Is rice cake easy to digest?

Rice cake is made of glutinous rice and has a very smooth taste after being cooked. Many children like to eat rice cake. However, if the child likes to eat it, parents must make sure that the child eats as little as possible, otherwise it will put a great burden on the child's stomach. In addition to children, the elderly and the sick should also eat less rice cakes to avoid indigestion. So, is rice cake easy to digest?

Is rice cake easy to digest?

Rice cake is indeed difficult to digest and should not be eaten too much.

However, we often say that it is because rice cakes are made of glutinous rice, which is difficult to digest. We must make it clear that in terms of food starch structure, the rice we often eat contains more amylose. Because amylose exists in a curled form, it is not conducive to the digestive enzymes to contact and decompose, so the digestion effect is average. The content of amylopectin in glutinous rice is very high. The structure of amylopectin is like a branch, with many contact sites and a large contact area with digestive enzymes, so this structure is conducive to digestion and absorption.

However, because glutinous rice has low water absorption and expansion capacity, it becomes very sticky and has a greasy texture after being cooked. Generally speaking, glutinous rice is difficult to digest. Therefore, people with stomach problems are best not to eat it, and the elderly and young children should also eat it with caution. In addition, since rice cakes are not easy to digest, if you drink water while eating them, it will dilute the gastric juice and make it more difficult to digest. It is recommended to drink water half an hour after eating glutinous rice.

Is glutinous rice really hard to digest?

In fact, glutinous rice foods eventually lead to indigestion, not only because of the glutinous rice, but also because of:

1. Cooking method

It has a lot to do with the way glutinous rice foods are cooked. For example, the rice dumplings, rice cakes, Yuanxiao, glutinous rice balls, fried cakes, etc. that we usually eat are difficult to digest. The main reason is that they are cooked with high oil and sugar content. People usually wrap rice cakes in flour bran, fry them in oil, and then add sugar to eat them. Such rice cakes are high in sugar and fat. So, it’s not that glutinous rice is difficult to digest, but its ingredients and the way of eating it are difficult to digest. You can steam or boil the rice cake, which will be better, and fry less.

2. Temperature and fillings

Glutinous rice flour itself has a soft texture, and glutinous rice that has just been cooked and is hot without any fillings is easy to digest. However, as sticky rice and other glutinous rice foods cool, their stickiness and toughness will increase. When the digestive enzymes in the stomach have difficulty digesting food, we feel uncomfortable. Therefore, it is best to eat glutinous rice foods such as rice cakes while they are hot.

Especially eating cold glutinous rice foods with lard and high-sugar fillings, such as cold glutinous rice balls and cold meat dumplings. It must be difficult to digest. Sticky and tough things are difficult to chew and crush, and when they are wrapped together with saturated fat that solidifies when cold, it is even more difficult for them to be fully mixed with digestive juices in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, glutinous rice foods should be filled with less fillings, such as lard, butter and other fillings containing saturated fatty acids.

What to do if you can't digest rice cakes

1. If you have indigestion and feel mild discomfort after eating rice cakes, you can apply hot compress on your lower abdomen to help promote gastrointestinal motility.

2. You can eat something to help digestion. Such as hawthorn fruit, tangerine peel, take a walk 30 minutes after a meal. Or take some stomach-strengthening and digestion-promoting tablets.

3. If you experience severe indigestion after eating rice cakes, you can consider taking oral lactobacillus tablets or metoclopramide under the guidance of a doctor to relieve the symptoms. It is beneficial to apply hot compress to the lower abdomen to help promote gastrointestinal motility.