Reducing blood sugar spikes - Heat, cool, reheat

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Has anyone used the heat, cool, reheat process of cooking to change starchy carbs so they don't spike as much? It's used with potato, rice and pasta. Would be interested to hear of your experiences - especially if it worked :).
 
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xfieldok

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It didn't work for me. It does for others. Taste and test.
 

Antje77

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I've tried, both with a night in the fridge and with freezing. (Rice, pasta, even bread but that was because it was in the freezer anyway.)
Needed the same amount of insulin freshly cooked as I needed reheated.
 

Daphne917

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Has anyone used the heat, cool, reheat process of cooking to change starchy carbs so they don't spike as much? It's used with potato, rice and pasta. Would be interested to hear of your experiences - especially if it worked :).
Works for me with pasta and, to a lesser extent, rice.
 

UK T1

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Hi, interesting, does anyone know why this might work?

I've never heard of it til now, but regularly freeze leftovers for work and have never noticed any difference in insulin requirements or spiking effect. As a type 1, I always find any post meal spike is directly related to insulin timing and complexity of meal (fat/protein etc).
 

carty

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Thought that this was referring to our bodies before I read it !! Visions of standing in the shower hot shower cold shower for about 1/2 hour then test !!!!
Carol:angelic:
 

Oldvatr

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Works for me with pasta and, to a lesser extent, rice.
Works for me too. Mainly bread and pasta, I am up to 3 slices of toast a day now, and considering cutting out the small dose of Gliclazide I am taking since I am getting my bgl in the 4 to 5 mmol/l range on most days. I still have to be careful with the carbs, and a toasted teacake is a foolish step too far.
 

Resurgam

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I have only tried it with low carb bread, the Livlife one. I ate a sandwich using it fresh, then tested, and a couple of days later got some of the frozen bread and made the same sandwich - not a bit of difference.
 

Oldvatr

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I have only tried it with low carb bread, the Livlife one. I ate a sandwich using it fresh, then tested, and a couple of days later got some of the frozen bread and made the same sandwich - not a bit of difference.
I think that the liver may be playing with you here. I think my reduction success is due to following a regular process that has depleted my livers ability or desire to maintain a higher level, so your single spot check could be misinforming you. I have been using frozen toast technique for several months now. My 3 monthly average today registers 5.8

In comparison, when I was following Eatwell as directed by the NHS, my daily averages were in the range 15 to 32+ (KETONES or HI shouts my meter) and I was taking 320 mg Gliclazide and 2000 mg Metformin at that time. I am now down to 1000 mg Metformin and 40 mg Gliclazide.

When I was in Hospital last year for some 5 months, I was back on Eatwell fare, and discovered I could eat the toast as an alternative to the Cheerios etc that comprised breakfast. I was able to choose limits to the other carbs in the meals, and got my bgl back down even on hospital fare. I did a follow up, and found that the bread used for the morning toast came from the freezer.
 

Brunneria

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Hi, interesting, does anyone know why this might work?

I've never heard of it til now, but regularly freeze leftovers for work and have never noticed any difference in insulin requirements or spiking effect. As a type 1, I always find any post meal spike is directly related to insulin timing and complexity of meal (fat/protein etc).
Have a google for ‘resistant starch’.
The heating and cooling is supposed to change the nature of the starch to make it less digestible leading to lower blood glucose.

doesn’t make a blind bit of difference to my blood glucose levels, but you may be one of the lucky ones.

Ever eaten toast? If so, does it raise your blood glucose?
Any toast eater has been eating cooked, cooled and reheated carbs. :D
 

lessci

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Hi, interesting, does anyone know why this might work?

I've never heard of it til now, but regularly freeze leftovers for work and have never noticed any difference in insulin requirements or spiking effect. As a type 1, I always find any post meal spike is directly related to insulin timing and complexity of meal (fat/protein etc).

It's due to something called resistant starches, as many have said here, it doesn't work for everyone, or with every carb, for me, tinned potatoes seem to cause a smaller spike than any other form (they're cooked in the tin and you just reheat them) so I very occasionally have them
 

Oldvatr

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Here is an article in Healthline on this subject
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/resistant-starch-101#health-benefits

I certainly produce more gas nowadays than I used to, but then I have also become an Old F****Y so it may be just age at play. Or Metformin..... Or maybe I just blame my Avatar.
It's due to something called resistant starches, as many have said here, it doesn't work for everyone, or with every carb, for me, tinned potatoes seem to cause a smaller spike than any other form (they're cooked in the tin and you just reheat them) so I very occasionally have them
I have found I am sensitive to the age of a potato. I find baby spuds are less glucogenic than jacket potatoes, say. I think that as potatoes age, then they increase the amount of starch they contain since most tubers and bulbs are starch stores for next years crop. Tinned pots tend to be the miniature or baby ones, so may be lowish carb anyway.

My mother was T1D and she always ran cooked rice under the cold tap after cooking, then reheated it with water from the kettle before serving. This washed out the surface starch, but may have also made some of it more resistant. She ate lots of rice in the days before electronic test meters and split dose insulins. BUT she always warned against leaving cooked rice out at room temp and then reheating it at a later date since this can lead to bacteria buildup.
 
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I don't see the logic in making something less digestible just so you can eat it and not digest it. But that's just me.
 

Resurgam

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I think that the liver may be playing with you here. I think my reduction success is due to following a regular process that has depleted my livers ability or desire to maintain a higher level, so your single spot check could be misinforming you. I have been using frozen toast technique for several months now. My 3 monthly average today registers 5.8
My average post meal level is 5.6. My daily intake of carbs is under 40gm so think my liver is pretty well wrung out. My waist is 12 inches smaller than at diagnosis ( I was almost spherical). I checked after eating the sandwich just to see if there was any difference, about a year ago now, after two Hba1c levels of 42.
 

Oldvatr

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I don't see the logic in making something less digestible just so you can eat it and not digest it. But that's just me.
The principle behind the claim for resistant starch is not quite as you state here. The starch is supposed to be altered so that it is resistant to amylase, which is the enzyme that digests carbs into glucose in the stomach, but the altered starch does still get digested in the colon and provides a useful purpose there as soluble fibre. Thats the theory at least as I understand it. It is one of those hypotheses that have yet to be proven by proper study so remains in the realm of anecdotal evidence and Fake News/ Quackery. It works for me.

Also the rest of the potato that is not altered starch still serves a purpose too, except for those on a carnivore diet.
 

Daphne917

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Works for me too. Mainly bread and pasta, I am up to 3 slices of toast a day now, and considering cutting out the small dose of Gliclazide I am taking since I am getting my bgl in the 4 to 5 mmol/l range on most days. I still have to be careful with the carbs, and a toasted teacake is a foolish step too far.
I always use frozen bread, albeit lowish carb, for toast and sandwiches which is possibly why my bs doesn’t rise too much after eating it.