how bad is white rice?

[Vaquitita]

at home we eat brown rice, but i must confess to loving persian, cambodian and indian food as well as vietnamese pho. these always come with white rice or rice noodles. it doesn't feel as bad to me as refined wheat flour, but i'm probably just fooling myself.

[Cassandra M.]

Rice is easily digestable, so it has that going for it.

Not sure on the bleaching process other than it taking all the nutrition away. It definitely does that.

[nicolelynn]

Well all I know is when I go out to eat and I have a choice of potatoes (baked or something), white rice or white bread.....first choice is the potato because it isn't processed at all (hopefully they have real butter to go along with it), then second choice would be white rice over white bread. To me, the bread has not only processed white flour but also yeast, and usually HFCS and preservatives as well. The rice IS void of most nutritional value, but at least it dosn't have all that and is more easily digested then white flour bread.

I, too love ethnic restaraunts and eat the white rice they give me .

[spughy]

I think the only real problem with it is that it takes up space in your tummy that should be filled with things that actually have vitamins and minerals and fibre in them. Once in a while, it's not going to hurt you (although I can notice a bit of slowing in my digestive system after just one meal with white rice sometimes).

[wagamama]

I've wondered about this too ... Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai all eat white rice, yet seem fairly healthy. Perhaps if the rest of the meal contains a lot of nutrient-dense vegetables, meat or seafood, and condiments, that would "make up" for the lack of nutrients in the rice?? (More wishful thinking?)

[JanB]

My problem with white rice is that it is a high-glycemic food, meaning that it makes my blood sugar go through the ceiling. I have almost completely eliminated it from my diet. The only time I have it these days is when we're at a Thai restaurant that doesn't offer brown rice, and then I go sparingly.

I think you can eat it and still be healthy, of course, but as pps have said, it's taking up space that could be taken up with a more nutritional option. (It is pretty good, though, isn't it? )

[Alohamelly]

Originally Posted by wagamama

I've wondered about this too ... Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai all eat white rice, yet seem fairly healthy. Perhaps if the rest of the meal contains a lot of nutrient-dense vegetables, meat or seafood, and condiments, that would "make up" for the lack of nutrients in the rice?? (More wishful thinking?)

White rice is a staple for us. And we do eat it with tons of veggies, including kimchi most of the time so maybe that does make a difference.

[selendang]

Yep, we eat white rice at least 2 meals out of 3 everyday. I've tried switching to brown but can't handle the protests from dh and dc's. On the plus side, we eat alot of veggies and soy products. I guess it can't be that bad, but my uncle is a recent diabetic and it almost kills him not to be able to eat white rice. I have Korean friends who mix their rice with brown rice and other grains, although I'm not sure what they are. This may be healthier although most of it is still white rice.

[estuary]

Originally Posted by selendang

Yep, we eat white rice at least 2 meals out of 3 everyday. I've tried switching to brown but can't handle the protests from dh and dc's.

No kidding! At least we're down to about 3 times a week with the white rice (not counting using it in leftover stir-fry or my dh's favorite that I just have a hard time with: leftover white rice boiled in extra water to make a porridge. Topped with some soy-sauce cucumber pickles and about 1/4 tsp. of a fermented tofu-thing, that's a breakfast. )

I try to stay calm. And there's no way I can convince him that white rice isn't nutritious (after all there's 1.3 billion Chinese eating it, it must be ok). At least he's willing to alternate with brown rice or sometimes whole-wheat bread (with soup especially). I'm working on converting my ww bread recipe to sourdough to make it even better.... but still, I feel your pain!

[spughy]

Can I just brag for a minute? My DH is half-chinese, was raised on white rice, and now PREFERS brown. It CAN be done!

[USAmma]

I too prefer the taste of white rice. My dh is from India and it seems to be the habit to load up a huge pile of rice on a plate and then mix in some of the curry to give it flavor. There is very little rice in comparison to curry. I am studying biology right now for a college class and have learned that white rice, potatoes, and white flour are immediately turned into glucose. Brown rice and whole wheat products take longer to break down so the blood sugar doesn't rise so quickly and it's healthier. I have taken a compromise because I just cannot bring myself to eat brown rice and really enjoy it. So I take just a small amount of rice and an equal amount of curry/sauce/whatever with protein in it. There is no need at all to have such a huge amt of rice in comparison to the nutritious part of the meal.

BTW-- it might just be coincidence but I don't think so-- in my dh's family there are a couple of diabetics and people with heart disease/high blood pressure. In fact diabetes is rising in India. I wonder if it has to do with the indroduction of white rice?

[Periwinkle]

Was the rice eaten always white rice? I would assume not, since processing it has got to be hard?

