For many, cooking rice is the easiest job and for the right reasons, you can cook a lot and store it for later. But the problem is not that; it is about how you store it. Lurking in your pile of grains is a hidden bacterium called Bacillus cereus. It thrives on raw rice and survives even after cooking. And the alarming bit is that if you do not store your rice correctly, this bacterium can multiply, releasing toxins that can cause food poisoning.

Food poisoning could lead to vomiting, diarrhoea, cramps, and, in rare cases, infections so severe they can cause organ failure. It is scary, but the worst part is that you cannot see, smell, or taste the danger. A bowl of rice can look perfectly fine while it can quietly wreak havoc in your stomach.

A common thing we all do is leave the leftover rice in the kitchen or on the dining table with just a lid on. But it is more than that, and it is the temperature that plays an important role. So, we are making a huge mistake if we leave it at room temperature.

Here is the safer way to deal with leftover rice and cut the risk of falling seriously sick:

Unlike pasta or potatoes, rice is classed as a high-risk food once cooked. In commercial kitchens, chefs treat it with caution. It is rarely kept overnight and almost never used the next day. That is because of Bacillus cereus and its stubborn little spores.

The Spores That Survive the Heat

Cooking rice does not wipe out Bacillus cereus. The spores are heat-resistant, which means they are still alive and kicking after you have drained your pan. Once the rice cools down, those spores can multiply into bacteria at lightning speed. The longer your rice sits at room temperature, the more the bacteria multiply. And unfortunately, their toxic by-products do not just disappear when you put the rice in the microwave.

Reheating rice does not make it safe. The toxins Bacillus cereus produces are heat-stable. They survive your microwave, oven, or stove reheat session. That means the rice could look fine, taste fine, and even smell fine, but still make you sick.

The Common Storage Mistake

Where do most people go wrong? They leave the rice out too long before refrigerating it. That is more than enough time for Bacillus cereus to thrive and pump toxins into your rice. The second mistake is thinking that reheating alone will make it safe. Unfortunately, it will not. As TikTok chef Joshy Jin says, those toxins are invisible, tasteless, and can survive heating. A bowl that looks perfectly fine can knock you down with food poisoning in just hours.

How to Store Leftover Rice the Right Way

If you must keep leftover rice, speed is everything. Here is what food safety experts and chefs recommend:

• Cool it fast. Spread the rice out on a plate or baking tray so it cools within 10 minutes. Clumping it in a pot traps heat and gives bacteria time to multiply.
• Refrigerate quickly. Once it is no longer steaming, cover it and get it into the fridge. Do not leave it hanging out on the counter.
• Stick to the 24-hour rule. The Food Standards Agency advises eating refrigerated rice within one day. Some chefs say two, but the fresher, the safer.
• Reheat until piping hot. If you do reheat, make sure it is steaming all the way through, not just lukewarm in the middle.

Fresh is Best Any Day

Rice is deceptively dangerous when it comes to leftovers. Bacillus cereus spores are survivors, and once they release toxins, no amount of reheating can save your meal. The safest thing to do is to cook only what you need. If you are planning fried rice tomorrow, store it properly, cool it fast, and keep it in the fridge for no longer than a day. But otherwise, embrace the ritual of fresh rice-making.

From sourdough toast to green smoothies, this creamy fruit has secured its spot as a global wellness icon. Packed with healthy fats, fibre, and enough Instagram clout to fill a mood board, it’s touted as a weight-loss-friendly superstar. But does the way you eat avocado really affect its slimming benefits, or is guac just guac no matter how you scoop it?

The Nutrient Profile That Makes Avocado Shine

One medium avocado carries around 240 calories, 21 grams of fat, and 10 grams of fibre. The fat is mostly monounsaturated (the heart-healthy kind that keeps you full), while the fibre slows digestion, stabilises blood sugar, and helps curb cravings. According to nutritionists, these factors make avocados weight-loss friendly. But how you prepare, pair, and portion this fruit can make or break its benefits.

Raw, Toasted, or Mashed: Does Form Matter?

