What's the verdict on rice as part of a healthy diet?

[honesty]

Basmati rice is meant to be far better for you than normal white/brown rice.

[Sang]

I blame rice for my newly forming Buddha belly.

[Little Lamb]

Rice isn't necessarily bad for you, not like rat poison bad for you. It's more like cane sugar or wonder bread bad for you. Much like Fruity Pebbles, white white can be nutritious part of your balanced breakfast.

Plus, I doubt basmati is better for you, but it is quite tasty, especially when swimming in ghee and spices and lamb.

[Yohan]

White rice isn't bad for you, it's just complex carbs. Long grain brown rice is probably better, but someone explain why white rice is so horrible.

I eat white rice every day with fish. Sometimes I sub beef or pork for the fish, but most of the time it is sushi. This has been my lunch ever day for the past year and has been working out very well for strength gain, weight control and energy. It's my biggest meal of the day: White sticky rice + lots of raw fish. I know lots of mercury, but so far it's done wonders.

I believe that white rice (especially the hulled kind) is a simple carb, not a complex one. Here is what's wrong with most white rice:

White rice is the name given to milled rice which has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This is done largely to prevent spoilage and to extend the storage life of the grain. After milling, the rice is polished, resulting in a seed with a bright, white, shiny appearance.
The polishing process removes important nutrients. A diet based on unenriched white rice leaves people vulnerable to the neurological disease beriberi, due to a deficiency of thiamine (B1). At various times starting in the 19th century many have advocated brown rice or wild rice as a healthier alternative. The bran in brown rice contains significant dietary fiber and the germ contains many vitamins and minerals (see whole grain). This is in contrast to the traditional view of brown rice, where it was associated with poverty and famine.

Somebody correct me here but I think things like sushi rice (japonica) is an unhulled/unmilled white rice that retains the husk, bran and germ.


I've been eating lots of quinoa in the evenings as my post workout meal and I eat oats every morning. I don't do much rice.

[cuatro76]

If you have an Asian grocery store in your area, go the rice aisle and get several different kinds of rice. Then mix and match for taste. i like brown and white mixed together. There's also a Korean rice that is red/purple in color that is good too. It think it's called Ogokbap or "red-bean" rice sometimes. It's a mixture of several rices and grains.

[DerAuslander]

Ogokbap sucks.

[cuatro76]

So am I right that ogokbap is the rice with the red/purple stuff mixed in? Or is it something else?

[TheRuss]

I believe that white rice (especially the hulled kind) is a simple carb, not a complex one.

Nope, it's starch, which is a complex carbohydrate.

For information about the glycemic index of different types of rice, see this study. I've already commented on it at some length here and here, but for the purposes of this thread, here's the short version:

Most types of rice will drive up your blood sugar fairly quickly. If you aren't actively trying to do this, you're probably better off eating another type of grain that's digested more slowly.

[Teh El Macho]

The problem with white rice is that it's has a lower nutritional content than brown rice.

It won't kill you, but I don't see a reason to eat when when you have brown rice (or superior grains) available to you. It's like eating paper instead of kashi-go-lean cereal... or maybe not, but that's the idea.

[HappyOldGuy]

Well, there is taste, smell, texture, and visual appeal.

But other than that, no reason.:laughing1