Brown rice

[dvandom]

One of my regular dinner entrees has been a bag of "boil in bag" rice (2 servings, to go by the box) with 34g of shredded sharp cheddar, 10-20g of diced or shredded pepperoni, a dash of shredded romano and some garlic salt, plus a long squirt of pizza sauce. Pizza rice, basically. Unfortunately, it amounts to about twice as much carbs as I really should be having for dinner, and since reducing my meds that has become a significant point, with my glucose numbers shooting into the 140-160 range at the "two hours after dinner" range whenever I have it. I tried cutting out milk entirely and just drinking water with it, but I'm starting to worry about drinking too little milk.

Thus, I was heartened to find that brown rice not only has more fiber than white, but it also has fewer carbs (by about 25%) and calories for the same mass of rice. And it comes in boil in bag variety (this is important, because I got tired of messing about with rice on the cooktop years ago, and I don't feel like dedicating any of my limited counter space to a rice cooker). So tonight I tried some.

Preliminary verdict...tentative yes. Obviously, given the stuff I add, the taste wasn't any different. The rice is really just a substrate, I don't much taste it one way or another. The texture was a bit off, but maybe I just need to reduce the cooking time a little. Now, to wait 2 hours and see if my glucose levels are more reasonable. Of course, it'll take a few more trials to be sure of both gustatory and diabetic elements, but at least I didn't have to force myself to finish the meal.

If this doesn't work out, though, my next option will be to reduce portion size by cutting open the bags and using a pasta strainer to drain the 3/4 of a bag's worth that I'll cook at a time. Maybe mixing white and brown in the process, who knows. I'm told that fresh brown rice tends to go rancid fairly quickly, but the boil in bag variety has a use-by-date of, um, two years from now. ;)

Update: 141 mg/dl. Better, but not great.

Comments

[kateshort.livejournal.com]

I've found that brown rice has a slightly nuttier flavor and a different sort of texture. (I'm using Minute Rice in either case, whereas I'm assuming you may be using Uncle Ben's, so there may be other differences).

You could definitely have 3/4 of the rice as one meal, and save the other half-serving portion as a side dish with some chicken and green beans the next day. :)

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

I'm using a store brand, which I think is Success Rice in a generic box, based on the style of bag. But it's been years since I did the whole "try all the brands" thing, so for all I know the bag style has been adopted by other brands.

[foomf.livejournal.com]

Rice, white rice, is the same thing in terms of starch that potato is, and is only slightly worse than bleached white wheat flour.

Amaranth, while tasty, is also a high available carb food.

Brown rice, purple rice, jasmine rice, all much better for me (all whole grain versions) but I still have to make sure they're not too much at once.

Boxed space food things are often "seasoned" with high fructose corn syrup powder and that will bump the glucose availability right on up there. Might chect the seasoning and spice paks.

[5eh.livejournal.com]

Boxed space food things are often "seasoned" with high fructose corn syrup powder and that will bump the glucose availability right on up there. Might chect the seasoning and spice paks.

foomf is very right on this one. Sadly it is generally better to make your own seasonings and sauces. OOhOOh, I don't know if you do frozen meals, but seriously, the Lean Cuisine Spa Something Somethings are awesome. I really love the lemongrass chicken.

Don't forget to add nuts to your diet...heh. I make sure I eat almonds (higher in fiber) usually coated in wasabi ;-)

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

I do microwave pasta stuff, but I do check the nutritional info on everything I buy. :) Nut-wise, I tend to go with sunflower nuts, peanutbutter and the occasional cashews.

[palintheist.livejournal.com]

I don't know about dietary requirements... but brown rice needs a little "undercooking" compared to white rice, at least in my machine.

Can you try wild rice, or would it not be good for you? It has a nice flavour and there are some excellent organic mixed varieties [shamefully, I know this because I feed it to my parrot - not because I'm a feverish consumer of healthy things myself].

[foomf.livejournal.com]

Wild rice isn't a whole grain. It's not precisely rice - it's a different grass seed. It's about the same carb-wise as rice, and it's a fairly quick carb. (Check out glycemic index.)

Basically, for diabetics*, grain should be whole grain (quinoa isn't a grain, and it does have to be cleaned to be safe to eat) so the fiber will offset the tendency of starch to be very quickly taken up into the system. Organic is irrelevant to the glycemic index; pesticides and fertilizer trace residues, if any, don't affect how the gut absorbs sugars.

*and according to the ADA, everyone should follow a diabetic diet. Yeah, that's going to happen any day now.

[palintheist.livejournal.com]

I suggest organic for reasons aside from the diabetic diet - I bring it in for the animals as a matter of course [they're smaller and could show the cumulative effects faster], so it just automagically gets added to any grain selections I might choose. There are also several good organic grain mixes, but I don't know anything about their carb loads...

And I suggest wild rice just for flavour difference - it is quite different from white rice.

But it sounds like the diabetic diet prevents, so I'll wander off now...

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Nah, my diet isn't so worried about carb speed, just carb amount. I was a bit disappointed to find out that sugar alcohols (used in many sugar free products) still count as carbs for me (albeit at only about 2/3 the rate). Basically, my medical professionals are of the school that it's the long-term levels that are important, not so much the spikes. My mom's people, on the other hand, are all about the low fat diet instead, which caused interesting results when I was visiting in May. ;)

Anyway, as stated above, I don't really taste the rice, it's more a substrate and texture (texture is actually pretty important to me, it's a big reason I don't eat a proper amount of fruits and vegetables...hate the mouthfeel).

[palintheist.livejournal.com]

Slightly undercooking it prevents it from having that sticky gluey texture, and if you're adding something "hot" to it, it can further cook it - so rice done to a turn will cook a little further and end up less than palatable.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Yep. Although this stuff is precooked and just being rehydrated/heated, so I may not have as much control as I would over fresh. My mom always overcooked rice when I was a kid, which is why I hated it until I got to college and discovered it was one of the few foods that cafeteria-style prep treated well. :) I may have to break down and get a rice cooker, though, if I really want to exercise proper portion and prep control.

[palintheist.livejournal.com]

Consider getting a steamer instead - more versatile and allows you to cook meat and veggies in it as well as rice. Mine has three levels, so I can do rice, chicken, and vegetables all at the same time - relatively small counter footprint, too. :)

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Just got a rice cooker with steamer tray. Gonna try it first with white rice, since that's supposedly a little more forgiving. :)