White rice

 

 

 

White rice 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

White rice is the name given to milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavour, texture and appearance of the rice and helps prevent spoilage and extend its storage life. After milling, the rice is polished, resulting in a seed with a bright, white, shiny appearance.

The milling and polishing processes both remove important nutrients. A diet based on unenriched white rice leaves people vulnerable to the neurological disease beriberi, due to a deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B₁). White rice is often enriched with some of the nutrients stripped from it during its processing.^[1] Enrichment of white rice with B₁, B₃, and iron is required by law in the United States,^[2][3] although these nutrients are only a small portion of what has been removed.^{[citation needed]}

At various times, starting in the 19th century, brown rice and wild rice have been advocated as healthier alternatives.^[4] The bran in brown rice contains significant dietary fiber and the germ contains many vitamins and minerals. (See whole grain.)

As with all natural foods, the precise nutritional composition of rice varies slightly depending on the variety, soil conditions, environmental conditions and types of fertilizers.

Typically 100 g of uncooked rice produces around 240–260 g of cooked grains, the difference in weight owing to absorbed cooking water.

The entire wiki link on this subject can be found at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_rice

Poster's comments:

            I often cook with white rice knowing it absorbs the nutrients in the base I cook it in. In my mind, that idea reduces the chance of getting beriberi from just plain white rice and water.

            I like it mostly because of its increased shelf life, which will be important if times get hard. Any food is better than no food.

            I also like it thinking it usually (what I get) is grown in the USA.

            Once in Al Jubal, Saudi Arabia, boiled white rice was all I could get for breakfast, and that made it pretty good in this situation. I even had to stand in line for an hour and a half to get to eat it, too. Now some soy sauce, which I could get, did help the taste (to me), also.