Who doesn't like to eat potatoes, pasta and rice. There's a perfect way to fit these high-calorie and glycemic-index carbohydrates into your diet: Cook, rest, refrigerate and consume, it's that simple.
When starchy foods are served hot and freshly cooked, the amount of calories is higher compare to when they are cold. This is where the concept of resistant starch comes into play. If starchy foods are cooled, some carbohydrates in their content turn into "resistant starch".
What is this resistant starch?
When the starch you are cooking is cooled, a type of fiber is formed that the body cannot digest. In short, the amount of fiber increases without changing the taste of cooled food. Thus, some of the carbohydrates pass through our small intestine without being digested or absorbed, and directly become food for the bacteria in the large intestine.
Moreover, it is not necessary to consume cold. Resistant starch-forming foods that you reheat maintain the resistant starch ratio and sometimes even increase.
Experts argue that resistant starch-containing foods have a great advantage in the treatment of obesity and balancing blood sugar.
A study conducted with different potato species; found that the resistant starch rate in boiled and rested overnight potatoes tripled after 24 hours. It is observed that baked and rested potatoes contain more resistant starch than boiled potatoes.
Some foods containing resistant starch:
All foods containing carbohydrates are potential nutrients for resistant starch. Foods with high fiber content with resistant starch ratio without processing; unripe green bananas have the highest value, followed by oats and legumes.
Research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1609748/
More for the curious:
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/resistant-starch-101
- https://www.edacidam.com/blog//carbohydrateli-yemekleri-daha-saglikli-yapmanin-yolu
About the author:
Alara Dolunay – Be People Editor
Alara Dolunay, who completed her undergraduate education at the Department of Media and Communication Systems at Bilgi University, completed her internships as an assistant to the project manager of ICM Turkey Digital Marketing Agency and Doğan Paksoy Gallery Young Art Magazine Writer. In 2020, she joined the Sotheby's Art Institute, Art History program. He has been working as Creative Editor at Be People since January 2021.
