You may have heard the old saying, “You are what you eat”, but how many of us really take this seriously? As a physician, I’ve heard patients say, “You’re the first doctor that said changing my diet might improve my health.” We have forgotten that Hippocrates, the father of medicine used food as medicine.
What foods should we eat the most? The answer is…grains, preferably, whole grains.
Nutrition has come a long way from the days when people were afraid to eat grains because they thought it would make them fat. Today’s nutritionists are embracing grains as an important part of any weight reduction program. One basic idea is that one gram of carbohydrate has four calories and one gram of fat has nine calories. Eat rice or pasta; stay away from fat or oil to keep trim.
Marathoners have known the value of pasta for endurance. Glucose is the basic fuel for the body, but taking in simple sugar, like white sugar or sucrose, burns too quickly in the body. Complex carbohydrates provide fuel for the body like a log burning on a fire. It takes while for the log to get started, but once it gets going, you’ll have energy that will last.
Brown rice is nutritionally better for you because it has more fiber, vitamins and minerals than white rice. This is what makes it a whole grain. If it is to be the main food for the body, you may as well get the best organically grown brown rice. I recommend you eat brown rice or other whole grains as half of everything you eat. Use your plate as a guide; just fill half of it with grains or pasta.
The reasons you’ll hear for not eating brown rice are many. For example, “it just doesn’t taste as good as the white, sticky rice.” “My kids won’t eat it.” “It comes out hard to chew.” “My wife doesn’t cook it.” “It’s too expensive.”
Whatever the reason, it’s important for us to reflect on how much we make health a priority. Are we willing to work through our old habits and create a lifestyle that will make a difference in our health and in whom we become?
Brown rice is not the same as white rice. You have to chew it more, but maybe that’s why it’s better for us. Rice digests better when chewed longer.
When cooking brown rice you have to use more water, sometimes up to twice as much. You have to experiment because of the varieties of rice cookers and the varying amounts of rice cooked.
It’s vital to include more whole grains in your diet. Give it a try and listen to the wisdom of your body.