Ever live in a Chinese household? If rice is so bad why do so many of the hundreds of millions of people who eat it 2 or even 3 times a day remain skinny and trim (Rice. Not the things that can go with it, not the ways it can be prepared or abused... just rice)? This is such a non-starter I don't even know where to... start.
If I look at an American plate, half-covered with two giant scoops of fried rice, and an entree of Kung Pao chicken, and was told I could remove only one ingredient, I would remove the rice. If only I could remove the rice and give them the sauteed vegetables, they would be full faster and and experience a substantially smaller, slower, glucose spike.
One of my best friends in high school was Chinese. I used to study at his house because his mom's cooking was awesome. Her idea of a serving of rice, and the average American-chinese restaurant's serving of rice are two different things.
Because the typical Chinese household doesn't eat too much food. It's all about portion control and they eat a ton of veggies. Rice is just a side dish to them, and they only eat it once or twice a day.
Also, you need to take into account that the typical Chinese peasant family is out farming or working hard all day. They need a lot of carbs to work that hard. Now that they have a significant population living in large cities and eating "American" fast food, working in office jobs, they are beginning to have a lot of the same health problems (obesity) that we do.
Because Chinese people (at least the skinny+trim ones) have a single, small bowl of rice and eat tons of veggies and then a few pieces of meat.
Not the Amero-Chinese style half-plate of rice with a heaping of fatty meat cut, slathered in some sauce composed of half-salt half-cooking oil, with a few veggies thrown in for "color."
If the problem is fatty meat or oil and salt or other junk people eat with rice then why tell people "Don't eat rice"?
It isn't the rice that's bad, it's the stuff people eat with it yet I repeatedly see people say "don't eat rice" and frankly, I think that's a load of bull. Don't blame rice for bad American eating habits.
The problem isn't rice. If you're asking about optimal nutrition, rice is one of the things to cut out, in addition to processed foods, sodium, sugar (the biggest problem), grains, etc.
While the whole "people did it for ages" argument never works I must admit I'm rather puzzled how one would give up potatoes, rice _and_ bread.
How exactly are they evil? What is so dangerous about carbs? Aren't snacks to blame? In a typical Russian home one of which I grew up it's a loaf a day or more. Italians and French eat even more bread. And as the OO mentioned, Asian nations consume unimaginable amounts of rice.
Yet America remains one of the most overweight nations.
It just seems to me like it's a mosquito bite and you're asking to chop off the arm.
2) the unbelievable number of calories you can get before triggering a satiety signal
3) the social norm of scientifically huge portions. My wife and I have gotten the point of ordering a single entree and splitting it, sometimes we can get away with a single appetizer.
4) Two billion people in Asia do eat a lot of rice. They also do more physical work and probably don't eat as much rice per serving as Americans.
Of all these, the universal problem is only number one, and still only due to the amounts of food. Portion sizes have nothing to do with carbs being evil on their own, and are definitely something one can restrain self on. Anything in large amounts is detrimental.
Why do I drink 2 or even 3 bottles of Dr. Pepper a day and still stay skinny[1]? As always, one little piece of information doesn't tell the story. The fact is, almost all rices have a high glycemic index, thus cause a blood sugar spike, thus produce an insulin response, thus cause fat storage and other problems when you eat too much of it. Rice is about exactly as "bad" for you, physiologically, as white bread.
Obviously, rice can be consumed in moderation, especially in combination with other foods that lower the rate of metabolism.
[1] Cos I work out tons, don't overeat, and have a naturally fast metabolism.
Ever live in a Chinese household? If rice is so bad why do so many of the hundreds of millions of people who eat it 2 or even 3 times a day remain skinny and trim (Rice. Not the things that can go with it, not the ways it can be prepared or abused... just rice)? This is such a non-starter I don't even know where to... start.