Why villify white rice?

I think you have to look at the diet and lifestyle as a whole. Asians who have emigrated to the United States and adopted a largely American diet have developed problems associated with Western diets, for example, breast cancer in women. The Japanese women the OP was talking about probably don't go to huge grocery stores and buy a month's worth of groceries, they probably shop almost daily, as French women used to do. They also probably are conditioned to eat smaller quantities, as are people in many other cultures.

I love rice, and can't imagine not having Japanese white rice in sushi or chirashi (a dish that consists of a huge bowl of vinegared and sweetened rice with fish and shellfish on top). I also can't conceive of risotto without Italian arborio rice, or having Indian food without real Indian rice. But brown rice is healthier than white because the bran and germ are preserved during the processing and they contain nutrients.

I remember a story in The Joy of Cooking (?) that I read as a kid. There was a ship that had some nuns as passengers. The nuns prepared their own food and they meticulously stripped their rice and ate it white. During the passage, to some some then-exotic place, they developed Beriberi, an ailment caused by a Vitamin B1 deficiency. The crew didn't. They ate brown rice.

Brown rice is nutty and chewy; for general eating, I prefer it to white rice. It's ironic that it's now more expensive than white when brown rice used to be what poor people ate.

Well, apparently, the western idea of rice is very poor and misinformed. Why do you think so many Asians are thin and fit, despite consuming rice all their lives? The ones with the health problems are the ones who follow a more ''western'' like diet.

Rice is a very healthy substitute to bread, pasta, potatoes. It's actually the richest carb source, and the least aggressive on the body.

For women, rice stimulates production of estrogen, which is very beneficial in the long run for a woman that wants to preserve her reproductive health and not only.

Also, rice contains more carb than potatoes, and it is better absorbed by the body. It doesn't make you gain weight, as many western sources like to think.

The question here is, the quality of the rice. The western rice (produced in western countries) may be a bit problematic, as I am quite skeptical about the way they cultivate it. I think they treat it with additives and what not, which is no wonder why its reputation is so poor. Asian rice, Cambodian, Thai, is the best. You just have to have a good source to get it from. They sell it in sacks, not in small packages. Plus, I would be weary about buying rice in plastic bags. It should be put into textiles.

Ultimatly, brown rice is the best kind, because it's the closest to its natural state.

Overall, I eat rice regularly, and grew up on rice as well. Never did I have weight issues, or health issues because of it. It's actually a great substitute to bread. I always feel light and energized after eating a meal that contains rice, compared to when I eat bread, which I feel slown down and heavy. You don't have to eat a lot of it, as it is consistent (rice), and light on the digestive system. And I never saw anyone to gain weight from rice, compared to bread, when you do.

Rice is an awesome weight loss or maintainance crop. It is very healthy, highly absorbable by the system, light, consistent and energizing.

Hope I helped.

My daughter lives in France and says no one is overweight. When she comes back to the US to visit, she notices all the obese Americans. She says the French are slim because they eat 3 meals a day and that's all.

I hear this all the time ("no one is overweight in fFance") but when I was there just last year, it was certainly not the case. And no they weren't tourists.

Oh le humanity!

That just made me choke.

Like the previous poster ruby...So, my theory is that no food is evil, and there is no one "right" way to eat. It's about each of us finding out for ourselves what makes us feel good and full of energy, as well as working out what fits into our own lifestyle. For me, I know I am healthier and happier when I eat a good variety of veggies, meat, seafood, rice, pasta, dairy etc and limit the amount of chocolate, cakes, biscuits etc. Just cutting out "carbs" leaves me hungry and grumpy - so that's not right for me.

I agree with her. My mother can have all the rice and pasta she wants. My father is underweight but diabetic. He cannot have much of any pasta and rice. It greatly effects his blood sugar levels. I am not diabetic but I am insulin resistant, have PCOS, and am obese so I do not play around with pasta or rice very often. If effects my blood sugar as well.

My daughter lives in France and says no one is overweight. When she comes back to the US to visit, she notices all the obese Americans. She says the French are slim because they eat 3 meals a day and that's all.

I hear this all the time ("no one is overweight in fFance") but when I was there just last year, it was certainly not the case. And no they weren't tourists.

Oh le humanity!

That just made me choke.

The French government has been concerned about obesity among the French for many years.

If I'm just having it as a side, I have brown rice just because it seems like kind of a waste to choose white rice when brown rice will fill me up for longer. But I wouldn't never go for sushi with white rice.

I think it is a good rule of thumb for people who are overweight to choose brown over white for rice, bread, ect. It's an easy lifestyle change for some. White rice isn't evil, but it's not going to give you the same substantial health benefits of brown rice.