White rice!

[douglerner]

Dr. McDougall is so... reasonable!

Since I live in Japan, where everybody eats white rice, I watched this video:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/educ ... hite-rice/

and I was impressed by how reasonable he presented the issue.

I would eat brown rice at home. But when you are eating out you just can't find it here.

doug

[grid]

I think it's OK

When my family started eating this way I had problems buying brown rice and I had problems eating other grains. So for almost 15months we ate mostly white rice without gaining weight. To be precise, we lost some, although we have never had weight problem.

Just be sure the rice you eat out is cooked without any oil

[vgpedlr]

The Japanese cookbooks I have show very little oil use, and never with rice, so probably safe there. I like white rice and for certain recipes, especially curries. I love brown rice, but it is such a pain because it takes so long to cook. Lately, I've been mixing white rice with other grains that cook in similar times so I can be done faster. Currently, I'm eating mugi gohan which is a 2-1 blend of white rice and pressed barley. I also mix white rice with the faster cooking red and black rices, millet, or quinoa.

In contrast to a lot of folks around here, I love a fresh cooked bowl of plain white rice.

[douglerner]

Yes, definitely safe with regards to oil.

doug

[Franchesca_S.]

I love white rice. I try to stick with the program and use brown mostly but white is a delicious treat.

[DeborahAnn]

Yep! White rice lover, here. I am currently eating only brown rice, unless I am making sushi, in which case I use the micro-grained sushi rice. But white rice is very tasty, I must admit.

[Faylool]

Happily I read that the brown rice is 80 percent higher in arsenic than a good Basmati from Pakistan, India or California. So I get to e a white rice girl again. Just not mountain of it

[Francesca Rose]

This whole "brown rice is healthier than white rice argument" is, quite frankly, silly and people need to stop telling others they need to eat brown rice because it's better. That may be a fact but it's not true for everyone. The truth is, the only healthy foods are the foods you can digest. Some people can't digest whole grain anything, including brown rice. I'm one of those people. If I eat brown rice, I get sick. But my body LOVES white rice because it can actually digest white rice. And plain white rice is my go-to food that soothes my gut whenever I have what I thought were IBS attacks but have now found out is Celiac disease.

So can we please stop making people feel guilty for not eating brown rice? How about we encourage people to find out what they can actually digest and encourage them to eat those foods without guilt?

My post isn't directed at the OP or any individual on this thread, it's just a general statement because I have read numerous posts on this board about how brown rice is infinitely better than white. Again, it's not better for those of us who can't digest it. It's actually worse -- a lot worse.

Rant over. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

[Jmh6451]

I mix brown rice and white rice. It doesn'the cook up badly. I'very been experimenting with different toppings

[f1jim]

White rice is not a dealbreaker for this program. If you insist on white rice, use it as a starch.
But Dr. McDougall does teach that brown rice is healthier than white rice. It's a more complete whole food and any time you eat closer to the way it's grown you will benefit. More fiber, better inherent nutrition and brown rice has not been bleached or "polished." At all McDougall events brown rice is used. Many of us have found brown rice to be tasty and it's nutty flavor addicting. But if you don't find it paletable use white. Either is better than meat.
ANY food you have digestive problems with or are allergic to you should avoid. But just because you are doesn't make that food something to avoid for the majority of people. People allergic to tomatoes should avoid them. Others should enjoy them.
f1jim

[roundcoconut]

Yeah, it seems that the dialogue around brown rice vs white rice, is better if it has a little bit of nuance to it.

It seems to be more a matter of, "In what situations, or for which people, is brown rice preferable?" "What goals or health conditions seems best suited to brown rice? What goals or health conditions seem best suited to white rice?"

I DO think it is fairly clear that food stripped of its fiber, is not the best for people who want to get the max satiety for their caloric load. So, just for the purposes of getting your food to feel satisfying, eating the full-fiber version of foods is probably the go-to. But, as people have pointed out, there are situations and people, for whom white rice is desired from time-to-time.

Whether people would like to make white rice their main starch, I would only say that if it lines up well with your goals -- and you are coming closer to your goals with each week that you use white rice as your main starch -- then you can go ahead and green-light it.

Personally, I DO still enjoy white rice, and I've had it two or three times within the last week. It is not holding me back in any way I can see. Do I eat a lot of it at one sitting? Probably! Does it fill me up as much as other starches? Probably not. But, I'm pretty clear about the trade-offs.

Digestion is a hard thing, and I have no experience with digestion issues. So, those of you looking for advice on what to eat when too much fiber is a problem, will have to seek out sources of wisdom other than me. It is not clear to me that people who experience digestive distress upon eating brown rice, have to simply give up and eat refined starches. Maybe there are high-fiber foods that DO digest well, or WILL digest well over time? Anyway, as I said, I have no idea, but I would investigate and experiment if I were in those shoes.

But I think the dietary principle stands -- that unprocessed starches are preferable to refined starches, barring extenuating circumstances (which may indeed exist and I'm not saying they don't!).

[Dougalling]

Hello

I cook 3 parts white rice with 1 part red lentils. The lentils add fiber.

[openmind]

Hello

I cook 3 parts white rice with 1 part red lentils. The lentils add fiber.

Never thought of that- I'll have to give it a try sometime.