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 3 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