Diabetes and Cold Rice: Simple Hack to Lower Blood Sugar Level

Highlights:

Rice is a staple food worldwide, especially in Asian, African, and Latin American countries
Diabetic people often give rice a miss thinking that it might increase the blood sugar level
However, consuming cold leftover rice may prevent blood sugar spikes after eating

Eating reheated rice instead of freshly cooked may slow spikes in blood sugar for people with diabetes, according to a small study published in Nutrition and Diabetes.

A group of Polish researchers from the Poznan University of Medical Sciences studied 32 patients with type 1 diabetes, comparing their blood sugar levels after eating two different test meals.

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‘Eating leftover rice stored in the refrigerator for a day results in a lower increase in postprandial blood sugar levels in diabetes patients.’

One meal was long-grain white rice, about 46 grams of carbohydrates, prepared and served immediately. The other was the same portion of rice but allowed to cool in a refrigerator for 24 hours, then reheated and served.

Is Cold Rice Better for Blood Sugar?

They found that when participants ate the cooled rice, their blood sugar levels were significantly more stable, with less of an increase overall, and a shorter time to peak than when they ate the fresh rice.

These results suggest cooled carbohydrates like rice may help control blood sugar, according to the researchers, thanks to a specific type of carbohydrate called resistant starch. The chilled portion of rice in the study contained significantly more resistant starch than the fresh rice ().

Evidence suggests resistant starch is digested more slowly. As a result, resistant starch may help balance out the absorption of other carbs to balance blood sugar, similar to fiber.

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While the study is small and focused on a specific population, previous research supports the idea that cooling carb-rich foods can change how they are absorbed.

What Happens When You Eat Cold Rice?

A similar 2015 study, conducted on people without diabetes, found comparable results, with the chilled rice causing less of a spike in blood sugar. Getting more resistant starch from cooled carbs has other benefits, too, such as regulating appetite to keep you full after meals, preventing energy dips, or even aiding in weight loss.

If people are on a body fat loss mission and they are looking at leveling their blood sugar levels, or if they are looking at their productivity and avoiding afternoon slumps, it could be beneficial to try and consume more resistant starch ().

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However, cold rice is safe to eat as long as you handle it properly. It may improve your gut health, as well as your blood sugar and cholesterol levels, due to its higher resistant starch content.

To reduce your risk of food poisoning, make sure to cool the rice within 1 hour of cooking and keep it properly refrigerated before eating it.

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References:

Effect of Cold Storage and Reheating of Parboiled Rice on Postprandial Glycaemic Response, Satiety, Palatability and Chewed Particle Size Distribution - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5452205/)
Effect of cooling of cooked white rice on resistant starch content and glycemic response - (https://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/24/4/620.pdf)

Source-Medindia