There’s been a lot of interest in the use of resistant starch in weight loss and digestive health. In a recent study from Sri Lanka researchers were able to significantly reduce the carbohydrate load of regular rice by adding coconut oil during boiling and then refrigerating the rice overnight, converting it to resistant starch. This rice with coconut oil was then reheated for consumption and shown to contain only half the calories and far lower digestible carbohydrates of normal rice. This addition of coconut oil resulted in a significantly lower glycemic index than if no coconut oil was used to prepare the resistant starch rice.
How does adding coconut oil to rice improve our health and support weight loss?
When we eat normal rice it is quickly broken down into glucose and enters our blood stream from our small intestine whereby we need to produce a spike of insulin to carry the sugar out of the blood where it can do harm in excess into our cells for use as energy or to be stored for future energy as fat. Our sedentary lifestyles and excess consumption of white rice together with bread and excess sugar consumption are the main causes of the global obesity epidemic.
When you cook rice with the addition of coconut oil, the oil enters the starch granule during cooking and after refrigeration causes changes in the form of the starch, converting it to the resistant variety. They found that the “coconut oil rice” contained between 10 to 15 times more resistant starch than normal rice! When the starch in the rice is converted to resistant starch then it cannot be digested in the small intestine and proceeds intact into the large intestine where it feeds our healthy bacteria in our gut microflora, acting as a “prebiotic”. Thus we avoid the carbohydrate load and large insulin spike that contributes to weight gains and metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, while also supporting our intestinal healthy bacteria.
Another positive outcome of preparing resistant starch rice with coconut oil is that it also improves satiation. This means that you can stay satisfied after meals longer and avoid the blood sugar crash after high carbohydrate rice meals that results in further between meal snacking and unhealthy food cravings.
How to prepare resistant starch rice with Virgin Coconut Oil:
Simply add 1 tablespoon of Organic Virgin Coconut Oil or Organic Odourless Coconut Oil per cup of rice and prepare as normal. Once cooked, refrigerate for 12 hours. After this the rice can be reheated for eating as the conversion to resistant starch (RS) is permanent.
Adding Virgin Coconut Oil produces a delicious coconut richness to the rice, like the traditional Malaysian rice dishes that add coconut milk "lemang" and “nasi lemak”. For those who do not want a coconut flavor to the rice then our Odourless Coconut Oil is preferred!