Rice Eating Leads to Big Tummy and Obesity : Myth or Reality ?

vidhyabaskar · Sep 28, 2015

I have seen in this section, many believe rice eating is harmful. They think, one should choose some other carbohydrate (cereals) instead of rice, like wheat, barley etc,

I had been to our Doctor accompanying my father ( a diabetic). I was shocked, when I listened to the Doctor saying, avoiding rice selectively does not give any benefit even to diabetics.

I asked, how about to the normal people, whether avoiding rice and preferring other cereals have some fitness benefits ?

His definite answer is, 'No". He said, all cereals (rice and wheat etc) are almost equal in their calories content.

It all depends upon, what you eat in the place of rice. If you eat salads in place of rice, yes, it is beneficial.

When I asked him, does eating rice leads to obesity and big tummy, his answer was, 'No".

I have already requested the two medical doctors in this website ( I could locate only two, if there are any more, please step in), one sunNa and the other Gauri08.

I request both of them to come to this thread and clarify on this valuable doubt.

paramlav · Sep 28, 2015

But i heard in diff way. Doc adviced my mil to take rice only one time..let me also wait for valuable answers

Jazmine83 · Sep 28, 2015

The rule of thumb

Avoid simple carbs and go for complex carbs.

I agree with him, say if you replace white rice (simple carb) with pasta (simple carb), you are not doing any good. But if you replace it with complex carbs like quinoa or other small grains..then it is good

NirmalaGoofy · Sep 28, 2015

To my simple knowledge. Eating rice is not harmful. Quantity matters. My grandparents lived long a healthy life. They ate 3 times rice a day. They did not have a sedentary life style. Nowadays sedentary lifestyle, fastfood, more calories contribute to health deterioration. Rice consumption takes the blame

prats1982 · Sep 28, 2015

In my opinion i have tried not to take rice for 6 months and subsituted it with pulkas and fruits...reduced the usage of oil and started using olive oil ...i could fine the result...i reduced 1 lb per week ...in olden days they used to eat rice 3 times a day but they had lots of physical work and chores to do ..so all the food got digested and the time maintainace they used to do ....how many people mantain a specific time of breakfast ,lunch,dinner in todays time...and the quality of the food products was pure in olden days ...
Now a days how many can tell that we are have the purest and healthy food..

sing · Sep 28, 2015

Too much of anything is harmful. Be it rice or chapati or anything.

1. Eat just about enough food, keep your tummy atleast 1/3rd empty, so the digestion process doesn't choke you, make you feel light even after a meal. Eat fresh vegetables, with every meal, don't take incompatible stuff, like orange juice after sambar :drowning
Eat baked food, say potato instead of a deep fry like french fries.

2. Find a way of consuming the energy, jogging for example.

3. Eat only when you "feel" hungry, not when because the clock ticks 8AM or 12 noon or whatever. Listen to your "hunger" sensation. It craves for food.

4. Prefer to take more food during the breakfast or lunch, not at night.

Note that if you follow (1), you'll feel hungry very quickly, because you are in the process of changing your bodily needs. So, just wait a little longer in the beginning.

Eat little at night, make sure before you sleep, your tummy has nothing or near empty.

vidhyabaskar said: ↑

I have seen in this section, many believe rice eating is harmful. They think, one should choose some other carbohydrate (cereals) instead of rice, like wheat, barley etc,

I had been to our Doctor accompanying my father ( a diabetic). I was shocked, when I listened to the Doctor saying, avoiding rice selectively does not give any benefit even to diabetics.

I asked, how about to the normal people, whether avoiding rice and preferring other cereals have some fitness benefits ?

His definite answer is, 'No". He said, all cereals (rice and wheat etc) are almost equal in their calories content.

It all depends upon, what you eat in the place of rice. If you eat salads in place of rice, yes, it is beneficial.

When I asked him, does eating rice leads to obesity and big tummy, his answer was, 'No".

I have already requested the two medical doctors in this website ( I could locate only two, if there are any more, please step in), one sunNa and the other Gauri08.

I request both of them to come to this thread and clarify on this valuable doubt.
Click to expand...

Shina · Sep 28, 2015

We eat brown rice. It is healthy. I think its the processed white rice that is not high in nutrients or fibre that is the culprit. Just like whole grain flour is better than white flour.

Glycemic index of white rice is much higher than that of barley or brown rice. The lower the glycemic index the better it is specially for diabetics.The lower a food’s glycemic index or glycemic load, the less it affects blood sugar and insulin levels. (glycemic index of glucose is 100 and white rice is around 80 which is high, brown rice i think is about 50, and barley is around 30 - source : internet)

I have not come across any thread saying rice is bad . May be due to certain dietery restrictions some people could be choosing other grains?

msindu · Sep 28, 2015

Exercise from early age will reduce as it decreases stress on pancreas. If all you do is eat, sit, sleep all day then there is no diet will help you. Our bodies are meant to move. once you get diabetes you are usually stuck.

Keet · Sep 28, 2015

As long as eating anything only after feeling hungry helps to keep same weight. If some one is eating at specific intervals they must eat only enough quantity so that they feel hungry before next meal.

Obesity happens when there is lot more calories in-take than the calorie consumption by the body. So eating enough should be the key, even if it rice.

Gauri03 · Oct 1, 2015

Vidhya, sorry it took me so long to respond. I think the other posters have already covered all the relevant information.

You are right. Eating rice does not lead to obesity or a big belly. For that matter, no single food item can make you fat. Obesity or excess weight is caused by calories in > calories out.

If you eat more than you burn you will gain weight even if you eat nothing but fruits and vegetables. If you eat less than you burn, you will lose weight. Doesn't matter if your diet is made up of candies and cookies.

As another poster pointed out, the problem with rice is its glycemic index. The glycemic index is a system of ranking carbohydrates based on how quickly they raise blood sugar. Higher glycemic index foods digest rapidly and quickly release a large quantity of glucose into the blood stream. Frequent and rapid blood sugar spikes can make cells resistant to insulin which increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease in the long term.

White rice is a fast digesting carbohydrate. It has a glycemic index of approximately 85-90. Brown rice, quinoa, steel cut oats are complex carbohydrates that take longer to be digested and have lower glycemic indices. They cause a much more gradual increase in blood sugar. Additionally, these foods often contain fiber, minerals and vitamins that are stripped from white rice during processing, making them superior alternatives to plain white rice.

There is no need to eliminate rice from your diet. It is perfectly fine to eat but with the correct pairings. Eating rice with a protein and fats will slow the breakdown of sugars. There was a reason we added ghee to our rotis and rice. It slows down carbohydrate metabolism and aids in the absorption of fat soluble vitamins. So it's fine to eat rice, just not too much of it, and with the right accompaniments.