Rice may well be the most ancient of food grains, and next to wheat, it is the grain grown in largest quantity throughout the world today. It is a complex carbohydrate, which means that the sugars in it (in form of starch) are broken down slowly.
Rice, especially brown rice variety, also provides fiber and small amounts of zinc, iron and other nutrients. It has low in sodium and has no cholesterol or fat.
It may be the major as aspect of a diet, or incorporated into the man dish, side dish, or dessert and is commonly used in the preparation of ready to eat breakfast cereals.
Rice is good food for hypertensive. It is salt and cholesterol free, low energies, high in bulk and easy to prepare.
Rice is especially important to persons with wheat allergies and is commonly eaten as a first food by infants, as it offers the least cereal allergy.
It supplies 55 percent of man’s daily food requirements and one pound of rice has four times the food energy of the same weight of potatoes.
Rice provides about 335 calories per 100 gm of dry weight. The protein content is about 7 percent which is not an appreciable amount. Since it is consumed in large quantities, rice supplies a good amount of protein.
Today, most white rice is enriched with vitamins and minerals, to add back nutrients lost in milling. However, this fortified rice not generally available in developing countries.
In supermarket there are varieties of the grain itself including rice breakfast cereals rice flours, and even rice wine.
Nutritional facts of rice
