Fun-filled, traumatic, joyous, troublesome, boring, cruel, pleasing, satisfying, challenging, tempting, misleading - yes Life is full of 'em - that is why life is so very SPECIAL - and yet the thrill is in "living" life! And all the accompanying ordeals are the frills attached with the thrills.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Why blame it on rice?

I could never understand the fuss being made over rice in favour of wheat by those diet conscious people. How often I have come across these statements - "I have stopped taking rice completely", "Consuming rice makes you put on weight", "The carb content in rice accumulates as fat". I have only one statement to make on these comments - WHAT CRAP!

Being a rice lover I am (a typical south-Indian huh?), I am never able to accept these baseless facts. I can never imagine a day without a rice meal (ooof, thank God!!) - I even wouldn't mind having rice for breakfast, rice for lunch and rice for dinner. I feel rice is one the simplest foods (you don't have to have exemplary culinary skills to make a bowl of rice) and yet very wholesome. Rice goes well with almost anything from a rich curry to simple curds or ghee! Would I give up on rice? N E V E R...!!

Now coming to the facts... Fat content wise, rice has zero percent of fat and even in carbohydrate content, wheat and rice weigh the same. So I can't help wondering where did this favouritsm for wheat arise from?

If you notice, those hard-toiling labourers in the south consume rice for all courses and for the kind of sternous work they do - their consumption is also huge but you would'nt find an extra inch of flab on them! Most South Indians have rice atleast for two course meals a day and not all of them are fat and not all wheat-consuming people are 'normal' either.

I strongly believe its necessary for people to exercise for any quantity of intake. It becomes all the more necessary when you have a sedentery lifestyle and/or your choice of food have high fat content. I have seen this on myself - I've never restricted anything but made it point to exercise - *at any cost* and you need to believe that I am able to stay fit without having to tie my tongue!! Ofcourse the amount of exercise would depend on the type of your intake! So next time you think about calling it quits for rice, think again - instead enjoy good, healthy food and exercise!

9 comments:

Ravi said...

Vasanthi, you cannot go 100% by doctors words right? Infact for the same ailment if you were to visit 10 doctors, you are likely to get 10 different treatments. So I am not able to take doctors words for granted.

Viewer said...

Finally I glad to find someone who can join along with me in the "I LOOOOOVVEEE RICE" Club :) yippy :)

Ravi said...

Thanks viewer for dropping by. I am glad I have a supporter for my view!

Indira said...

Ravi, oh, you started your own blog, good for you and welcome.

I think our(particularly South Indians)attitude towards rice and chapati are like our love and interaction with our parents,rice- mother , chapati- father.

Chapati- always polite, can limit the number to 2 or 3.
with rice - toomuch love, can't control, a spoon there with dal, another spoon with rasam and curd, what's going to happen, this is the attitude that is responsible for all problems.
Indira of Mahanandi

Ravi said...

Thanks Indira for dropping by. Yes, as you say, I think it has got more to do with the quantity than rice itself. But whatever said, I would prefer rice anyday ;-) Well Indira, I had a food blog too but removed it as I was not updating it regularly. Hope to start it again some day.

T.Padmhasini said...

Ravi one more thought to add to rice eating.
by common standards of observation the chappati eaters are fatter in larger numbers than the rice eaters.
Indira has got a very valid point on how the rice becomes lethal with so many side dishes to go with it.
Personally for women, in the absense of a cooking help rice is easier to cook than the laborious roti. But somebody gives hot rotis then its a different story altogether!

Ravi said...

Thanks Padmasani madam for coming by. Yes, thatz my point too. Its not the rice which adds to one's waist line but the "accessories" which go along with it. So why blame it on the rice? And your first point is very true :-)

Anonymous said...

I wish I could understand how doing a search for thanksgiving turkey got me to Why blame it on rice?. Not that I mind, you understand Ravi. It's just that I don't think it's exactly what I was looking for :0)

Anonymous said...

Hi Ravi
I never realised that so many blogs would show up if I did a search on something like how to cook cabbage. I'm still not sure how well Why blame it on rice? falls into that category, but I've enjoyed visiting :0) Adios Amigo.