# Rice a Good Diet Food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 6, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342 "2003-05-06T05:49:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/1 "2003-05-06T05:49:10Z")
I’ve been on a diet for the past couple weeks and have been eating alot of rice under the assumption that it was a good dieting food but I just got through talking to a friend of mine who insists that it isn’t. I admit that calories, fat grams, and carb talk go over my head so can someone tell me if it is or not without using dieter’s language? ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/2 "2003-05-06T06:10:24Z")
Calories == energy. Get more than your daily energy use and you will store the calories as fat most likely. Get less and your body will have to burn fat to sustain energy levels. Rice has mucho calories so it might be best to avoid it in order to lose weight. But Rice doesnt really have all the nastiness associated with red-meat, so I mean its fine for you, just not what you want to eat to lose weight. Here’s what I suggest for diets: Good foods: Vegetables FISH!!! (not fried) Ok Foods: grains (rice/pasta/breads) skinless, boneless chicken breast nonfried. Bad Foods: Red-meat candy, ice creme, whole milk, really sugary cereals, fruit juice, soda. hot chocolate, cake, flavored lattes/cappuccinos, pies, french-fries, potatoe chips. ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/3 "2003-05-06T06:11:34Z")
Add soups to OK foods. Watch out for high sodium if you are prone to high blood-pressure! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/4 "2003-05-06T08:07:30Z")
There is a theory that the combination of fat and carbs is really, _really_ bad. Carbs are fast, fat is slow energy. So when you eat them at the same time, the body will use the carbs and store the fat. It doesn’t ‘learn’ to use the fat. From this we learn than any deep fried carbs are very bad. A sandwhich with mayo is really bad. There is talk about the white poison: Sugar and flour. A good way of steadily getting rid of weight, is to get rid of all things containing sugar and flour. This is permanently, you understand, not a crash diet so you can go to the beach in a month. This list might contain some things that are surprising, but trust me, it works. **Allowed:** Any meat (yes, red too). Fish Raw veggies and fruit. yoghurt (plain, there is often sugar in fruity yoghurt) eggs whole seeds (more on this later). Buy sunflower seeds for snacks. They’re good. cheese mushrooms nuts **Maybe** chocolate (if cocoa content is over 70 %) rice (basmati. Surprisingly - not brown rice) pasta (if made of durum wheat) pumpernickel (no other types of bread) Do not eat rice or pasta with any food containg fat. Pasta with a salsa is ok. Pumpernickel with cheese is not. **No way** potatoes. cereals anything containing sugar, but no diet pop. Drink water. (things that contain sugar naturally - fruit - is allowed, but watch out for added sugar. I found this in aiolli) Eat an orange, don’t drink OJ. There are the same amount of calories, but the carbs are more complex in an orange. making them slower to absorb and giving you more fibre. Many processed foods and premade stuff contains added sugar. White beans in tomato sauce - the tomato sauce has (mostly) added sugar. Generally, you’re better off, preparing your own food. So a basic day could be like this: Breakfast: Bacon and eggs. Yoghurt with fresh strawberries. Coffee or tea. Lunch: Pasta with tomato sauce, choice of shellfish or tuna. Dinner: Full slab of ribs, coleslaw (watch out for sugar). Dessert the french way - some cheese. Liberal with snacks in between. Peanuts, seeds, dark chocolate. Late evening guilty snack: Strawberries and cream (NO sugar - which is often found at that cream you get in a spray can). You can pig out like this how much you like, and still lose weight. It worked for me. 20lbs in 6 months. And since I don’t get hit with insuline after every meal, I don’t get drowsy at mid afternoon. Of course - healthy excersise and generally taking care of yourself is part of this. But you will get a ballanced diet, while losing weight, and not feeling you’re too deprived of the good things in life. I have a friend who used to be part of Weightwatchers. He starved himself during the week, so he could live off brownies during the weekend. He did lose weight, but was it healthy? And when he got off the program, he started gaining again. Caveat: IANAMD or a professional. The advice I give here was given to me by a friend. She gained a lot of weight in connection with a pregnancy (ended up at 220lbs) and lost it this way. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/5 "2003-05-06T10:49:47Z")
Mostly, I agree with **The Gaspode**. A couple of things that **wouldn’t** work for me that are on his (her?) list: pasta made with durum flour (I use whole wheat pasta instead) and dark chocolate. For me, any kind of chocolate is fine, so long as it isn’t sweetened with refined sugar. It doesn’t seem to bother me to combine carbs with protein, so long as the carbs are fruits, veggies, whole grains. I also don’t eat white potatoes or white rice for the same reason: they spike my blood sugar, making me crave sweets. I also exercise 3-5 times per week, and drink lots and lots of water. I’ve lost 41 pounds since the first of the year. I don’t mind about fat or calories at all, but I know I’m eating way fewer calories than I used to. This, of course, is because I’m not binge-eating like I do once I get started on sweets. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/6 "2003-05-06T11:10:19Z")
