Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm losing weight fast. I never thought it would be this easy. Every meal I'm eating white rice with or without chicken and vegetables. 1 gram of white rice is 1 calorie. 100g of white rice is quite a big plate. Basically rice takes up more space on a plate, for its weight, than the equivalent for many carbs. It's also really easy to digest.
Ever wondered why so many Thai, Indian, Chinese people are thin? It's because they're eating more white rice than bread, pasta and potatoes.
1g of the healthiest bread, a sourdough, contains 3g of calories.
1g of spaghetti contains 2g of calories.
1g of potato contains only 1g of calories but potatoes are hard to digest.
But even better than the weight loss is I feel less stressed and anxious. Ever noticed a lot of Thai people seem laidback? Maybe it's the white rice. Note: Brown rice is harder to digest because it contains anti-nutrients that evolved in the rice grain to protect itself from being eaten by predators. White rice is brown rice that has had its husk, bran and germ removed.
Most athletes eat white rice as it's great fuel for physical activity.
If you put a piece of bread on a plate weighing 100g it won't fill your plate much at all. 100g of white rice will. And while 100g of pasta will fill a plate it won't digest as easily as white rice.
How is it that some Indians are able to run along pulling a rickshaw with their hands, no horse, no car, pulling people along in it? Could it be the white rice?
Well, I am actually in one of the locations you mention. Overall, I agree with your idea from my own experience; but we differ a bit.
I lost about 15 kilos over the space of about 3 years, eating wholegrain rice, or white & wholegrain mixed. And I wasn't massively overweight before. I also like wholemeal spaghetti and noodles. My diet has been mostly local (very spicy) food and rice for decades. I still eat wholemeal bread, as well. I eat lots of veg grown in our own garden, plus various forms of tofu. I still eat some meat. Quite a lot of dairy products and eggs. Things like cheese, beer, butter and margarine I have mostly given up on, but reserve the right to enjoy them for pleasure occasionally. I personally think the best thing to do is drop fast food and soft drink. No cakes, crackers and biscuits, usually. I tend to avoid chicken cos locally it is often full of things like growth promoters and antibiotics. Beef is difficult to digest in a hot climate. Farmed shrimp gives me allergies, and is also stuffed with antibiotics etc. I like locally-grown potatoes but mostly avoid them now. I avoid sugar added to food and drinks, and much prefer fruit without sugar scattered over it. I love sour fruit. I hear that there is some research now going on into the role chilli peppers seem to play in staving off such things as deep vein thrombosis. It's less prevalent in this region. Avoid monosodium glutamate and salty cooking condiments. I prefer to add limes, rice vinegar, pineapple vinegar or even cider vinegar anyway.
As to my family here, they have also got the wholegrain rice habit. Like me, they now find it more filling, tastier and easy on the digestive tract. And we buy it direct from local farmers at market basically. In supermarkets, it tends to be a bit expensive, but there is an increasing trend for local people to buy it anyway. Traditionally, it was fed mostly to farm animals and prisoners, but people began to notice that those two managed on it rather well. It was looked down on before, but that is changing.
But actually, overweight is an increasing problem here, and it's definitely related to fast-food, snacks, candy, too much sugar in food and over-sweetened drinks; and abandoning traditional foods. And more sedentary lifestyles. (Rickshaw pulling is probably now more common in the UK than it it is here. ;-) I also wouldn't use the expression laidback here much these days. So-called 'development' is really quite a mixed blessing, both here and in the UK.
As to your idea about wholegrains having some natural insecticides, there might be something in that, but perhaps all it does to a human consumer is keep the stool somewhat looser, which seems to be something that locals think is good for them. In any case, you will always find some insects on wholegrains bought off low-chemical use farms. That just tends to indicate that it is highly edible. And the quickest way to remove the insects is to put it out on a tray to dry in the abundant sun.
That's a shame the people are getting heavier with fast food and sugar drunks. Hopefully they'll resist becoming like America. Sounds like you have a pretty good eating system. I agree with avoiding salty things where possible. The limes or vinegar will give you acidity which is a good layer of flavour to have.