Rice

[Kerpal]

I have a few questions about rice.

1. What are the benefits of brown rice over white rice?
2. Is white rice ever OK to eat or should I avoid it altogether?
3. Is the "boil in bag" type of brown rice OK?

 

[Throttle]

brown rice is overblown as a great replacement for white rice. sure, it has more fiber, but it's still got 40g of net carbs per serving, instead of 44g.

white rice:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21U8.html

brown rice:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21U3.html

The key with either one is to limit portions at any one time, especially if you're looking to lose or maintain low bodyfat. Unless you're very active, in which case you can carb it up!

Pre-cooked brown rice is going to have less fiber (the multiple iterations of cooking take a toll) so it's going to be somewhere in between white and brown rice in terms of net carbs.

The main reason to avoid pre-cooked rice, from my standpoint, is if you're trying to adopt a philosophy of preferring whole foods to pre-packaged foods. I think there's a lot to be said for such a philosophy, but it requires a pretty big commitment in terms of time & energy. Aside from any health benefits, whole foods are generally naturally tastier and/or have a more pleasing texture.

 

[Pimp-sicle]

brown rice is overblown as a great replacement for white rice. sure, it has more fiber, but it's still got 40g of net carbs per serving, instead of 44g.

white rice:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21U8.html

brown rice:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21U3.html

The key with either one is to limit portions at any one time, especially if you're looking to lose or maintain low bodyfat. Unless you're very active, in which case you can carb it up!

Pre-cooked brown rice is going to have less fiber (the multiple iterations of cooking take a toll) so it's going to be somewhere in between white and brown rice in terms of net carbs.

Throttle: Your advice is TERRIBLE!!! Do you know anything about nutrition other than spitting out links for net carbs?? People are so caught up with carbs now-days and they get so anal and extreme about it because they're so fixated on seeing a specific number when they step onto a scale. The only number you should monitor is your body fat percentage, its all about body composition.

The benefits of brown rice over white rice are incredible. First of all brown rice is a complex carb, which means its a chain carb. Chain carbs must be broken down by the body and thus supply a more constant flow of energy and nutrients to your system. Brown rice is rich in vitamins as well.

White rice starts life out as brown rice and then is stripped of all its nutrients, making it a simple carb. Simple carbs require very little effort to be broken down by the body because they're already broken down before you ingest them. Think of sugar, it gives you that instant energy temporarily, then you crash and feel hungry again, depending on how much you ate. Furthermore, simple carbs help contribute to the common belly you see on most adult men in America, although there are many other factors involved in that equation such as over-eating in general, lack of exercise and unfavorable genetics.

If you make a strong effort to eat carbs from natural whole wheat sources, you'll feel more energetic, use your brain better (not joking here, you'll be able to think more clearly) and most importantly you won't feel the need to binge on junk food. Try eating every 3 hours or so and make sure your eating plenty of protein as well. You didn't mention if you had a fitness goal so won't jump too deep into dieting.

Brown rice is NOT over-rated, it has plenty of benefits and you should get rid of that crappy white rice you've been eating ASAP!!!


Other great carb sources for you are:

Whole wheat bread
Whole wheat pasta
yams





PIMP

 

[Skilla_Staz]

Throttle: Your advice is TERRIBLE!!! Do you know anything about nutrition other than spitting out links for net carbs??

That was absolutely out of line. I appreciate the fact that you're trying to explain things, I was also thinking how brown rice is considered a complex carb as opposed to white rice being a simple carb, but there are better ways to go about it than calling somebody out in such an extreme manner.

A simple "Throttle, I think you may have missed a valid point" or something CIVILIZED like that is going to get you a lot more respect around here, no matter how small these boards are.

 

[Throttle]

Throttle: Your advice is TERRIBLE!!! Do you know anything about nutrition other than spitting out links for net carbs??

clearly, you've never read or responded to anything I've written on this forum, so I don't appreciate the tone here. in fact, if you followed the links, they're pointing to the full nutritional profile of both brown and white rice. and it backs up little of what you contend.

The only number you should monitor is your body fat percentage, its all about body composition.

i agree completely. i preach this up and down this part of the forum.

Brown rice is rich in vitamins as well.

untrue. you are caught up in worship of "brown" foods. the principle difference between brown and white rice is that the latter has the husky brown outer casing removed, and that casing is primarily fiber. there is little in the way of vitamins to be leached out of either type of rice.

please give a complete listing of the vitamins (including quantities) contained in brown rice but not in white rice. I humbly await your reply.