Dr. Atkins thought rice was a terrible diet food. ---
**Author:** ![serenitynow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@serenitynow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/serenitynow)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/7 "2003-05-06T12:34:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Aesiron \* > \*\* I admit that calories, fat grams, and carb talk go over my head so can someone tell me if it is or not without using dieter’s language? \*\* I once saw a documentary on Sumo wrestling. Guess what they eat to get so big. Lots of rice. Definitely not a diet food. Unless, of course, you want to look like a Sumo. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/8 "2003-05-06T12:35:04Z")
Choose brown rice, in portions that fit into an overall balanced meal plan. Brown rice is a much better option than white rice. No one food is ‘good’ or ‘bad’. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/9 "2003-05-06T12:42:31Z")
A diet high in Rice or other starches can send you triglyceride levels through the roof, unless your overall diet and genetic pre-disposition allows you to cope with it (c.f. Asians, et al.). I am not Asian but love rice and eat it with almost every evening meal. As a result, my doctor’s eyes nearly popped out of his sockets when he ran by bloodwork and saw my triglyceride levels. Apparently there is hope for me and other rice eaters. Add plenty of sources of [fish oil](http://www.mycustompak.com/healthNotes/Supp/Fish_Oil.htm), [pantethine](http://www.mycustompak.com/healthNotes/Supp/Vitamin_B5.htm) and [niacin](http://www.mycustompak.com/healthNotes/Supp/Vitamin_B3.htm) to your diet. [Oats](http://www.mycustompak.com/healthNotes/Herb/Oats.htm) may also help. See your doctor 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/10 "2003-05-06T13:36:19Z")
Rice is not a diet food. Rice (all kinds) has a high glycemic index (or load). This means that it is especially quick to break down into sugar. If you’d like to test this, arrange with your doctor to test your blood sugar before eating rice and an hour later. Many reasonably well-supported, medically-based diets suggest that you avoid “white food,” meaning highly-processed grains and starchy vegetables. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/11 "2003-05-06T13:46:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philster \* > \*\*Choose brown rice, in portions that fit into an overall balanced meal plan. Brown rice is a much better option than white rice. > > No one food is ‘good’ or ‘bad’. \*\* Oh yeah? Twinkies. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/12 "2003-05-06T13:55:50Z")
Twinkies are good _and_ bad. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/13 "2003-05-06T16:12:51Z")
Rice is terrible for me, I’ve found. I like sushi, (which isn’t supposed to be highly caloric) and have also been trying a high protein diet, limiting my carbs. I’ve noticed I can steadily lose weight, but the minute I eat any maki, or anything with rice in it I gain 2 pounds the next day and feel like crap. This doesn’t happen to the same degree when I cheat with other starches. I’m exaggerating, of course, and this is totally anecdotal but rice seems to be the worst food on earth for a diet. Dr. Atkin’s assessment seems to fit IMHO. If you have to eat grain, oats and oat flour seem to be good choices. The flour is good for general cooking purposes and it includes all parts of the grain. It contains a lot of fiber without tasting “coarse”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/14 "2003-05-06T16:24:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*Oh yeah? > > Twinkies. \*\* Twinkies aren’t actually food, so your example is invalid! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![cleops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@cleops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cleops)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/15 "2003-05-06T16:52:52Z")
Do canned sardines count as “fish” in the diet advisor’s lexicon? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/16 "2003-05-06T17:07:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*Oh yeah? > > Twinkies. \*\* Yeah, Twinkies, wise ass. Twinkies can be eaten, like any other food, as part of a diet plan. I’m sorry, maybe I didn’t realize they were removed from shelves because they are poisonous. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/17 "2003-05-06T17:08:25Z")
They’re not? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/18 "2003-05-06T17:09:40Z")
maybe you all should read readhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/diet.htm ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/19 "2003-05-06T17:11:13Z")
Twinkies contain what ingredients that are ‘bad’ for the human body? Please elaborate/enlighten. ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342/20 "2003-05-06T17:55:35Z")
Bottom line, is if you consume more calories than you burn, you gain weight. If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. Rice is high in calories, but it doesn’t mean you can’t eat it. Just eat less. And check out the website that **Philster** provided. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rice-a-good-diet-food/173342.md?page=2)