Eating avocado raw is the cleanest way to enjoy its nutrients, like slices in a salad or scooped straight from the skin with a spoon. When you mash it into guacamole, you don’t lose nutrients, but the add-ins matter. A sprinkle of lime, tomato, and onion? Perfectly harmless. A mountain of salt and tortilla chips on the side? Suddenly, your “weight-loss snack” turns into a salt-and-carb bomb. Toasting avocado, meanwhile, doesn’t strip its healthy fats, but frying or cooking it in oil can double down on calories, leaving you with more fat than you bargained for.

The Avocado-Toast Trap

Avocado toast may look Instagram-worthy, but it’s a calorie load. Slathering half an avocado on sourdough bread topped with cheese, eggs, or smoked salmon can push a single “light” meal over 500 calories. Not exactly waist-friendly if you’re trying to keep a deficit. On the flip side, pairing avocado with a slice of wholegrain bread, a squeeze of lemon, and maybe a sprinkle of chilli flakes gives you fibre, healthy fats, and flavour without blowing your calorie budget. It’s not just what you eat, but what you eat it with.

Smoothies?

Avocado in smoothies is genius. It adds creaminess, fibre, and satiety and balances out the sugar hit from fruits like banana or mango. But blending avocado with nut butter, protein powder, honey, oats, and coconut milk. Suddenly your “green smoothie” becomes a 700-calorie dessert in disguise. To keep it waist-friendly, stick to half an avocado, a handful of spinach, unsweetened almond milk, and maybe some frozen berries. Smooth, satisfying, and slimming.

Portion Size

More isn’t always better. Because it’s calorie dense, eating an entire avocado daily can backfire. Nutritionists often recommend sticking to one-third or half an avocado per serving. That way you get all the fibre and fullness without tipping the calorie scales. Avocado is like olive oil, you wouldn’t drink it straight from the bottle, so why eat the whole fruit in one sitting?

Pairing Power

Pair avocado with protein, and you’ve got a hunger-busting combo. Slice it next to grilled chicken, eggs, or beans, and you’ll feel fuller for longer. Toss it into a salad with leafy greens, and its healthy fats help absorb fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. But pair it with nachos, mayo, or bacon? That’s when your “weight-loss buddy” morphs into a high-calorie indulgence. The company avocado keeps is just as important as the avocado itself.

Avocado Isn’t Magic, But It’s Smart

How you eat avocado absolutely affects its weight-loss benefits. The fruit itself is nutrient-rich and slimming-friendly, but your preparation and pairings decide whether it supports your goals or sabotages them. Eat it raw, pair it with lean proteins or veggies, keep portions reasonable, and it’ll play the role of a weight-loss ally.

A recent study published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine journal, titled Ageing modifies the oral microbiome, nitric oxide bioavailability and vascular responses to dietary nitrate supplementation, suggests that drinking a small amount of a nutrient-packed vegetable juice twice daily may help lower blood pressure in older adults. The study suggests that no medication on top is required.

This is a promising news for America's aging population. 70% of these adults are over the age of 65 and live with hypertension. High blood pressure is thus one of the biggest risk factors for them, which may lead to heart disease.

What Was The Study About?

Researchers from the University of Exeter in the UK carried out a fascinating trial involving 39 younger adults under 30 and 36 older adults in their 60s and 70s.

Participants were asked to drink a shot of beetroot juice, a vegetable naturally rich in dietary nitrates, twice a day for two weeks. After that, they paused for another two weeks while using antiseptic mouthwash daily, before repeating the process with a placebo juice that had its nitrates removed.

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At the end of each phase, researchers studied their oral microbiomes, the mix of bacteria living inside the mouth, using gene sequencing. The results revealed a surprising connection between nitrates, oral bacteria, and blood pressure.

What Did The Study Find Out?

For older adults, beetroot juice led to a drop in bacteria linked to infections and an increase in bacteria associated with better health. Most importantly, their blood pressure levels fell noticeably after drinking the nitrate-rich juice, something that did not happen with the placebo or among the younger participants.

“This study shows that nitrate-rich foods alter the oral microbiome in a way that could result in less inflammation, as well as a lowering of blood pressure in older people,” said co-author Dr. Andy Jones.

Why Does Beetroot Work?

What makes beetroot juice so powerful? The answer lies in nitrates. These molecules, made of nitrogen and oxygen, are naturally present in soil, water, and certain vegetables, particularly leafy greens and root vegetables like beets. The body also produces nitrates on its own.

