Reheated pasta is less fattening

Fitness, Food

Yes, I was surprised when I heard this. Even better, the BBC performed an experiment to see if it was true.

A rapid rise in blood glucose, followed by a rapid fall, can often make you feel hungry again quite soon after a meal. It’s true of sugary sweets and cakes, but it’s also true for things like pasta, potatoes, white rice and white bread. That’s why dieticians emphasise the importance of eating foods that are rich in fibre, as these foods produce a much more gradual rise and fall in your blood sugars.

But what if you could change pasta or potatoes into a food that, to the body, acts much more like fibre? Well, it seems you can. Cooking pasta and then cooling it down changes the structure of the pasta, turning it into something that is called “resistant starch”

You can read the full article here.

Biking with headphones

Fitness, Health, Thought Provoking, Travel

Being a regular cyclist every day that doesn’t heavily rain or snow, I’m shocked when I see fellow cyclists ride around wearing earphones in both ears. It was nice to read this article in Slate about why it’s stupid to do so, especially missing the cues about vehicles that are not in your line of sight that only come from hearing.

But even a burbling sonata can prevent you from picking up on subtler cues, and cyclists need all the cues they can get. Cars have air bags and crumple zones. Bikes do not. Cars have side and rearview mirrors. Most bikes don’t. Cyclists must crane their necks and look backward constantly. If your head and your front reflector aren’t pointing in the same direction, then auditory signals are essential to staying upright.