Up until a few years ago, it was only possible to buy one or two types of rice in the supermarket – usually long grain and short grain, and perhaps brown rice, if you were lucky. But nowadays there’s a much bigger range of rice available, from basmati to wild rice and jasmine rice to wholegrain rice.
Let’s take a look at the nutritional value of some of the most popular types of rice available.
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From the table above, you can see that most of the types of rice have similar calorie and protein contents. All contain less than 3g of fat per 100g, so they can be described legally as “low fat”. The big difference is in the fibre content of the various types of rice.
The wholegrain rice comes out on top with its fibre content, making it a good source of fibre and a good choice considering approximately 4 out of 5 Irish adults need to boost their fibre intakes. It’s a good idea to compare the fibre content of carbohydrate-containing foods, such as bread, rice and breakfast cereal and choose those that are higher in fibre.
The wholegrain rice here is the best choice, with the long grain and wild rice the second best choice. If you are using white rice, try to choose basmati rice as it has a lower GI value than long grain white rice. Low GI foods take longer to digest, helping you to maintain even blood sugar levels between meals and filling you up for longer. |
