How have I gotten away with not posting a food pic (under my food diary page) in so long? I am a Nutritionist after all 😉 hehe. Well some nights it’s all about the comfort food and nothing beats a good plate of rice when you want comfort food, so this is what happened for dinner last night! I wanted to try a quick and different recipe this time, searched online and found this healthy nutritious recipe of  “Healthy Chicken & Pineapple Fried Rice”. Yummmo! It was way too easy, quick and extremely delish. I loved it. If you guys wanna play around with this delicious recipe then here is a Recipe Link for you. Try it and let me know if you liked it too! I modified this recipe a bit, instead of red chilli powder I used black pepper powder and added few more vegetables of my choice like green beans (for extra protein). I marinated chicken first then stir fried it with olive oil. And yes I had broccoli for my dinner side. You can have veggies of your choice and can have it with gravy if you want. For everyone wondering, I used white rice! OMG! 😉
You must be drooling over this amazing dish of chicken & pineapple fried rice 😉  but hold on, let’s solve this dilemma first … White rice or Brown rice? Which one is good? Can we eat rice and still loose weight?
I will say ‘Both’ and yes we can eat rice and still loose weight …  now continue reading if you want to know why? 😉
Do you know that eating a daily portion of rice not only makes dieting easier, but is linked to improved all-round health. New research shows that consumers can improve their diets simply by enjoying white or brown rice as part of their daily meals. Eating rice is also associated with eating more servings of fruits, vegetables, meat and beans.
In a study published Journal Food and Nutrition Sciences, study leader Dr Theresa Nicklas, of Baylor College of Medicine, looked at rice intake and diets among more than 14,000 US adults. She said our results show that adults who eat rice had diets more consistent with what is recommended in dietary guidelines, and they showed higher amounts of potassium, magnesium, iron, folate and fibre while eating less saturated fat and added sugars.
Rice is naturally sodium free and has only a small amount of fat, of which none is saturated. In addition, a human clinical trial found that having White or Brown rice at a meal increased feelings of fullness more than a calorically equivalent glucose solution control.
Considering the cross-sectional and clinical findings, both enriched white rice and whole grain brown rice should be recommended as part of a healthy diet, says researchers. They added that rice provides about 100 calories per half-cup cooked serving and is naturally free of gluten. Both enriched white rice and whole grain brown rice are considered nutrient rich quality complex carbohydrates and can be a part of a sustainable, plant based diet that promotes optimal health. Brown rice is a 100 percent whole grain food and white rice is enriched with more than 15 vitamins and minerals including folate and other Vitamins, iron and zinc. Brown rice is slightly higher in dietary fibre, magnesium and phosphorus, but lower in Vitamins and iron than enriched, fortified white rice.
As researchers said both white and brown rice produced health benefits so we cant’t say eating white rice is a bad thing? The bad thing is when we mindlessly decide if one thing is good for us and that if we do it a lot, it becomes only worse. We do that with rice so often now. Here will come the art of knowing portion control and incorporating this into our daily meals. One can have both type of rice, Â just be careful with portion sizes. For instance, if you eat rice with pulses (in our countries like Pakistan/India we call it Daal Chaawal) Â or rice with veggies on the side, it is so satiating that it makes you eat slower and improves your chances of eating the right amount (the cornerstones of fat loss or accelerated metabolism, good digestion and health itself).
Isn’t it amazing? So, from now onwards enjoy eating rice without any guilt guys. 🙂
Keep following for more. Take care! xx
My Healthy Life 