Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

TV news-byte today reports on recent UK study that supposedly demonstrates starchy foods have half the starch calories after cooled, than when freshly cooked. But, no mention whether same after reheating (?). If so, would definitely promote cooking starchy foods in large batches.

Human nutrition is endlessly fascinating.

Richard Wrangham argued that cooking made more energy available to humans than raw food.

Richard Wrangham, PhD author of the best-selling book Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
https://www.drmcdougall.com/education/l ... ngham-phd/

Gut microbiome also affects how food is digested or not digested, and what's available to us. And gut microbiome is very variable between people and within a persons lifespan.

The USDA and food industry measure calories independent of humans and human digestion. Calories are measured with a device known as the bomb calorimeter. A sample of food is placed in an airtight chamber - the 'bomb' - which is filled with pure oxygen and then placed in a tank of water. The food is ignited by an electric spark so it completely burns up.

Take away is calories is not a fixed number, from an individual human standpoint. Just eat your cooked starches until satisfied.

Looked thru all the posts/data, but (unless I am missing it), regardless of how inconsequential the RS issue is, still no answer to my query re: whether starch calorie reduction is a question of temp. when consumed, or a result of previous cooling (?).

While I doubt finding a definitive answer is going to make much of a difference to human health, especially based on the evidence Jeff was kind enough to highlight, have you tried doing a Google Scholar search?

This one:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=e ... heat&btnG=

... seemed to identify several studies that mention how reheating affects resistant starch.

I hope that helps