Does a sugar-reducing rice cooker really eliminate sugar?
2023.04.01
The “sugar-restricted diet” and “low-sugar diet,” which refrain from sugars such as those in rice, bread, and sweets, seem to be firmly established rather than a temporary fad. Under such circumstances, did you know that some manufacturers sell rice cookers that can cut sugar?
“It’s amazing that you can eat regular rice and cut sugar!”
National Consumer Affairs Center conducts a rice cooking test for a sugar-reducing rice
cooker
On March 15, 2023, the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan published a report entitled “Actual electric rice cookers that claimed to be able to reduce carbohydrates”.
According to them, in the six years since 2017, 250 consultations have been received regarding so-called “sugar-reducing rice cookers.” Some of them were earnest
consultations, such as “I’m using a sugar-reducing rice cooker, but my blood sugar level hasn’t changed (i.e. not improved)” and “I doubt that it’s reducing sugar as described. I’m diabetic, so I’m worried.”
Therefore, this report publishes the results of actually cooking rice with multiple sugar-reducing rice cookers, and compares them with the degree of sugar reduction claimed in advertisements.
The amount of sugar per 100g is small, but the total amount does not change
For this test, 6 types of sugar-reducing rice cookers were targeted. When “normally cooked” and “reduced-sugar” rice were processed with each rice cooker, the
“reduced-sugar” cooked rice felt softer than the regularly cooked rice, and contained 10-20% more water per 100g. This result held true for all the tested brands of cookers.
In addition, for all brands, the carbohydrate ratio per 100g was about 10 to 30% lower in the rice cooked with the reduced carbohydrate than in the rice cooked normally, but there had been a specified reduction rate of carbohydrates cited in advertisements. Four of the five brands did not meet the reduction rate. By the way, the only brand where the claim was proven accurate in this test was Iris Ohyama’s “IH jar rice cooker 5.5 go”.
Furthermore, the regularly cooked rice produced from the same amount of rice was about 10 to 30% heavier than the rice cooked with fewer carbohydrates, but there was no significant difference in the total amount of carbohydrates contained.
In the end, the amount of food you eat is important
What we can see from this result is that when cooked in the “carbohydrate-reducing rice cooking” mode, the amount of carbohydrates per 100g decreases due to the increase in water content, but the total amount of carbohydrates contained does not change much.
In other words, you have to be careful about how much you eat.
I think that many people considering purchasing a sugar-reducing rice cooker are worried about their blood sugar levels or are thinking about going on a diet. Whether it’s blood sugar control or a diet, it’s essential to have a good relationship with sugar. If you eat a lot of rice cooked in sugar-reducing mode, the amount of sugar you consume will increase.
If you feel more satisfied with the amount of water added and the bulkiness of the rice, using low-sugar rice cooking is a smart choice. On the other hand, if you don’t like soft rice, or if you tend to eat soft rice without chewing it, it may be better to chew regular rice well and eat an appropriate amount.
reference
Independent administrative agency National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan “Actual electric rice cooker claiming to reduce carbohydrates”
https://www.kokusen.go.jp/pdf/n-20230315_1.pdf