In the previous parts, we saw the problems with sugar and wheat flour, both of which can be quite bad for our health when consumed in excess. What about rice?

Rice is much better than white flour, but it also demands some consideration. The first point about rice is that not all rice is the same. There are two basic types of rice: long-grain rice (like the basmati and jasmine types) and short-grain rice (which is cheaper and more common). Long grains are rich in resistant starch, and therefore have a much lower GI. They can be easily recognized by the fact they remain firm and separate after cooking.

Short grain types of rice, on the other hand, are rich in simple starch, and therefore are digested very quickly. They have a very high GI and therefore are not so recommendable, since they make the insulin spike. This type can be classified amongst other types of refined carbohydrates. It can be easily recognized because the rice sticks together in clumps when cooked.

Basmati rice is one of the best types of rice, since not only does it have a lower GI (at least compared to other types of rice) but also has a better vitamin and mineral content. That explains why it is considered top-quality rice.

Brown rice is better than white rice in most respects since the GI is a little lower and it has more nutrients. However, there is a problem. Most rice nowadays is cultivated in soil contaminated by arsenic, and because the rice is cultivated on flooded paddies, a strong concentration is found in the grains, especially in the bran and germ. In the case of white rice, both the bran and germ are discarded, and therefore the arsenic concentration is drastically reduced. Whole grain rice, on the other hand, contains everything, and therefore often the arsenic concentrations are usually well beyond the safe limits. It’s not something that will kill you or make you sick instantly, but it may have long-term effects if one eats it regularly, since the arsenic accumulates in the body. Because of this, regular consumption of brown rice can’t be recommended.

Another option is parboiled rice (or converted rice), the “Uncle Ben’s“ rice, the type that doesn’t clump together when cooked. This type of rice goes through a vapor treatment that converts the simple starches in the short-grain rice into resistant starch, also transferring more of the nutrients from the husk to the grain. The problem with parboiled rice is that it goes through a heating process, which can be considered a type of cooking. Because of this, many devotees may prefer to avoid it. If we consider only the health perspective, however, it is a better option to regular short grain rice when we don’t have basmati or another type of long-grain available. You can do your own research and decide what type to eat based on the time, place, and circumstance.

In any case, the rice should be always combined with other ingredients. A good combination is rice and legumes (like beans, lentils, chickpeas, or even peanuts). Most legumes are very low glycemic and they form a complete protein when combined with rice. To eat rice and beans, or rice and chickpeas, for example, is far better than eating rice alone. We can see that most populations of the world were following this over the centuries. The way we combine different foods is important since certain combinations balance the pros and cons of different options. The basic rule is that our food should be a package of different ingredients.

Two alternatives to consider are pearled barley and steel-cut oats. Both are inexpensive, low glycemic, and more nutritious than rice. Cooked pearled barley, for example, has a GI of just 35, and cooked steel-cut oats are even lower, at just 30. The taste is different and they take a little longer to cook, but from a health perspective, the change will bring a lot of benefits. Just as rice, they also form a complete protein when combined with legumes.

Other options are millets, like jowar, amaranth, foxtail, bajra, ragui, little millet, and so on. They are of course very different from rice, but they are also low-glycemic and extremely nutritious (much more than oats). You will probably not be able to adapt to eating only millets, but you can try to cook a mixture of half rice and half millets for example, which will already make your meal much healthier.

Buckwheat and quinoa are two other good alternatives. Both combine a good mix of nutrients and offer complete protein, combining all essential amino acids. They have a GI of, respectively, 51 and 53, higher than the other options I mentioned, but still lower than rice.

One tip in regards to buckwheat is that it doesn’t have to be cooked. You just have to soak it in warm water for four to six hours to have perfectly soft buckwheat, ready to serve. I usually soak it overnight in three parts of water, and then add some hot water, salt, a little butter, and spices before serving. Soaked buckwheat has a GI of around 30, much less than cooked buckwheat, and even less than rice. Considering it has complete protein and a good amount of nutrients, it’s probably the best rice substitute of all. 

Pearled barley can also be soaked in water overnight and eaten raw with milk or yogurt, or even with cut fruits, as a kind of breakfast cereal. When eaten raw, soaked pearled barley has a GI of just 22, the lowest GI of all grains (much lower than even rolled oats). If you like to eat cereals in the morning, this is the healthiest option around: very low glycemic, packed with nutrients, and also inexpensive. Apart from barley, soaked rolled oats are another option. They are not so nutritious, but they are still an acceptable option. We can’t always label ingredients as “good” or “bad”, because it always depends on what we compare them to. Rolled oats are less nutritious than amaranth or barley, but they are much better than wheat for example.

Commercial cereals, like Corn Flakes and Cheerios, are the precise opposite: very high glycemic, made out of GMO ingredients, and devoid of nutrients (apart from the added synthetic vitamins). They are just another band of industrialized products that should be strictly avoided. They can’t really be considered food.

– This post is part of the book “How to have better health to better serve Krsna”. You can read the other topics of the book here.