It’s very rare that you’ll meet a person who doesn’t consider rice to be a staple of their diet. Being one of the most common carbohydrates on the market, this grain is one that’s incredibly cheap to purchase, and convenient to make.
But, is this food considered to be healthy? And, if so, what are some of the key benefits provided by this grain? If you’ve found yourself pondering these questions, don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Below, we take a closer look at the nutritional benefits of rice, so to find out more, simply keep reading below.
Is Rice Healthy?
So, let’s just jump straight in and answer the titular question. Is rice considered to be a healthy food? The simple answer is, yes!
Rice is, in fact, very good for human beings. It’s rich in carbohydrates, which are considered to be our body’s main source of fuel.
Without carbs, we feel sluggish and tired, but making sure to include enough healthy carbs such as rice in our diets can be of massive benefit.
When talking about the best kinds of rice on the market, brown rice is most certainly the best source of vitamins and minerals. It’s full of fiber, folate, magnesium, Vitamin B, and selenium, amongst other things.
So, to sum up, rice, especially brown, is considered to be a healthy staple in your diet.
What Are Some Of The Nutritional Benefits Of Rice?
Now that we’ve established that rice is indeed a healthy food, we can move on to discuss this in further detail.
Below, we take a look at some of the top nutritional benefits provided by the grain, and how consuming rice regularly may improve your health.
1. Helps You Lose Weight
One of the key benefits of consuming rice is that it might be able to help you lose weight. If you’ve been trying to shed those extra pounds, consuming rice as a part of a healthy, balanced diet can be highly beneficial.
Because it’s a carbohydrate, it can help to give you the energy you need to get through your day, and has a satiating effect on your appetite. This means that when you consume rice, you won’t be left feeling hungry anytime soon.
Brown rice especially is known for having a low glycemic index, which means that it can help to fill you up when you’re feeling hungry, and prevent unhealthy snacking.
In addition, opting for brown rice instead of white has been proven to aid the insulin response in your body.
Because brown rice is digested slowly, this prevents blood sugar spikes, which are responsible for making you feel hungry.
2. Good For The Nervous System
Some of you might not know, but rice is actually very good for your nervous system. In order for our bodies to produce neurotransmitters, which help to keep our nerves at bay, we need to make sure that we eat enough Vitamin B.
Carbohydrates are rich in Vitamin B, and can therefore help to regulate your nervous system. This can, in turn, help to regulate the temperature within your body, as well as help with mental issues related to memory.
3. Gluten Free
One of the most obvious benefits of rice is that it’s completely gluten free. This makes it a great option for those who suffer with celiac disease, or just have a sensitive stomach.
It can also help those who suffer from celiac disease, as brown rice is known to be adept at fueling good gut bacteria.
So, if you’ve been struggling with some digestive issues, then consuming more brown rice may help.
4. Helps With Digestion
As we mentioned briefly above, rice is known for being great for aiding the body’s digestive process. So, if you’ve been constipated for a while, eating some brown rice can help to fuel bowel movements.
In addition to this, rice is known to be a natural diuretic. Many of us will step on the scale, only to feel frustrated that we haven’t lost any weight, despite sticking steadfastly to our diet.
Oftentimes, this extra ‘weight’ we see on the scale, is just water weight.
Water weight is simply weight attached to the body, which accumulates after eating salty foods. It’s also related to diseases of the kidney.
But, consuming some plain, brown rice can help to rid your body of this water weight. It physically flushes it out of your system.
5. Can Prevent Cancer
One of the most remarkable things about rice is that it’s been linked to reduced risk of developing cancer.
That’s right, making sure that you eat rice on a regular basis could prevent you from developing a serious disease later in life.
The reason why this is, is because rice is so high in fiber. Food which is high in fiber has been linked to low blood pressure, and better digestion. These two qualities are highly linked to reduced cancer risk.
Because the fiber in the rice allows you to experience more frequent bowel movements, the waste doesn’t stay for very long in your system.
This means that the waste in your system doesn’t have any time to interact with all of your healthy cells.
As a result, you have an overall lower risk of developing things such as interstitial cancer. It’s also rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin C, which are also known to protect your body from cancer.
6. Improves Skin
One of the best things about rice is that it can actually help to improve the quality of your skin.
Brown rice is known to be full of antioxidants, which are great for clearing up skin disorders such as eczema and acne.
One of the best things you can do is to use rice topically, as this helps it to directly permeate your skin.
This helps to hydrate the skin, so if you’ve been struggling with dryness, this one can aid you on your journey to healthy skin.
This can also be good for skin that suffers from inflammation, as cooling it off with some rice can reduce redness.
It can also help to slow down the aging process, so if you’ve noticed a few extra lines and wrinkles, this can help to stop them in their tracks.
7. Improves Heart Health
Another benefit of rice is that it can improve heart health. It’s a natural anti-inflammatory, as it can help to deposit the plaque from your vessels.
It also has lots of antioxidants which can help to lower your cholesterol.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, rice is a very healthy food that has several different benefits for the human body. It can help to improve heart health, help to improve the quality of your skin, and also benefit your digestive system.
