Life hack: Reheating your pasta is actually better for your health

As a general rule, food usually tastes better when it's fresh. Honestly, who likes stale bread or microwaved pizza? There are, however, a few exceptions, such as certain stews which often benefit from macerating for a few hours longer, or cakes which magically taste better when you take them out of the fridge. Other foods, such as pasta and rice, can also reveal themselves after a short night in the fridge... but not necessarily from a gustatory point of view. Confused? We'll explain.

A question of starches

Pasta and rice taste better when reheated? It sounds strange, but according to Dr. Balazs Bajka of King's College London, a chemical reaction takes place when a dish of spaghetti is placed in the fridge.

As you may know, pasta, rice and potatoes are mainly made up of starches. During digestion, starches are broken down into sugars, which provide us with energy. However, when a food such as a potato or a grain of rice is cooked and then cooled, the nature of its starches can change, and this can be highly beneficial to health.

Read more:Eating leftover rice could give you food poisoning, here's how often you can reheat it without falling sick

The benefits of resistant starch

After a night in the fridge, some of the starch in the food turns into resistant starch. And this one doesn't have the same properties, as the New York Times points out:

By the next day, some of the natural starches in food will have transformed into healthier versions, called resistant starches, which have been associated with a range of health benefits, including lower blood sugar, better gut health and reduced risk of certain types of cancer.

The benefits of resistant starches also include a reduction in colonic pH, which in turn improves intestinal health. The other good news? This little trick works not only with pasta, rice and potatoes, but also with corn and wheat!

Read more:People shocked to learn the correct way to microwave food

This article has been translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used:

Société GI: Les amidons résistants

New York Times