[AJP]

For those of you who just don't like the brown rice you've had, have you tried different varieties? And have you had it cooked properly? Was it stored properly? I love brown rice, it has so much more flavor than white rice (I'm sure it helps that I grew up on brown rice). My favorite is brown jasmine, and brown basmati is good, too. They're fragrant, slightly sweet and nutty, chewy but not tough, more interesting than plain brown rice. What is it specifically that brown-rice-haters don't like? If you could nail that down, you might be able to find varieties of brown rice you or your family like. (I know trying to get someone to give up a thing that to them is the icon for food is tough, though. In many cultures, rice=life, and unfortunately it's been white rice for hundreds of years.)

I like white rice sometimes, too, but generally only jasmine, sometimes shortgrain (like for sushi). Just plain ol' long grain white rice tastes like nothing to me.

As for why white rice became the norm in so many places, IMO a large part of that may be that white rice stores so easily without going rancid or stale. Storing brown rice is harder, if it's not sealed up and kept relatively cool the oil in the bran goes rancid, which gives it an off flavor (bitter). In the past, the ability to store food in low-tech ways would have been vital for many people to not have times of hunger, and so white rice would have easily become a staple. Even empty calories will get you through the lean times. I think the polishing of rice to remove the bran actually isn't very difficult, in terms of labor or technology, and I've read that in areas where it's been a staple, each village or group of villages had a rice mill (and of course many of them in cities). I think it's much easier than refining wheat flour.

[spughy]

Also, I was reading "Wild Fermentation" last night and the author has a recipe in there for rice bran-pickled vegetables - assuming that wasn't an unusual practise, the vitamins & minerals in the rice bran would have been consumed SOME way traditionally.

[yitlan]

Originally Posted by spughy

Can I just brag for a minute? My DH is half-chinese, was raised on white rice, and now PREFERS brown. It CAN be done!

I am half chinese, raised on white rice and lots of it. I can't say I PREFER brown now, but I do like it. I started by mixing white and brown rice and also found the short grain easier to adjust to.

spughy, I had to be nosy and check out your dh and kids. People ask me if my kids are part asian and never guess that I am! Or they ask me if my dh is asian. No! It's me. Really, it is! Anyway, your dd is adorable!

[Alohamelly]

Originally Posted by selendang

o be able to eat white rice. I have Korean friends who mix their rice with brown rice and other grains, although I'm not sure what they are. This may be healthier although most of it is still white rice.

I mix pearl barley in with our white rice. My family tolerates that the best. Sometimes I do 1/2 brown, 1/2 white. I wish we could switch to brown completely, but it just doesn't taste right with our Korean foods.

[Vaquitita]

brown basmati is my fave. i grew up on brown rice, so i prefer it to white. more flavor. though i like it even better now that i do the 2 hour cook method from nt. it comes out so fluffy!

well, i guess i'll just have to try and eat less rice when eating those ethnic foods.

[estuary]

Actually I guess we're doing ok - everybody in my family actually likes brown rice - but with dh doing nearly all the cooking now that I'm working full- and it being something he doesn't really love, he's likely to turn to the white rice because it's fast and familiar.

We've been eating short-grain brown rice for the longest time but I just bought some long-grain variety last week and it's so good!

I have to confess, though, there's no way I could get dh to soak the rice before cooking it... that's just too far out in his opinion.

When we spend time in China there's no hope of brown rice (or whole what flour) whatsoever, so the fact that my family enjoys it here and we can get it is a plus.

I've also found interesting rices at the Chinese Market (a red one, called Cargo Rice), and at our co-op - sometimes throwing in a scattering of unusual grains livens things up a bit. (I've also added raisins and a broken off piece of star anise...).


So a question: is unsoaked brown rice really not-so-good? Are we leaching minerals out of our bones by not soaking it? I figure it's a step in the right direction to at least eat it!

[saratc]

I'm full Chinese and I switched to brown rice a few years ago. DH is caucasian and was very resistant and probably switched a full year after I did. I was so proud recently when we went out to Indian and DH said: this rice tastes like crap!

The two things that made brown rice a lot better for me was soaking the rice (makes the rice a lot softer) and realizing that there's as many types of brown rice as white. Now I stock four different brown rices -- basmati, jasmine, short grain sushi rice, and short grain sweet rice. I use a different kind based on what I'm making.

[runes]

lots of us 1/2 asians around...nice to 'see' you all!!

as far as rice goes, i actually prefer brown rice, i've always liked nutty tastes and textures. i mean yes, i LOOOOVE white rice too, but switching has never been a problem. i know that in recent years, it's been known in japan that white rice is fairly devoid of nutrients, so now people mix in other grains like barley, amaranth etc. to boost it's nutritional value. at the japanese grocery the other day, i picked up some little packets that you put along with the rice in the rice cooker, and looking at the ingredients:

corn, black rice, black sesame seed, black beans, red bean, green beans, buckwheat, chinese matrimony vine (????), and amaranth.

also, at my local japanese market, they now sell a semi-white rice, it looks like white rice but apparently it still has some of the bran left intact.