Household staples that cut some cancers by more than 60 per cent… if you eat them cold or reheated. Scientists reveal breakthrough – and tell how it can even help you lose weight

Trying to boost your health this January? Don’t clear out your pantry just yet.

There may be a secret wellness hero lurking on your shelves, experts have revealed, just so long as you prepare it properly.

With one simple step, carbohydrates, long vilified as the root of all health-related evil, could become the key to preventing cancer – and help you to lose weight.

The best part? It doesn’t cost a thing.

Simply reheating your cooked pasta, rice and potatoes can supercharge them into a nutritional miracle drug, researchers claim.

Known as resistant starch, this naturally occurring compound has been shown, in a recent astonishing study, to reduce the risk of some cancers by more than 60 per cent.

And you can harness its benefits at home simply by eating leftovers.

Resistant starch expert Dr Fred Warren, research leader at the Quadram Institute in Norwich, says: ‘When you let starchy foods – whether bread, rice or pasta – cool down before eating them, the way we digest them…