Trust me I'm a Doctor

I reheat pasta and rice regularly. Never done us any harm.

I saw that, too, and found it very interesting that the reheated pasta was better. Not what you would have expected.

The other interesting thing was that 10 minutes of sunshine a day, oily fish three times a week, or a daily vitamin pill gave you much the same amount of vitamin D. Also that the ten mins of sunshine lowers your blood pressure - and is free, of course.

Not a good idea to reheat rice because of the bacterium Bacillus cereus. Reheating can cause it to multiply.

I think it's OK to reheat pasta (I do) so long as it's been kept refrigerated.

I reheat both

I always rinse rice thoroughly before cooking it.
It's amazing how much starch comes out, so that must reduce the effect for anyone needing to watch calories and/or sugar consumption.
I've heard of the dangers of reheating rice, but often do anyway. As long as it's reheated thoroughly any bugs should be killed off. In fact, if the rice has been cooked they'll have been killed off anyway........

I reheat both and I am alive and well.

The freshly cooked v re-heated pasta was really surprising. Did I hear correctly that crossing your legs doesn't affect varicous veins adversely? Couldn't believe that, I was always told it was a real no-no if you had leg circulation probs.

I had always reheated both until we had a rice vomit debacle after doing so - so I do it no longer.

I heard that varicose veins fact, too, and spent an hour this afternnon reading with the kindle on my crossed knee.

I reheat pasta but not rice.

I don't understand. How can reheating pasta have any effect on your blood sugar levels? Presumably you have to eat it, but why reheated?

It was a chemical thing - cooling affects the starch and make it less "sugary" (those in the test eating cold pasta had less of a blood sugar rise than those who ate it hot) and then somehow reheating it makes it even less "sugary" so those who ate it reheated were even lower.

You can watch it on here - www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04m0bt4
and there are other episodes too www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04m0bt4 . They all sound very interesting.

Thanks Elegran. Will watch.

Love cold pasta, so I'm halfway there with the blood sugar thing.

Our Friday treat is takeaway style rice and curry meal deals from supermarket. These have containers of precooked rice and what about Uncle Ben's (similar products available).
I reheat pasta or eat cold leftovers depending on my mood.
Have been eating both for years.

I wouldn't reheat rice as it can harbour bacilli but I often take leftover pasta dishes in to work for lunch the next day and reheat them in the microwave. Hadn't realised it was actually good for me till I saw last night's programme!

jingl Here is another the link that explains it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29629761

I reheat both pasta and rice, but safety depends on how long between the cooling and reheating. Since yesterday I have cooled and reheated spaghetti and noodles. In each case there was only a few hours between cooling and reheating. Tomorrow I will do the same with rice. Would I reheat rice after it had been in the fridge for two days? Emphatically not.

The rice in chilled food has been treated in a certain way to make it safe. I reheated rice for years until I read about it being dangerous so I stopped doing so a couple of years ago. I always think pasta [especially lasagne] tastes better when cooled and reheated.

It is when rice has been pre-cooked and left in piles which stay warm for a long time that causes the toxins to develop. Reheating does not then kill off the bacteria that merlotgran mentioned.

If cooked at home, chilled quickly (rinse thoroughly with cold water) and re-heated thoroughly I have always found it to be fine.

Can't see the point in 2nd hand rice - its so cheap, why chance it? Just start again the next day

I dislike pasta so I don't eat it but I have reheated rice with no problems - maybe people aren't reheating it enough? I had a West Indian friend and she would cook rice ahead of time and then when the rest of the meal was ready, she would just put the rice into a pan of boiling water for a minute or two - didn't do her any harm either.

I also wash rice thoroughly before use. My mother said that when she's on her global travels, the rice is spread out on the roads (can't remember why) and cars drive over it, animals and people walk over it! So it is always washed until the water runs clear and then cooked.

We've always re-heated both, and survived too. But SIL is really strict about NOT re-heating rice and insists it is REALLY dangerous- but hey ho.

Of course some rice are much more starchy than others, and therefore have a much higher glycemic level- which is why we always have washed and slightly al-dente basmati and never risotto - and new potatoes rather than old/baked.

Reheating - even a lot - cannot always kill toxins. I am told that this is a particular problem with rice.

The occasion when we fell foul of this was some rice eaten in a pub - so we have no idea how it had been treated prior to arriving on the plate.

Woman's Weekly had an item on rice this week saying that it is perfectly safe to reheat it as long as it has been cooled quickly and then refrigerated. But not to reheat it more than once.

Pasta is fine to reheat (presuming you have been normally hygenic) Last night's spaghetti is routinely fried up for breakfast, possibly with an egg or two broken into it, or cooked up as a frittata. (I am not suggesting that any of this is healthy - just traditional)

I often keep pasta and reheat it, the flavour is more intense the next day especially tomato sauce. I don't reheat rice, it never looks that good after it has been stored in the fridge.

While we're on the subject of pasta, does anyone know where I can buy lasagna verdi from? Used to be able to buy it from most of the main supermarkets but they only seem to stock the white stuff now.