- trivia -

[sear]

​

If you’re struggling to lose weight, could refrigerating your carbs help?​

By J.M. HIRSCH / Updated 8:39 AM GMT-5, February 26, 2026

Online influencers claim the secret to low-calorie rice, pasta and potatoes may be as simple as chilling out.
Are they right? Not quite. But
a small yet solid body of science does suggest that chilling these carbohydrate-rich foods after cooking them still could help people slim down.

For several years, wellness and nutrition influencers have promoted a process called retrogradation, urging people to cook, chill, then reheat carbohydrate-rich foods. They say doing so can cut the calories.
Retrogradation is real, but it isn’t quite that simple.

Two kinds of starch​

Most of the carbohydrates in these foods — as well as most of the calories — come from starch, of which there are two types:
- hard-to-digest amylose and
- easily digested amylopectin.
The latter is processed quickly and spikes blood sugar.
The former is processed slowly and moderates blood sugar.
Most raw carbohydrates (think uncooked potatoes) are made mostly of the hard-to-digest starch (also called resistant starch), but
cooking converts it into the easily digested one. This is why diabetics need to be mindful when eating starchy foods.
Here’s where the influencers get excited.

Chilling those cooked foods triggers “retrogradation,” a process that converts easily digested starch back into resistant starch, making it harder to digest even if the food is then reheated.

Much more, including dietary / blood sugar information @ https://apnews.com/article/carbs-chilling-losing-weight-0ce52cda1e2e5882b6154427e0e2b186

J.M. Hirsch is a food and travel journalist, and the former food editor for The Associated Press.

 

[Shiftless2]

 

[sear]

"became ... " #122

de·mon·ize (dēmə-nīz′)
To represent as evil or diabolic: wartime propaganda that demonizes the enemy.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

"From the mouths of babes", many young children would call it "lying". Do we need a more accurate characterization than that?

 

[Shiftless2]

If God had wanted us to have an endless and inexpensive source of clean energy he would have placed a giant fusion reactor in the sky.

 

[sear]

? ?
Does U.S. citizenship expire?
If not, why do U.S. passports? ... There's a weekend head- scratcher for you.

 

[Shiftless2]

If not, why do U.S. passports? ... There's a weekend head- scratcher for you.

Don't know for sure but, at a guess, it's because of the picture - If you've met a high school buddy after 40 years you'd understand.

I remember when I worked in a very multinational office we'd laugh because some of my colleagues had driver's licenses and the picture was the one that was taken when they first got their license (i.e., that of their 16 year old selves). And they were in their late 50's and early 60's. No idea how you could use those licenses as positive ID today.

 

[sear]

"Don't know for sure but, at a guess, it's because of the picture - " S2 #126

- fine -

BUT !

A U.S. passport is not $free.
The citizen must apply for, and pay for one.

Presumably there's an authentication process, to verify the applicant is legitimately entitled.

There would be no reason to duplicate that authentication for a renewal. A less $burdensome authentication process should suffice (insure no outstanding arrest warrants, etc).

Does a passport renewal / update cost $less than the original?

"A government exists when it has a reasonable monopoly on the legitimate use of violence." George Will