A man suddenly suffocated to death! Just because he ate "Lvdagun"? Urgent reminder!

Recently, a piece of news is very shocking:

A man in Beijing's Temple of Heaven Park was suspected to have choked while eating "donkey rolls". Witnesses said that enthusiastic people used the Heimlich maneuver to rescue him, but the man was unable to spit out the foreign body. He was sent to the hospital but died.

The picture comes from the Internet

There have been many similar news:

The Gastroenterology Department of Shenzhen People's Hospital received a case in which 65-year-old Aunt Li had repeated stomach pains for several days, vomited, and was unable to defecate. She went to the hospital for examination and was diagnosed with intestinal obstruction. The culprit was the glutinous rice she had eaten a few days ago.

Jiaxing Xiuzhou District People's Hospital also received a case of an 80-year-old man who accidentally ate glutinous rice products, which caused stagnation in the throat and subsequent airway obstruction.

Sticky glutinous rice food is a popular snack in life, but because of its stickiness, glutinous rice food is also a very "dangerous" food, especially for the elderly, it can become a "killer on the tip of the tongue" if you are not careful. Be careful when eating glutinous rice products!!!

Sticky rice

Why is it so sticky?

my country is one of the earliest countries to grow rice. Common rice varieties include indica rice, japonica rice, and glutinous rice. The grains of indica and japonica rice are processed into the rice we usually eat, and the grains of glutinous rice are processed into glutinous rice. Although their appearance and taste are different, the main ingredients are not much different - they are all starch.

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But why is glutinous rice sticky and ordinary rice not? The main reason is that they have different types of starch.

Depending on their structure, starch can be divided into two main types: amylose and amylopectin.

Amylose is like a long "rope" with fewer branches and tighter links. It takes time and effort for amylase to cut it into small pieces. Therefore, rice with a higher amylose ratio usually has a harder texture.

Amylopectin has many branches, and amylase can cut it from multiple angles at the same time, making it easier to cut. The one with a high proportion of branches has a softer and more glutinous taste.

Image source: Reference [1]

Glutinous rice starch contains more than 80% amylopectin and less amylose, so it is stickier than other rice. Donkey rolls, rice dumplings, glutinous rice cakes, green rice balls and other glutinous rice foods have a sticky texture because there is more amylopectin in glutinous rice.

Eat glutinous rice products

These things should be noted

Many people think that glutinous rice has a sticky texture and will make the stomach uncomfortable and difficult to digest. In fact, this is a complete misunderstanding.

A large number of studies have found that hot glutinous rice just out of the pot is digested very quickly. One of the more common reasons why many people think that glutinous rice is difficult to digest is that people let it cool down.

Studies have found that when glutinous rice is cooled, branched starch will quickly connect to form a dense structure, increasing its viscosity and toughness, which will affect the function of digestive enzymes in the human body and increase the digestive burden. Therefore, if you eat glutinous rice food that has been cooled, you may find it difficult to digest. However, as long as it is heated again, the hardness of glutinous rice food will decrease. Therefore, it is best to eat glutinous rice food while it is hot. If it has cooled, you may wish to reheat it thoroughly before eating.

Another reason is that many glutinous rice foods now contain oil, which is difficult to digest. Foods such as qingtuan, zongzi, tangyuan, and glutinous rice chicken not only contain glutinous rice, but also lard, butter, margarine, meat and other oils rich in saturated fats. People with poor stomach function and poor digestion and absorption will find it more difficult to digest.

Another characteristic of glutinous rice is that its feeling of fullness is relatively delayed.

Most foods make you feel full immediately after eating, and the feeling of fullness is strongest right after eating. However, glutinous rice foods generally do not make you feel full when you eat them, and the peak feeling of fullness is reached about 30 minutes after the meal. This delayed feeling of fullness often leads to a consequence - you don't feel that you have eaten much or even not full when you eat, but you will feel full after a while, and even if you eat too much or feel full, you will find it difficult to digest.

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In addition to eating it while hot, there are some precautions when eating glutinous rice:

Eat in moderation, not too much

Zongzi is delicious, but it is relatively high in calories. Many glutinous rice foods are also added with meat, egg yolk, candied dates, red bean paste, brown sugar and other fillings and accessories. This results in many glutinous rice foods looking small, but the energy is not low. For example, a medium-sized zongzi has at least 300 kcal, which is more than a bowl of rice. Therefore, although glutinous rice foods are delicious, you should also pay attention to the amount and not eat too much.

Replace other staple foods

The nutritional value of glutinous rice is similar to that of ordinary rice, and it mainly provides energy. Therefore, if you eat glutinous rice, you must reduce the intake of staple foods to avoid excess energy, which may lead to obesity, hyperglycemia and other diseases.

Concentrate on eating

Glutinous rice foods have a very sticky texture. Try to concentrate when eating, do not play or talk, and be careful of choking and suffocation.

Special groups should eat with caution

Glutinous rice is a high GI (glycemic index) food, but the effect of any food cannot ignore the "amount consumed".

For people with diabetes, eating a small amount (tasting) and choosing the right time to eat does not have much impact on blood sugar. In addition, it is necessary to choose the fillings reasonably and avoid eating zongzi with jujube paste or red dates as fillings. For people with diabetes, it is not recommended to eat more than 50 grams per day. Try to choose "whole grain zongzi" and eat it in several times. Reduce the intake of other staple foods during the same meal.

In addition, the elderly, children, patients with cardiovascular disease, and those with weak gastrointestinal digestive function should eat in small amounts. Patients with reflux gastritis should control the amount of food they eat to avoid aggravating acid reflux symptoms.

References

[1]VEELAERTS,POLLINGM,DEWITD.Structuralandphysicochemicalchangesofpotatostarchalongperiodateoxidation[J].Starch-Stärke,1995,47:263-268.

Planning and production

Author: Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center

Review丨Zhang Yu, researcher/PhD, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, national health science expert