Rice: Good or Bad?

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  • I love rice. Didn't know if a lot of it in a week is good or bad for weight loss. It's really filling
  • Quote: I love rice. Didn't know if a lot of it in a week is good or bad for weight loss. It's really filling
    Calories dictate fat loss or gain, not the specific food.

    Getting enough protein is critical to help retain LBM while dieting.

    Aside from protein and caloires - it depends.
  • The low-carb folks will say it's bad. Are you eating white rice or brown? I'm not a low-carber, but do tend to steer clear of the processed, white variety.

    It really depends on what sort of plan you're following. Eating a huge volume of any food is going to add up in calories, and rice is no different.
  • I have been trying to just generally lower amount of calories daily. I didn't know if it was high calorie or high fat
  • Rice has about 200 to 230 calories per cup of rice. If you can stick to one serving, it can fit into your day, but "a lot" of rice unfortunately is not good for weight loss. In fact, there aren't too many things you can eat "a lot" of unfortunately for us all

    Often times, I have 3/4 of a cup for about 150 calories. I don't notice the missing 1/4 cup of rice and save 50 calories for something else.....like a 1/2 T of butter on that rice.
  • Brown rice is good for you - nutrition and fiber. White rice has lots of calories, little fiber and the nutrition was stripped away during processing. Read the nutrition label on your rice!
  • Rice for me is a nightmare because I have blood sugar issues. Doesn't matter if it's white, brown or wild. it all has the same effect of raising my blood sugar higher than I want it to be. Now, for most people, the wild and brown rices will keep people feeling fuller longer because it takes the body longer to process/metabolize the food than white rice, but if for you, eating a cup of cooked white rice makes you feel full and great and you don't have sugar issues, then go for it. There is no such thing as 'bad' food. Just some foods give you more nutrients than others. Rice basically gives you none - it's a filler.
  • I ate rice on average 3 or 4 days a week over the course of my loss ( 1.5 -2 years ) and large portions for evening meal typically it would be clean not a lot of added heavy sauces just usually some meat and maybe some soya with a moderate portion of meat chicken\turkey\pork even beef, a lot of evenings i would indulge with a drink or two to offset... the calories hurt there but alcohol before a meal reduces the absorption rate of carbs, fast absorption being the main problem being the body can't utilize the energy fast enough to keep up so will store , hence why carbs are thought to be bad.

    I've only managed to lose over 200 pounds so what do i know though ? Brown or white made no difference to me. The sizeable chinese community at work (around a dozen ) are all skinny as rails and eat probably a pound of rice each and every day for lunch, but clean with just a meat and a vegetable usually. I don't exceed my calorie allotment but i do eat rice like quite liberally.
  • IMO- white rice is not healthy..there is nothing nutritional that you benefit from it..brown rice on the other hand does have the benefit of adding fibre to your diet and when eaten with beans,makes a complete protein..

    So...i would say..white rice not good..brown rice...better.
  • Quote: The sizeable chinese community at work (around a dozen ) are all skinny as rails and eat probably a pound of rice each and every day for lunch, but clean with just a meat and a vegetable usually. I don't exceed my calorie allotment but i do eat rice like quite liberally.
    That's what I was thinking of myself. Asian culture eats a ton of rice and they also tend to be very skinny. I thought maybe the two had a connection.
  • Sounds like it's good to treat it just like everything else. Eat some but not a lot. Thanks every one!
  • I eat brown rice on a semi-often basis but ALWAYS with black beans+lots of veggies. I also include only about 1/4 of cup of brown rice just to add a bit of flavor.
  • Quote: That's what I was thinking of myself. Asian culture eats a ton of rice and they also tend to be very skinny. I thought maybe the two had a connection.
    When kids eat more tomatoes, they stay up later at night.

    Tomatoes must keep kids up at night.

    In reality: The connection? It's summer time. Tomatoes are more available, and they don't have as strict of a bedtime, because they aren't in school.

    Just because two things happen at the same time does not mean that one causes the other.

    Correlation does not imply causation.

    Asian people might include rice more in their diets, but they also eat fewer red meats, more vegetables, more fish. Their rice serving is between 1/2 cup to 1 cup when they do eat it.
  • Quote: When kids eat more tomatoes, they stay up later at night.

    Tomatoes must keep kids up at night.

    In reality: The connection? It's summer time. Tomatoes are more available, and they don't have as strict of a bedtime, because they aren't in school.

    Just because two things happen at the same time does not mean that one causes the other.

    Correlation does not imply causation.


    Asian people might include rice more in their diets, but they also eat fewer red meats, more vegetables, more fish. Their rice serving is between 1/2 cup to 1 cup when they do eat it.
    Yes to this. DH's family eats a TON of white rice BUT they only eat it at lunch and eat very, very small lunches/dinner so while you might be shocked at how much they're eating at lunch that's only one meal and they really limit themselves at the other meals.
  • I just wanted to say that no food is good or bad, in my opinion. It's that kind of black and white thinking that can make eating disordered.

    I only eat brown rice in small quantities (like 1/2 a cup) on days when I am working out, but that's because I'm a low carber. It's just what works for me.