Lower carb's by cooking the day before

patchworks101 · Apr 10, 2015

The Daily Mail recently published an article about reducing calories and carbs by cooking potatoes, pasta, rice etc the day before, refridgerating and then reheating the next day (or eating cold). It stated that you could reduce up to 1/2 the carb intake as the starches are turned to indigestible starch.

I decided to try it out. I would normally have 200g of basmati rice with a meal with 8 units of Humalog. Two hours later my reading would be 160 mg/dl (in France, 8.9 mmol). However, after cooking the rice the evening before, cooling quickly and putting in the fridge overnight it was then reheated and served with homemade sweet and sour sauce and my reading was only 126 mg/dl (7 mmol). So, the same meal (with the same reading pre-mealtime each day) resulted in a far lower reading with the precooked rice.

I then tried the same approach with potatoes. I keep a daily food diary which records my BG readings, insulin taken and meals eaten so it was easy to replicate menus and I was surprised to see the same result.

You can read the article by clicking here so you can make your own minds up.

rowan · Apr 10, 2015

There's quite a few threads about resistant starch on here, this one's the longest http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/resistant-starches.65680/

Fallgal · Apr 11, 2015

patchworks101 said:
The Daily Mail recently published an article about reducing calories and carbs by cooking potatoes, pasta, rice etc the day before, refridgerating and then reheating the next day (or eating cold). It stated that you could reduce up to 1/2 the carb intake as the starches are turned to indigestible starch.

I decided to try it out. I would normally have 200g of basmati rice with a meal with 8 units of Humalog. Two hours later my reading would be 160 mg/dl (in France, 8.9 mmol). However, after cooking the rice the evening before, cooling quickly and putting in the fridge overnight it was then reheated and served with homemade sweet and sour sauce and my reading was only 126 mg/dl (7 mmol). So, the same meal (with the same reading pre-mealtime each day) resulted in a far lower reading with the precooked rice.

I then tried the same approach with potatoes. I keep a daily food diary which records my BG readings, insulin taken and meals eaten so it was easy to replicate menus and I was surprised to see the same result.

You can read the article by clicking here so you can make your own minds up.

This is very interesting! I am going to have to do some reading and experimenting!

Daphne917 · Apr 11, 2015

I decided to have a lasagne ready meal the other day and pre dinner my BS was 5.7, @ 1 hour tt was 8.4 but @ 2 hours it was 7.4 which may have been because the pasta was re-heated. It's one that I will definitely try again because I've not eaten pasta for a while due to the amount of carbs but this result means it may be something I can have as a treat.

noblehead · Apr 11, 2015

Interesting subject resistant starches, pleased it worked out well for you @patchworks101

graj0 · Apr 11, 2015

I'm sure everybody reading this will ensure properly reheating food. Cooling quickly is essential as well as it prevents the bacteria from growing back quickly. Also it's not always the bacteria that gives you the runs, it's the toxins that they produce and can remain while reheating kills the bacteria. There's loads to read about this if you google. Good news if you really miss the carbs.

mojo37 · Apr 11, 2015

patchworks101 said:
The Daily Mail recently published an article about reducing calories and carbs by cooking potatoes, pasta, rice etc the day before, refridgerating and then reheating the next day (or eating cold). It stated that you could reduce up to 1/2 the carb intake as the starches are turned to indigestible starch.

I decided to try it out. I would normally have 200g of basmati rice with a meal with 8 units of Humalog. Two hours later my reading would be 160 mg/dl (in France, 8.9 mmol). However, after cooking the rice the evening before, cooling quickly and putting in the fridge overnight it was then reheated and served with homemade sweet and sour sauce and my reading was only 126 mg/dl (7 mmol). So, the same meal (with the same reading pre-mealtime each day) resulted in a far lower reading with the precooked rice.

I then tried the same approach with potatoes. I keep a daily food diary which records my BG readings, insulin taken and meals eaten so it was easy to replicate menus and I was surprised to see the same result.

You can read the article by clicking here so you can make your own minds up.

I had heard something about pasta which I love ,being cooked the day before then re heated so I think I will definitely try it

carty · Apr 11, 2015

You need to be very careful reheating rice I don't have any information to hand so please have a good check
CAROL

mojo37 · Apr 11, 2015

carty said:
You need to be very careful reheating rice I don't have any information to hand so please have a good check
CAROL

Its beat not to reheat rice but to have it straight from the fridge but for me its pasta that I want to try

Phlogiston · Apr 11, 2015

Yes, rice contains bacteria that are not entirely destroyed by cooking. It's OK if hot but let it cool for a while and the little blighters start breeding again.
Adam

tim2000s · Apr 12, 2015

Ignoring the comments about reheating rice, which I've been doing for years with no ill effects, I've not found that reheated carbs make a significant difference to glucose levels myself.

patchworks101 · Apr 12, 2015

The NHS stste, about reheating rice -
Tips on serving rice safely

ideally, serve rice as soon as it has been cooked
if that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour)
keep rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating
when you reheat any rice, always check that the dish is steaming hot all the way through
do not reheat rice more than once
I've also been doing it for years with no side effects. It's how I make the rice for a rice salad for a picnic or bbq.

Indy51 · Apr 12, 2015

Sounds like a lot of messing about, so I'm relieved that I don't miss those types of food at all.

Charisma_1630 · Apr 12, 2015

Would we still count for the same amount of carbs? Or less?

JTL · Apr 12, 2015

I get asked this question a lot, and the answer is “yes you can reheat rice” but the important thing to prevent food poisoning has nothing to do with the re-heating process.

It is a little known fact that it is actually the cooling and cold storage that is the most important part. Rice and other cereal products such as pasta can contain bacteria called Bacillus cereus which is what is known as a spore-forming organism. The spores survive the cooking process and if allowed to germinate after cooking (by being left at room temperature) can multiply, producing a food poisoning toxin that is not destroyed by heat. So however well you re-heat rice, if you have not cooled it properly, then the toxin could still be there.
More here .... http://www.thehygienedoctor.co.uk/can-reheat-rice/

I've never had a problem eating reheated rce without any precautions whatsoever but .....

Lower carb's by cooking the day before

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