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When consumed, nitrates are converted into nitric oxide, a molecule that helps regulate blood flow, lower blood pressure, and improve oxygen delivery in the body.

Experts note that while a nitrate-rich diet benefits people of all ages, older adults produce less nitric oxide as they age. This decline contributes to higher blood pressure, raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Interestingly, researchers believe the oral microbiome may play a key role in this process. If there’s an imbalance between “good” and “bad” bacteria in the mouth, the body may struggle to efficiently convert nitrates into nitric oxide, weakening its natural blood pressure regulation system.

“By uncovering how dietary nitrate affects oral bacteria and blood pressure in older adults, the study opens up new opportunities for improving vascular health through nutrition,” explained Dr. Lee Beniston of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Similar Findings Before

This isn’t the first study linking beetroot juice to better heart health. A 2017 meta-analysis showed that regular beet juice consumption lowered both systolic and diastolic blood pressure across multiple trials.

In 2022, another review analyzed studies where participants drank varying amounts of beet juice daily, ranging from 70 mL to 250 mL, for periods lasting 3 to 60 days. While all doses helped, those who consumed 250 mL per day experienced the most significant drops in blood pressure.

Some earlier research even showed that beet juice could lower blood pressure in just three hours. However, experts say the most sustained benefits come from drinking it consistently over at least two months.

We all have our beverage rituals. Some like their coffee steaming hot; others wait till it cools to a comfortable temperature. But, according to science, sipping piping-hot tea or coffee might actually scald more than your tongue. It could, over time, raise the risk of oesophageal cancer.

Why the Oesophagus Does Not Like the Heat

The oesophagus is basically the food pipe that connects your mouth to your stomach. It is a fragile tunnel lined with delicate tissue. When you gulp down hot liquid day after day, it is like pouring boiling water down a thin straw; it causes repeated burns and inflammation. Over time, these injuries can lead to cellular changes that increase cancer risk.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organisation, has already classified very hot drinks (above 65 degrees Celsius) as “probably carcinogenic”. In science-speak, that means there is strong enough evidence to suggest a link, though it is not as conclusive as, say, smoking or alcohol.

How Hot is “Too Hot”?

Most of us do not actually measure our tea or coffee with a thermometer before drinking. But studies show that anything above 65 degrees Celsius (149 degrees Fahrenheit) is in the danger zone. For context, your average coffee machine churns out drinks at around 70 degrees Celsius to 80 degrees Celsius, while many tea lovers pour boiling water directly onto leaves or tea bags at 100 degrees Celsius. That is basically lava for your oesophagus.

A massive study in Iran, where people traditionally drink black tea scalding hot, found that those who drank it above 75 degrees Celsius had almost double the risk of oesophageal cancer compared to those who waited for it to cool down.

Tea, Coffee, or Temperature?

It is not the coffee bean or tea leaf that is the problem. Both actually come packed with antioxidants that are thought to protect against certain cancers. The harm is caused purely by heat. So do not rush to switch to iced drinks, because the right way to drink anything is with patience, not avoidance.

Reports say that any beverage, consumed at a moderate temperature, carries no such risk. In fact, moderate tea or coffee drinking has been linked to health perks like better heart health, sharper focus, and even longer lifespan. The problem kicks in only when you insist on drinking them fresh from the boil.

How Culture Plays a Role

Not every hot-drink-loving culture shows the same cancer rates. In parts of South America, people drink maté at extremely high temperatures, often through metal straws, and there is evidence of higher oesophageal cancer rates there. Meanwhile, in countries where tea is consumed warm rather than piping hot, such as in the UK, this link is less obvious.

Other factors like smoking, alcohol consumption, and diet can also magnify the risk. For instance, smoking plus very hot drinks is a dangerous duo for your oesophagus. Attention, Indians! Get over your "chai-sutta" breaks mid-work.

Should You Worry?

Oesophageal cancer is not as common as breast, lung, or colorectal cancers. And not everyone who drinks hot tea or coffee will develop it. The risk is relative: the hotter you drink, the more the odds creep up.

The simplest prevention tip? Just wait a few extra minutes before sipping. Researchers recommend letting your drink cool down to below 60 degrees Celsius (which usually takes about 4–5 minutes after pouring). If it is comfortable to hold the mug without burning your hands, it is probably safe for your oesophagus too.