White rice starts life out as brown rice and then is stripped of all its nutrients, making it a simple carb.

absolutely, completely false. all starches are complex carbs. I didn't invent the distinction, look it up:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002469.htm

you are making a distinction between fibrous & less fibrous complex carbs, which is a valid distinction, but different from the distinction between simple carbs (sugars) and complex carbs (starches)

it is true: all whole grains are nutritionally superior to white grain products because of their fiber content. but of all the whole grains, rice is the least advantageous, because that thin brown outer husky doesn't have much fiber in it compared to the bulk of white starch inside.

i'll say it again, brown rice is overrated. it should be last on your list of complex carb sources, and it is only marginally superior to white rice. you are better off with just about any other fibrous source of carbs.

 

[shagnscoob]

What are the best sources of Carbs then Throttle?

 

[Latinoman]

I don't care if it is brown or white rice. All I care is that rice, potatoes, and pasta ALL have STARCH.

And when I'm cutting...I avoid them as much as possible. I also avoid bread because of the type of carbs it has.

 

[Throttle]

there's no such things as "best carbs" for all purposes. you need a more focused question. what are the best carbs for losing bodyfat? as few as possible, as complex as possible, and as fibrous as possible (veggies, and to a lesser extent whole grains & some fruits). what are the best carbs immediately postworkout (meaning heavy weightlifting)? very simple carbs, but dextrose & maltodextrin are preferred to other sugars because of the way the body takes them up. what are the best carbs for athletes and other highly active people? a balance of carbs from natural whole food sources -- fruits, veggies, whole grain products. the more active you are, the less you need to separate carbs into "good" and "bad"

as someone else around here argues, I believe there's a nutritional purpose for nearly every food under the sun. this Manichean (dualistic) view of food that separates things into "good" and "bad" foods is dangerous. it's especially dangerous because it rests on some shallow truths.

 

[mrRuckus]

GI Values of Rice (lower is better):

Food GI Value
Converted, White 38
Brown 55
Long grain, White 44
Wild rice 87
Basmati 58
Aborio 69
Short grain, White 72
Instant, White 87
Glutinous (Sticky) 98
Barley, pearled 25
Buckwheat 54
Couscous 65
Cornmeal 68

 

[shagnscoob]

as someone else around here argues, I believe there's a nutritional purpose for nearly every food under the sun. this Manichean (dualistic) view of food that separates things into "good" and "bad" foods is dangerous. it's especially dangerous because it rests on some shallow truths.

I should have specified, carbs for the AverageJoe who wants to build muscle and lose bodyfat (which I suspect is almost everyone on here). Not very active other than gym work, not overweight, not underweight. When I go to CostCo or Smart and Final and I'm picking out meals for the next month, what Carb items should I be looking for?

 

[Throttle]

There's no easy answers, but WBA is has some good advice here:

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=110033

Generally you're looking for carb sources that are relatively high in fiber, though as Mr. R suggests, the relative glycemic load of a particular food sources may surprise you. Be prepared to invest some time (I don't mean so much right now as going forward) in figuring out which carb sources you like, and reasonable portions.

If you're looking to lose bodyfat, I would start with veggies, esp. fibrous green ones, as your primary carb source, and supplement with whole wheat products & fibrous whole fruits (stay far away from fruit juice & most canned fruit).

 

[shagnscoob]

Throttle, it seems like WBA says pretty clearly that white rice should be avoided. But he also says clearly that foods with a lower GI should be preferenced over foods with higher GI's.

So either WBA is confused about the GI of white rice and brown rice, or white rice causes too big an insulin spike even though it's GI is lower than brown rice?

 

[Throttle]

er, i'm not here to speak for him especially b/c he knows infinitely more about most of this stuff than me both in book knowledge and by experience, but I suspect that either or both could be true.

I think in general rice is so starchy that it should be way down your list. I'm sure I've advocated brown over white rice in the past -- I'm not immune to a basic sense that "brown is probably better" -- but my point through this whole thread has been "well, it's complicated."

Clearly from Mr. R's numbers brown rice, converted white rice, and basmati rice beat the heck out of instant rice, sticky rice (think Chinese food) and "wild" rice (which if I recall correctly isn't really rice per se) from a GI standpoint. Choose accordingly, and see what works for you!

 

[shagnscoob]

instant rice? long grain white rice takes 5 minutes or so in a rice cooker... is that different?

 

[Throttle]

never underestimate the nutritional value lost the further you process a given food source....

 

[mrRuckus]

just don't eat any rice and eat some freakin oatmeal

 

[Kerpal]

instant rice? long grain white rice takes 5 minutes or so in a rice cooker... is that different?

I don't have a rice cooker but I just found out about them and will be purchasing one this weekend

 

[Kerpal]

just don't eat any rice and eat some freakin oatmeal

I eat lots of oatmeal too but I like to change it up a bit. I usually have oatmeal as part of breakfast and right after workouts, and brown rice later in the day.