Is it true that cooking rice with coconut oil can reduce calorie levels?

JAKARTA – Rice is the staple food of most Indonesian people. So often many people think that consuming other sources of carbohydrates such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn is less filling.

However, the sugar and calorie content in rice must also be considered. The reason is, if consumed in excessive portions it can endanger health, especially for those who suffer from diabetes.

If you usually cook rice you only add water, but cooking rice with water and coconut oil turns out to help reduce the calorie and sugar content in it.

Health Practitioner Dr. Dicky Budiman explained that cooking rice with the addition of coconut oil has been proven by research to reduce 50%-60% percent of the calories and sugar from the rice itself.

“That’s right, cooking like that, with the addition of coconut oil, research has shown that it can even reduce 50 to 60 percent (calories),” said Dr. Dicky Budiman when contacted by MNC Portal Indonesia, Saturday (13/4/2024).

This can happen because coconut oil can increase resistant starch. Resistant starch is a starch fraction that is not hydrolyzed by enzymes produced by the pancreas within 120 minutes after consumption.

“Of course, when the proportion is usually above 3% of the total, this is scientifically proven. Because the increase in resistant starch means that less is digested in the body. This method has actually been discovered relatively long ago,” he said.

Even so, Dr. Dicky Budiman said that apart from coconut oil, mixing cooked olive oil can also do the same thing.

“Even in this context, we don’t have to add it when cooking, and it doesn’t have to be coconut oil because olive oil is almost the same,” explained Dr. Dicky Budiman.

If you don’t have both, then you can also add serundeng or dry roasted coconut without added sugar or other ingredients to help reduce the calories and sugar in the rice.

However, this does not mean that people can consume large amounts of rice. Consuming too much rice even though it has been mixed with coconut oil also doesn’t have a good effect.

“But remember, you still have to pay attention to the portions and amount of food you eat. “This also includes coconut milk, if it is combined with meat, the content will certainly be different,” stressed Dr. Dicky.

(tsa)