Microwave rice

Shicky

Shicky

Shicky

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Is this any good?

I've been using this lately for convenience but have generally never seen anything you microwave as good nutrition. Ingredients wise I dont see anything nasty other than added sugar? But still as someone who trains I prefer the whole foods route....which I dont think microwave rice quite qualifies as
 
any thoughts on this from the gym rats out there?

Most nutrition talks i've been to have cursed anything microwave related. However this is hardly a microwave tikka masala from tescos or something. Its just some uncle bens rice and I dont see any additives or anything going into it. And those that have cursed microwaves havent really produced any evidence - they just say there is more cancer these days or something equally scaremongering
 
The worst ingredient in it is probably rice to be honest, doesn't really serve any nutritional purpose unless you're aiming to put on weight (read: fat) or need a big source of energy for something taxing. I'd take tesco microwave tikka masala over it any day, at least there's probably some protein and fat in it.
 
I believe a decent source of complex carbs is part of a good and balanced diet. I eat the rice with good meat or fish therefore making it a much better meal than the likes of a tesco microwave meal which will likely use white rice, poor quality meat and a sauce filled with horrid amounts of sugars, trans fats and additives.

What I am concerned with if theres anything people perceive as bad going in these microwave rice packs? They are fantastic for convenience as when I do a big batch of rice I cook myself - it of course requires time and more prep and if I eat it days later the rice becomes dry. This dryness is of course not an issue with microwave rice packets.
 
In that case I wouldn't really worry about the fact that it's a microwaveable packet. But you should bear in mind that white rice is one of the worst carb sources around and should try to be avoided on the whole.
 
A bit of info on rice - just in case you're interested :)

Brown rice is by far the most nutritional rice form available, so if you have a choice go for that instead! Owing to the severe milling and polishing process (i.e. refinement/processing), white rice is often devoid of practically all it's vitamins and nutrients.

For a while now, a lot of effort has been made to increase Asians' health by encouraging them to consume unmilled/unprocessed rice. Unfortunately, the population generally prefers white rice to brown. As a result, general malnutrition and beriberi are still very common in those regions. Another plan was to enrich white rice with the lost vitamins and minerals. However, owing to the expense and practicality of doing this, eating brown rice still makes better sense (and is healthier).

Why? Well, for a start, brown rice is a quality source of the vitamin B1, B2, B3, and B6. Other minerals include manganese, iron, selenium, magnesium - all vital metals for a healthy diet. Additionally, (and quite important for those interested in low GI/Protein sources) it actually includes a good supply of protein and something called "gammaoryzanol" (I had to look up how that was written! :p). It's an extract of rice bran oil - it's been used to address digestive, menopausal, and cholesterol problems. Hence why people say eating brown rice can lower cholesterol. Also, it has been shown to exert growth promoting properties as well (not sure if it's related to GH releases or not though).

If you compare it to wholemeal/wholewheat, brown rice is actually quite nutritious, in terms of calories, nutrients etc... Wholewheat/wholemeal, does have a greater protein content (by about 3%) as well as fibre (by about 7%), but in terms of quality, brown rice has a better protein/EAA profile - i.e. a more complete protein.

Just some food for thought.

As for cooking it in the microwave, you do have the potential of destroying some of the benefits in the rice (transforming/breaking down protein strings) owing to the high energy transmitted by uwave radiation - however, I'm not a microbiologist and cannot quantify that. For the effort of steaming/boiling the rice, and the fact I don't own a microwave, I'd still choose to do it the "old" fashioned way.


Not really helpful in answering your question but thought I'd add it in there. :)
 
Yeah I am aware white rice should be avoided like the plague and have done so, I promise :)

Sounds retarded but I thought wholegrain and brown rice were the same thing...woops! Though seems if you stick with either of these you cant go wrong. I eat the wholegrain version of these microwave packets - I say this like its a common thing, i've had 3 in my lifetime when I havent been able to spend time cooking. and wholegrain rice takes a bloody age, should perhaps invest in a rice cooker.

My main concern was simply random nastys going into this product which nullify the benefits of eating wholegrain rice or if it couldn't be real wholegrain rice and some random version to allow for the speedy cooking.

Thanks for all the information
 
I can't quantify exactly if it will nullify the nutritional benefits, but I certainly know that some foods do lose some of their nutritional benefits when microwaving them - eggs being one of them. How much rice will be affected I honestly cannot answer, sorry!
 
When i'm at work and don't have any pre-cooked rice or pasta, i use the Tilda Brown rice packs.

I recently discovered the Tilda brown rice with Roasted Peppers and Courgettes and it goes very well with dry tuna and/or chicken.

Makes me strong like bull for a post work gym session!
 
Freefaller said:
I can't quantify exactly if it will nullify the nutritional benefits, but I certainly know that some foods do lose some of their nutritional benefits when microwaving them - eggs being one of them. How much rice will be affected I honestly cannot answer, sorry!
Click to expand...

No worries at all dude, thanks for the info you posted earlier. I suppose its one of those things where no one can truly know the answer until further studies are done
 
Freefaller said:
A bit of info on rice - just in case you're interested :)

Brown rice is by far the most nutritional rice form available, so if you have a choice go for that instead! Owing to the severe milling and polishing process (i.e. refinement/processing), white rice is often devoid of practically all it's vitamins and nutrients.

For a while now, a lot of effort has been made to increase Asians' health by encouraging them to consume unmilled/unprocessed rice. Unfortunately, the population generally prefers white rice to brown. As a result, general malnutrition and beriberi are still very common in those regions. Another plan was to enrich white rice with the lost vitamins and minerals. However, owing to the expense and practicality of doing this, eating brown rice still makes better sense (and is healthier).

Why? Well, for a start, brown rice is a quality source of the vitamin B1, B2, B3, and B6. Other minerals include manganese, iron, selenium, magnesium - all vital metals for a healthy diet. Additionally, (and quite important for those interested in low GI/Protein sources) it actually includes a good supply of protein and something called "gammaoryzanol" (I had to look up how that was written! :p). It's an extract of rice bran oil - it's been used to address digestive, menopausal, and cholesterol problems. Hence why people say eating brown rice can lower cholesterol. Also, it has been shown to exert growth promoting properties as well (not sure if it's related to GH releases or not though).

If you compare it to wholemeal/wholewheat, brown rice is actually quite nutritious, in terms of calories, nutrients etc... Wholewheat/wholemeal, does have a greater protein content (by about 3%) as well as fibre (by about 7%), but in terms of quality, brown rice has a better protein/EAA profile - i.e. a more complete protein.

Just some food for thought.

As for cooking it in the microwave, you do have the potential of destroying some of the benefits in the rice (transforming/breaking down protein strings) owing to the high energy transmitted by uwave radiation - however, I'm not a microbiologist and cannot quantify that. For the effort of steaming/boiling the rice, and the fact I don't own a microwave, I'd still choose to do it the "old" fashioned way.


Not really helpful in answering your question but thought I'd add it in there. :)
Click to expand...

I have both brown and white, white is easier to cook and more tasty/fluffy but add some soy sauce to brown and its just as good.
 
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