Eating out right

It’s a modern myth that rice is a fattening part of our diets. Most people believe that wheat is a better substitute for rice and tend to completely avoid it. The world’s healthiest nations are rice eating ones.

Most of India—southern, eastern and the coastal regions of India have rice as the basic part of their diets. Northern and central India, too, have other grains as well as rice as a part of their daily diets. Most nations of the world eat rice in its simplest form, i.e., boiled. It is eaten in various forms in Indian cuisines such as the mouth watering biryanis and kheers and in other parts of the world it is eaten as sushi or fried rice.

While eating rice, one must always remember to accompany in with a sizable amount of vegetables. Rice can be eaten with vegetable curries or stir fried vegetables. Rice is a vital part of our diets for the following reasons:

Rice is devoid of any cholesterol or sodium. This means that even people with hypertension problems can eat rice.

It is easy to digest and contrary to common belief, it has the same number of calories than wheat. Rice kanji is made in Kerala, and is a home remedy for diarrhea.

Another point of confusion which always arises is that between white rice and brown rice. White rice is polished rice without the husk while brown rice is rice which is unprocessed and still has a husk. Brown rice also helps in reducing cholesterol. Brown rice is less popular but is a healthier alternative and a good source of starch and fibre. It takes relatively more time to digest, allowing the body to consume the energy released over a longer period of time. Brown rice is also richer in B vitamins, vitamin E and minerals such as manganese and selenium.

In the heat of Mumbai city, grains like bajri and jowar only add to our discomfort. Rice is a cooler and definitely a more suitable alternative during summers. So go ahead—eat rice guilt-free!