As you can see, last night my lovely girlfriend made a delicious meal of cajun chicken breast, asparagus and rice. (I say meal because it was her dinner, but breakfast for me... Graveyard life.) I realized there is a lot of confusion about rice. I decided I would take this #NutritionTipTuesday to hopefully clear up said confusion- or at least shed some light on it.
While I've been asked if rice counts as a vegetable (no), there seems to be a lot more misinformation claiming that rice is "bad" for you and/or makes you fat. Here's a full breakdown if you care. It's got a bunch of research links and basically comes to the conclusion that rice isn't bad for you, especially in moderation, and brown rice is generally a healthier option than white rice. So there's that.
But I didn't write this blog to link you to a bunch of facts and findings. I want you to think so you can make decisions for yourself.
Back to my meal. Chicken, asparagus, white rice: Does that sound super unhealthy to you?
No!
That's probably healthier than 95% of the meals I eat at restaurants. I'd bet that's at least in the top 10% of healthiest meals eaten in America every day. These numbers are 100% made up by me, to prove my point: that context matters.
Relative to what most people eat most of the time, rice fits very well into a healthier plate of food. That's really what I think most people should be aiming for: a little healthier.
Rice is super versatile and ties nutritious things together nicely. It also goes really good in gigantic 1500 calorie burritos that you can shovel down in 3 minutes. Trust me, I know. It is super easy to overeat fried rice. Trust me, I know.
Both of these examples are far more common than the meal my girlfriend made for us, and definitely not as healthy. Rice by itself is not the issue, though. Portion sizes and the other foods that accompany the rice are the culprits there.
Instead of asking "is rice healthy?" ask yourself "is this meal that involves rice healthier than whatever else I'd be eating?" In 2019 America, that answer is often yes.
(All that said, I definitely encourage you to experiment with other varieties of rice and whole grains for A LOT of variety and flavor!)
Down With The Fitness is here to give you simple, actionable tips that will improve your health. If you found this helpful, feel free to check out the archives for more. I'm pretty proud of the rabbit hole this thing has become.
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Have fun and do your best,
Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach (American Council on Exercise; Precision Nutrition)
