A young Sri Lankan student researcher has found a method of cooking rice which significantly reduces its propensity to create health issues like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Sudhair James, who did the research as an undergraduate at the College of Chemical Sciences in Colombo, presented a paper on it at the March 2015 session of the American Chemical Society. It was so well received that the The Washington Post interviewed him.

It was his own 110 kg body which made the Tamil lad from Batticaloa in Eastern Sri Lanka, think of ways to reduce the calorific value of rice, the staple food of Lankans and millions of Asians.

“I brought my weight down from 110 kg to 32 kg by workouts and dieting. But not all can do that.  So I decided to bring down the calorific value of rice,”  James told Express.

Guided by Dr.Pushparajah Thavarajah of North  Dakota  State University, James worked on 38 varieties of Lankan rice to find that by adopting a particular method of cooking, their calorific value could be reduced by 10 to 15 percent, which, according to him should  make a “tremendous difference” to health.

Explaining the science of it, James said that there are two types of starches - Low Resistant Starch (LRS) and High Resistant Starch (HRS). LRS is easy to digest. The body easily converts it into glucose and then into glycogen. But unless glycogen is burnt through exercise, it could add to body weight and lead to diabetes and other related issues. HRS, on the other hand, is not as easily digestible and is not converted to glucose and glycogen easily.

James found that by adding coconut oil to the rice to be cooked (three percent of the amount of rice used), and cooling the cooked rice in a refrigerator for 12 hours,  LRS is turned into HRS by 10 to 15 percent.    

“Work is still in progress. The goal is to bring about a 50 to 60 percent reduction in calorific value. We also want the 12 hour cooling period to be reduced and substitutes to be found for coconut oil,”  James said.
(The New Indian Express)