Thursday, June 16, 2016

Rice and Constipation

One day, during a conversation, someone told me that eating rice could cause constipation.

I have never heard of this. Coming from a country where rice is the staple food, this comes as a shock.

Then hubby jokingly tell me something he read on the internet:
Why do the Chinese have slanted eyes?

One of the responses: Because they are constipated due to all the rice they eat.

Ok, so the rice causes constipation and constipation gives slanted eyes.

I don't know what to think about this. I'm not sure if this is scientifically proven. Saw these on internet with totally opposite views:

Eating plenty of rice will help you get more fiber into your diet. It is a fibrous grain that can promote bowel regularity and a healthy colon. A cup serving of brown or wild rice serves up to a 3.5 g of fiber, which is much more than you can get from white rice, which has 0.6 g of fiber for the same serving.

Source

White rice is the main culprit you’ll want to focus your attention on if you’re looking to prevent incidences of constipation.Rice starts off healthy enough, but to make it white rice they do away with husk, germ, and bran that it contains, and then put it through a polishing process so it comes out nice and white. Unfortunately this removes the parts of rice that are best for the human body.


Source

Well, because of my Asian background, I cook quite often dishes with rice, and both my girls like rice. This day I was cooking fried rice, and the little one couldn't wait for long. She kept saying "fan, fan, fan" (rice in Chinese) so I just gave her some rice in a bowl. She kept coming back and asking for more so eventually she ate her white rice and ingredients for fried rice separately.
Mommy, I love rice!
So happy with my rice!
I have no problem eating rice. When someone tells me that rice makes her constipate, it stresses me out because if that person is staying for several meals, it means I have to cook something else instead of my usual rice dishes.


3 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:47 AM

    It used to affect me, a long long time ago. Not anymore. I think many non Asians don't cook rice well, that may be the problem! If rice is too dry, yes, it can be hard to digest.

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    1. In France I saw people cooking rice like the way they cook pasta : put rice in boiling water then drain it. I don't really like it because the rice become too wet.

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    2. ha ha! totally annoyed when my mother in law cooked rice the way you described it. It was uncooked and mooshy at the same time. I think French say that rice constipates because they eat too much meat with it, and few veggies. btw Awena is all grown up, and so cute.

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