How many times must I have heard, “I do not eat rice so that I lose weight”, or “I have stopped eating rice for lunch or dinner” or even, “I have replaced rice with some expensive low glycemic index rice”.
Conventional diet advice for weight watchers and diabetic people puts rice in the red list, not without reasons. However, taking a holistic viewpoint, the picture may change.
In India we are a largely rice- eating community. But we are now a day’s making eating rice a big deal. We have tagged rice into that one food that we should not eat in order to avoid putting on weight. There are many reasons for us putting on weight and eating rice in not one of it.
When we are ill all we want to do is have a simple meal of rice and dal or khichdi; that’s how rice is for most of us- A Soul Food.
It is not a particular food we eat that makes us fat but the quantity we eat, the activity we pursue, the time we eat and other stress factors in our life.
Rice is not high in calories or fat as it is made out to be. It is an important cereal which is easy to digest, rich in B vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Today most of us usually consume white rice (or polished rice). There are a whole lot of nutrients like vitamin B1, B3, Vitamin E and minerals like magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron that are lacking in white rice. The process of polishing removes the important outer bran and the nutritious innermost germ layer. This lack of nutrition can be overcome by making use of our traditionally available unpolished rice or red rice or brown rice.
Unpolished rice is a good source of fiber and thus helps good bowel movement, maintains cholesterol levels, blood pressure and is also good for diabetics as it has a lower glycemic index. Brown rice also has anti-inflammatory compounds and thus is good for conditions like asthama and even cancer.
Most of the diets that we try to follow are based on the principle- “Give up what you are used to eating and what you love to eat”. Giving up rice just to lose weight will only end up in you getting frustrated and quitting the diet.
Thus, unpolished or brown rice has many benefits for your health and wellbeing. Rice is not a culprit (that makes us fat) but a food that nourishes us and keeps us healthy (and slim). Do not label or tag foods as being good or bad. No food is bad. Food is something that nourishes our body and it’s only our bad eating habits and lifestyle that make us unhealthy.
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