Lo-Carb, High-Carb, Good-Carb, No-Carb?

Finding the Grains of Truth about Rice During National Rice Month

Washington, DC, September 1, 2004 — Rice is the staple that nourishes two-thirds of the world’s population. Nutrition experts say that the ancient cereal grain – whether it’s short-, medium-, or long-grain, white or brown – offers an economical, versatile and tasty way to improve consumers’ health. There’s no better time than National Rice Month to reap rice’s unique blend of nutrients that may help prevent most chronic diseases, like heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers, as well as reducing birth defects and infertility.

In the United States, just six key states produce more than 20 billion pounds of rice or the equivalent of 264 billion half-cup servings of cooked rice. While rice consumption has steadily increased in the United States, Americans currently consume more than 26 pounds of rice per year, about one-tenth of what is generally eaten in Asian nations.

Recently released nutrition recommendations from the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee underscore the importance of carbohydrates from whole foods like whole grain brown rice and enriched white rice for overall health and a healthy weight. The committee’s recommendations, which will eventually be part of the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines, cite the Institute of Medicine recommendation that 45 to 65 percent of daily calories should come from carbohydrates. One of the committee’s major nutrition messages, “Choose carbohydrates wisely for good health” underscores the importance of choosing nutrient-rich complex carbohydrates from whole foods such as rice, pasta and other grains as well as fruits and vegetables. Reducing carbohydrate-rich foods and beverages high in added sugars such as sugar-sweetened beverages is suggested by the committee to improve overall diet quality and for weight control.

Rice packs a powerful nutrition punch.

Despite the importance of carbohydrates, many Americans are still confused about the role that rice, and other nutritious complex carbohydrates, play in their diet.

“Rice and other complex carbohydrates are mood foods,” explains Judith Wurtman, Ph.D., a scientist at the Clinical Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “and without enough of them in the diet, people can get quite cranky.” Wurtman has studied the role of carbohydrates for nearly 20 years and has found that they provide a critical link to regulating the neurotransmitter, serotonin. Serotonin, according to Wurtman, is the brain’s natural appetite suppressant. The brain and nervous system alone need 130 grams of carbohydrate a day to function, which is why the National Academy of Sciences set a minimum requirement for carbohydrates at 130 grams per day.

More than 70 percent of the white rice eaten in the U.S. is enriched, meaning that it is fortified with B-vitamins such as thiamin and folic acid as well as the mineral iron. Folic acid helps protect against a wide variety of conditions, including birth defects and heart disease. Research recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that enriched grains like rice contribute more than 200 micrograms, or over half of

Finding the Grains of Truth about Rice During National Rice Month/add 1

Americans’ total daily folate intake. A half-cup serving of cooked white rice provides over 40 micrograms of folate or 15 percent of the Daily Value of the B-vitamin. Due to the fortification of grains like enriched rice with folate, the Centers for Disease Control has found that the increased consumption of folate has markedly reduced the incidence of heart attack and stroke as well and neural tube defects in newborns.

The nutrient profile of either enriched white or brown rice is excellent. “Rice is a nutritional powerhouse,” says registered dietitian Carolyn O’Neil, M.S., R.D., author of The Dish on Eating Well and Being Fabulous. “Whether it’s white or brown, rice is an excellent choice that has more benefits than most people realize.” The natural, wholesome grain contributes more than 15 vitamins and minerals to the diet, and is especially rich in B-vitamins, potassium, magnesium, iron, selenium (brown) and fiber (brown). “Rice can be a perfect partner to other healthy foods, like vegetables, beans, lean meat, poultry and fish,” adds O’Neil.

Rice is a good choice for weight-conscious consumers.

Despite fad diets that portray carbohydrates as creators of pudginess, rice can help lead the fight against fat. Leading scientists agree that excess calories, not carbohydrates, are the overriding contributors to obesity. The National Weight Control Registry is tracking nearly 3,000 individuals who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for at least a year. The most common diet pattern followed by the successful weight maintainers was carbohydrate-rich and low in fat and calories. And in Asian countries where rice often represents 75 percent of total calories in the diet, obesity rates are among the lowest in the world. A serving of white rice contains only 103 calories and brown rice has 108 calories, making it a great option for calorie-conscious consumers. Rice is also virtually fat free and brown rice has filling fiber to help temper hunger. “There is overwhelming evidence that shows eating nutritious, complex carbohydrate-based foods like rice helps protect against obesity,” adds O’Neil.

In addition to rice’s nutritional attributes, consumers choose rice because of its versatility, taste, ease of preparation, low cost and familiarity in most cultural traditions. What better time to enjoy rice than during September National Rice Month! Visit www.usarice.com for more information about rice nutrition and recipes.

U.S. rice-producing states are Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Missouri. The U.S. rice industry is unique in its ability to produce high-quality varieties of short, medium and long grain rice, as well as aromatic and other specialty rices.

The USA Rice Federation is the national advocate for all segments of the rice industry, conducting programs to build awareness of the many attributes of rice and increasing worldwide demand for U.S. rice.

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Contacts:
Melissa McAllister, Pollock Communications
(212) 941-1414
mmcallister@pollock-pr.com

Anne Banville, USA Rice Federation
(703) 236-1465
abanville@usarice.com