Is white rice good for you

"White rice is bad" "White rice is like sugar"...these are some of the comments you must have hear. Now you wonder "Is white rice good for me?" "Should I eat brown rice instead of white rice?" or "Is rice itself bad"?

What is Rice?

Firstly, lets understand what white rice is. Rice grains grow in a hull and the grains have a firm brown cover. When the rice grains are removed from the hull, what we get is brown rice. When brown rice is polished and has its cover removed, what we get is White Rice. During the process of removing the brown coating, a lot of vitamins (B vitamins) and fiber also gets removed.

Is White Rice or Brown Rice Healthy?

White Rice is a source of carbohydrates, just like many other grains. White rice is same like brown rice without some of the fiber and vitamins. But the biggest difference is the GI (Glycemic index) of white rice. White rice has a very high GI which means its rapidly broken down into sugar and absorbed by the blood stream. This causes a spike in the blood sugar levels which is not good for people with diabetes. This sugar rush also causes the blood sugar to rise to very high levels and then fall down rapidly (similar to what eating sugary products do), which causes you to feel hungry again, thus you indulge in eating more (thus adding calories). Moreover, since the fiber has been removed, the process of digestion accelerates further.

With brown rice, you get more vitamins and more fiber and brown rice takes time to digest in your stomach. So the first benefit is that you feel 'full' after eating less quantities (less calories ingested) and the second benefit is that the blood sugar levels dont spike immediately as the digestion process is slower as compared to white rice.

So if you had to choose between brown rice and white rice, choose brown rice and develop a taste for it. It has a slightly nutty taste.

Some people grow up eating white rice and find it difficult to switch to brown rice. For those people, I have two suggestions:

1. Combine white rice with a protein. This could be vegetarian proteins like lentils (dal), moth beans (matki), chickpeas (chhole), black eyed beans (chauli), black beans etc. Or meat sources like fish or chicken.
2. Mix 3 parts of brown rice with 1 part white rice and cook. The taste will probably be the same and you will get most of the benefits of brown rice.
3. Restrict rice eating to weekends. Have brown rice/wheat/oats on weekdays and  white rice on weekends.

So what's good for us - white rice or brown rice? The simple answer is:  Brown rice is the winner here. Its definitely healthier than white rice and packs a lot of vitamins and fiber as well. While white rice is not terrible, it should be  avoided especially by people who are diabetic or are trying to lose weight. When losing weight, the key is to have a feeling of  'fullness' most of the time - which white rice won't provide.

For more tips on healthy eating, check out the Nutrition Forum in the DesiFitness Forums

Tips on how to eat right and still enjoy Diwali!

Tips on how to eat right and still enjoy Diwali!

During Diwali (or Deepavali) you're seeing so many sweets in front of you. How do you avoid putting on those calories from the sweets? Do you think its OK to eat all those sugar loaded sweets? What should your  approach be? These 7 tips will help you make eating during Diwali a true feast!

Read on: Tips on how to eat right and still enjoy Diwali

Two article writing contests going on!

Hello everyone

I think there was some confusion about the ongoing contests. To clarify, there are two contests going on.

1. Fitness/Health Article writing contest - This contest is for those who wish to submit their work related to fitness and nutrition.

2. Doctors/Hospitals Review Writing Contest - This contest is a review writing contest for people to review and rate doctors/medical facilities in India.

For updates please visit the following threads:

Fitness/Health Article Writing Contest

AND

Doctors/Hospitals Review Writing Contest

This is a great opportunity for budding writers to showcase their articles and win big prizes. People in India can post the reviiew of doctors or hospitals they visited and who knows, you might end up winning upto $75 or Rs 3000.

Good luck!!

Desifitness.com - Article writing contest! Big prizes to be won!! Ends December 2009

Desifitness.com management has announced an article writing contest which ends December 2009. Please see this thread for more details:

Article writing contest

Good luck to all the skilled writers!

Healthy RotiLand Rotis at Costco?

Ok, lets admit it, we all love wheat tortillas. This Indo-Mexican daily bite is not only delicious but also healthy. Till now, most of us had only the option of frozen fat loaded parathas or chapatis. The RotiLand brand of rotis is truly a revolution. Just take the uncooked rotis and toss them to your pan to get rotis just like your mom makes! Ma ke haath ki rotis!

Now lets talk about the cost factor. With our family of two, we easily consume up to 10 packs a month. So it gets pricey if you buy it from the Indian grocery stores. Not anymore as Costco has started stocking these rotis for a bargain price!!

Right now, Costco does not have the product info online but your local store should have a healthy dose of wheat bread for you! Remember that this is enriched wheat not whole wheat so still not 100% healthy but is much better than most rotis available. So if you are a dal roti lover like I am, check out your local costco today!

Here is the nutritional information chart for Rotiland Rotis or chapatis:

See the rotis here:: Rotiland Rotis at Costco

Article Writing Contest - Sep 2008 to Dec 2008 - Enter now!!

Hello everyone,

Desifitness.com management is announcing a new article writing contest. This time the theme is to review ONE or MORE of the following in your area and post a review in the new forum.

- Hospitals/Clinics
- Doctors/Surgeons/Physicians
- Medical Facilities/Laboratories

Contest starts September 2008 and Ends 31st December 2008 midnight Pacific Time.

For more details please see our new forum: Review and Rate Hospitals/Doctors in India

Forums up, New reviews and rating systems for hospitals/doctors/physicians/surgeone in India

We have been working hard to get our forums up and running with the latest version of phpBB - 3.0.2. Everything has gone smoothly. Finally after about a month, everything is in place. We also have an all new logo for our forums!

We would like to take this opportunity to describe what we started back in July 2008. The forums allow you to rate hospitals, doctors, physicians, medical facilities based on your experience. This will allow Indians to choose the best hospitals, doctors, specialists and medical facilities in their area.

We encourage you all to start posting and share your experiences. You could be saving the next life!

View the forums

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