Reheating cold leftovers can trigger digestive woes like bloating, gas, and discomfort. Carb-heavy foods, such as white rice and potatoes, are particularly tricky. When you reheat these chilled carbs, their chemical makeup shifts, ramping up the resistant starch content.
Resistant starch is a rebel that doesn’t play nice with digestive enzymes. Instead of being absorbed in your small intestine, it takes a detour to your large intestine, where bacteria break it down. This slow-to-digest starch can cause food to linger in your gut, fermenting and producing gas, which leads to stomachache.
If you’re dealing with digestive issues like IBS, resistant starch might make your symptoms go haywire, intensifying abdominal pain, constipation, or diarrhea.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) provides tips for safely reheating leftovers. They stress that properly cooking and storing carb-rich foods are the first steps to safely reheating them.
According to the FSA, chill your cooked food in the fridge at 8°C (46°F) or below within two hours of cooking. When it’s time to reheat, ensure it’s piping hot throughout to dodge any food-poisoning bullets.
For even heating, stir your food occasionally while reheating and keep an eye on both time and temperature.
Most bacteria that cause food poisoning, such as salmonella and campylobacter, do not thrive in cold temperatures. To stay safe, reheat your food to at least 63°C (145°F).
Plus, avoid reheating more than twice. Reheating food multiple times can turn that resistant starch into a digestive nightmare, potentially causing indigestion or gas. It gives any lingering bacteria a chance to stage a comeback.
Reheat leftovers only once. If you have a lot of food, only reheat what you need, and keep the rest chilled in the fridge.
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