Storing food left over after a meal in the refrigerator is a common practice, but, according to Tim Spector, epidemiologist and professor at King’s College London, this habit can bring additional health benefits, beyond simply preserving food.
Spector explains that chilling certain cooked carbohydrates can improve gut health and help with blood sugar response. According to , the professor highlights that this process increases the amount of a specific type of carbohydrate, resistant starch. This type of starch is found in starchy foods such as potatoes, rice and pasta when they are cooked and then cooled. Unlike common starch, resistant starch is not digested in the small intestine and reaches the large intestine intact, where it ferments and feeds beneficial intestinal bacteria, producing short-chain fatty acids.
According to Spector, the process of cooling carbohydrates not only improves the texture of foods when reheated, but also increases the amount of resistant starch. A study carried out in China demonstrated that cooling cooked rice for 24 hours at 4°C and then reheating it significantly increased the resistant starch content, from 0.64 g/100 g to 1.65 g/100 g.
This increase in resistant starch brings important benefits, such as reducing blood sugar spikes after meals. The clinical study, conducted on 15 healthy adults, revealed that cooked, cooled and reheated rice had a significantly lower glycemic response than freshly cooked rice. This shows how the simple practice of cooling and reheating food can be beneficial for controlling blood sugar levels.
Additionally, incorporating this habit into your daily cooking can be an easy way to improve gut health and help control blood sugar levels. Preparing foods like rice and pasta, followed by a period of cooling and reheating, can be a practical way to get more benefits from carbohydrates without needing complex dietary changes. Therefore, this small adjustment in the way food is prepared can be a simple strategy to promote a more balanced and healthy diet.
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