Why are rice cakes considered a "diet food"?

13

Replies

  • Azuriaz
    Azuriaz Posts: 785 Member
    echmainfit619 wrote: »
    Marketing.

    Yup. There was one spicy kind with like taco seasoning or something on it that was worth my while way back when, but if you eat the whole package in a day, it isn't a 'diet' food anymore! And oof the bloat!
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    I like the quaker ones if i happen to come across them, but i don't buy them.

    they are not satisfying to me. and empty calories. i like my calories to count
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    Strawblackcat wrote: »
    They're not particularly filling. They're nutritionally void. They taste pretty yummy (not like typical cardboard-y diet food). They aren't that low-calorie. So why do people consider them "diet food"? If I was on a diet, I would eat pudding, or yogurt, or some eggs or something instead. Something more nutritious and filling. The only reason I eat rice cakes now is because they're really yummy as a treat with some warmed almond butter on top.

    Thoughts and explanations?

    Are rice cakes considered a food????
  • advisingwench
    advisingwench Posts: 53 Member
    I buy a brand that's really thin and flat and I use 'em to make sandwiches. They don't have a whole lot of nutrition to them, but neither does gluten free bread, really, and I can have 3 little sandwiches on the cakes as compared to 1 little sandwich on GF bread for roughly the same number of calories, carbs and fiber.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    refuseresist wrote: »
    I just had cottage cheese, celery and rice cakes for my afternoon snack

    My commiserations.
  • andyluvv
    andyluvv Posts: 281 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    I need crunch. I have some caramel coated ones right now, and I had one before supper so I wouldn't spoil my dinner.

    It's eating air. Sometimes I need air.

    HAHAHAH I LOVE your comment.
    It made me giggle in the office
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    Why are rice cakes considered a "diet food"?

    the better question is why are rice cakes considered food at all?
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,261 Member
    tinger12 wrote: »
    I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the "rice cake cleanse" :wink:

    ha dont joke, the cleansing crew might try it.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    SuggaD wrote: »
    I found these great corn cakes on Amazon. I buy them cause I can eat the entire package and they taste really good and satisfies the crunch need.

    corn thins? I buy them on Amazon. There are 22 cals ea. love them!
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited September 2015
    It's just a remnant of a past time when puffing grains was discovered and the puffed grains were used in diets because they has less calories per volume than unpuffed grains. So a part of the "health cereals battles" in which things like breakfast cereals took part, rice cakes were just another contender. It helped of course that come the 80s you had all of this low fat culture and rice cakes happened to have almost no fat, so they carried on as a health food. Nowadays they are still surviving as a health food because it's trendy to avoid added sugar and gluten, and most of them have neither. They are also mostly vegan-friendly so there is that. They basically check most of the boxes of what people perceive as "healthy". Seems like some items tend to carry the "diet food" label for long. Like granola for example... it's advertised as a diet food although it's pretty high in calories just because people tend to not have a clear distinction between "healthy" and "diet".

    I personally don't mind them. I don't crave them but I don't hate them. I would eat a couple if I were presented with some and mildly enjoy them.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Therealobi1 wrote: »
    tinger12 wrote: »
    I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the "rice cake cleanse" :wink:

    ha dont joke, the cleansing crew might try it.

    Just add some lemon, and some cayenne pepper ...
  • starwhisperer6
    starwhisperer6 Posts: 402 Member
    I just had two for breakfast with garlic hummus on them. It was pretty good, and Luke someone else said, seems more like a meal than just spooning up my hummus.
  • 08tay
    08tay Posts: 3 Member
    They suppress your appetite and helps control your sweet tooth. Very good for a post workout snack. They are low in calorie if you can only eat 2-3. Quick easy way to get in carbs. Those with pb on top. Yummy!!!!
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    i like rice cakes, but saltines are cheaper, and also low cal, so I use those in my things i used rice cakes for. (spreading peanut butter on, scooping up tuna salad, or serving a peice of cheese on.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    Look for Quaker Popped - these are the smaller (much thinner) rice cakes. Sweet Chili flavor....mmmm. These are more like chips. I agree the thick round ones in the tube - blech! (it's like eating firmly packed sawdust).

    Oh yeah, these are delicious. I like all the flavors I've tried, except for BBQ. The butter-popcorn is especially good, IMO.

  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Yes - they were popular in the 70's with the low-fat era. I ate many back then. Eventually lost my Gall-Bladder due to the low-fat era. If I only knew then what I know now....
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
    Agree with all who said that they're a diet food because they're a product of the low-fat movement in the 80s.

    Most of them are awful. However, I do enjoy the Quaker Caramel ones!
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    Strawblackcat wrote: »
    They're not particularly filling. They're nutritionally void.

    Marketing. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason they're not stocked next to the Little Debbie snacks by now.
  • michelle7673
    michelle7673 Posts: 370 Member
    edited September 2015
    Rice cakes rock. I just had one. Wait. No. That was an ice cream sammich.

    Seriously, I ate a lot of them once-upon-a-time. When I was cutting weight for rowing I would top them with squished kidney beans and then salsa. I think they were so popular just because they were a non-bread "base"; I think that role has been taken now by the low carb tortillas.
  • drrae65
    drrae65 Posts: 29 Member
    i really like rice cakes not gonna lie

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