Imagine eating rice or mashed potatoes without causing a sharp spike in blood sugar. Sounds like a dream? Not anymore. Dr. Terry Shintani, MD, a Harvard-trained nutritionist with over 250,000 social media followers, has shared a simple method that can lower the glycemic index (GI) of common carbs by up to 50%. This could change how people manage blood sugar and overall health.
What Is Glycemic Index?
Carbohydrates are an important part of a healthy diet. They include bread, cereals, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and dairy products. When we eat carbs, the digestive system breaks them down into simple sugars. These sugars enter the bloodstream.
However, not all carbs affect blood sugar in the same way. For example, eating a cookie can cause a fast sugar spike, making you crave more carbs. The glycemic index (GI) measures how much a food raises blood sugar compared to pure glucose.
High-GI foods release glucose quickly, causing rapid spikes in blood sugar. Low-GI foods release glucose slowly, providing steady energy and better control over blood sugar levels.
Why Glycemic Index Matters
Foods with a high GI (70+) trigger quick insulin responses. This can lead to energy crashes, increased hunger, and, over time, may contribute to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Low-GI foods (55 or below) digest slowly. They provide steady energy and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. The GI impact also depends on portion size, meal composition (fiber, protein, fats), and individual metabolism.
Examples of low-GI foods include non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, spinach, kale, zucchini, and cauliflower. In contrast, high-GI foods include white bread, white rice, cornflakes, baked potatoes, watermelon, candy, and soft drinks.
Dr. Shintani’s Simple Trick to Lower Carb GI
Dr. Terry Shintani has revealed a simple way to lower the GI of common carbs like rice, bread, potatoes, and pasta. In a video on Instagram, he explained, “You can cut the glycemic index of common carbs by as much as 50%.”
The method? “Just heat it and cool it,” he said. For example, cook rice, then refrigerate it overnight. Reheat it before eating. This process lowers rice’s GI from 78 to 54.
For bread, Dr. Shintani recommends freezing it and then toasting it. This can reduce its glycemic index by up to 39%.
Similarly, cooking, cooling, and reheating potatoes can cut their GI by 30 to 40%. The same method applied to pasta can reduce its GI by up to 50%.
How Does Heating and Cooling Work?
Heating and cooling carbs cause the starch to restructure. This process forms resistant starches. These are harder to digest, so they slow down the release of sugar into the bloodstream.
Dr. Shintani explains, “This simple hack helps control blood sugar by slowing digestion.” He encourages people to try it to enjoy carbs without harmful sugar spikes.
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