When you see a weight-conscious person or a diabetic turning away reluctantly from a ladle of rice, you can’t help but sigh with sympathy. After all, rice has the unfortunate reputation of being on the other side of health.
However, modern lifestyles and improved information about food categories, sourcing, processing, and distribution have enabled us to make smarter and not-so-harder choices.
Take the case of brown rice. When you shop for a reliably-organic and health-oriented brown rice, you make an informed decision about going for something that works better than other rice forms for its variety of factors. It has a lower glycemic index than many others to start with, which makes it a better choice for those concerned with glucose and carbohydrate levels.
Since brown rice is mostly constituted of both the bran and germ along with the endosperm part of the grain, its fibre component and therefore the health advantage goes up a notch. Its nutrition value is better and being a slow carb or a complex carbohydrate allows it to make sure that when you eat it the sugar levels will not spike immediately.
It is also a relatively slowly-digestible form of rice, so it helps with other fitness concerns. The presence of adequate fibre, as well as minerals like magnesium, selenium, manganese assigns many other health points to this category. When it is hand-pounded, like in the case of sonamasuri raw rice, the richness and organic impact rise manifold. Other rice forms come from rice mills and hence their chemical component is higher for obvious reasons.
It is encouraging to see growing adoption of both organic brown and sonamasuri white rice in the culinary communities of India. The ease with which a varied range of preparations can be also be made, makes it stand equally high on taste as it does on the News health plank.
Because of its processing specifics, and organic growth, the nutrients are kept intact in a richer and a more absorbable form. The presence of cholesterol and Trans fat is also notably low in this group. Further, the difference in prices when one compares the medium/short grain variety to a basmati variety makes for an extra factor for this choice.
It is very easy to use and often experts recommend soaking this rice for a few hours to ensure good cooking and to get the desired taste. The absence of stickiness and difference in softness as compared to a long grain are also worth noting. The taste and texture of this rice may vary considerably and hence it would be advisable to allow oneself some time before getting used to its consumption.
However, experts recommend shopping in reasonable quantities as brown rice may have a smaller shelf or storage value than its precedents. One can refrain from buying in bulk.
One can also find a number of new recipes that are now possible with brown rice and organic varieties of rice.
Now, even a health-wary person can walk towards a pot of rice without guilt or worry. Rice when grown organically, processed for nutrition maximization and cooked in the right way is as much of a healthy food as the other alternatives out there. Just make sure that the next time you think rice, you have all the information and alternatives before you buy or cook something from what your habit dictates.
Join the organic food revolution and be a part of a new tribe that is spreading health, fitness, and longevity in the world. Welcome to the revolution.