below!
.png){kind=icon}
he loves cat bikkies but only whiskas as well.
but don’t you just love them.
a lot and mine snores when In a deep 
he’s louder than the tv
