The Glycemic Index and Your Bowl of Rice.

Rice is a common source of carbohydrates, especially for us Malaysians and is available in white and brown varieties. The quality of carbs in rice and other foods can be measured by the GI, or glycemic index of foods, which is the assignment of a number between 0 and 100, depending on a food's effect on blood sugar: the higher the number, the more negative the impact on blood sugar levels. If you are diabetic or on a low-GI diet and consume rice, you may want to consider the differences between the GIs of brown rice and white rice.

What defines the Glycemic Index (GI)?
All carbohydrates are not digested by your body at the same rate. A way to measure the digestibility of carbohydrates is by using the GI. This index measures the changes in blood sugar levels after you eat a particular food. Foods that cause large increases in blood sugar levels have a high GI, while those that don’t cause large increases have a low GI.

Typically, foods that contain sugars rapidly boost blood sugar levels and so have a high GI, whereas starchy foods are digested more slowly and tend to have a lower GI. cooked white rice has an average GI of 73 and the average brown rice glycemic index is 68.

-Pros:
Using the glycemic index when choosing foods is a good way to identify how individual foods may have an effect on blood sugar handling. Choosing a diet on the low GI scale overall can decrease blood sugar, insulin response, and inflammation. A decrease in inflammation can decrease the risk of cholesterol and heart disease. A low GI diet can keep you full longer and can be a mechanism for weight management.

-Cons:
While using the glycemic index is a good place to get started with choosing foods there are a few downsides. The glycemic index is the base 50g of carbohydrates, which varies in portion sizes. For instance, a 50g portion of papaya is more than 3 cups and carrots is more than 4 cups, neither is a typical portion size for one sitting.

Another disadvantage to using the GI is the variables that affect the glycemic index – the rating is only for individual foods. As the food ripens or if it is paired with protein or fat it can affect the GI ranking.

The glycemic index can also be misleading if you consider the GI rank to mean that a food is healthy if it is low. For example, pork skins have a low GI rank, however they have no nutritional value to speak of. Just because it’s a low GI rank doesn’t mean it’s healthy.

Glycemic Index of Rice
White rice is the same plant as brown rice, but white rice is actually only the inner part of the rice grain. A milling process removes the indigestible outer hull and the bran, leaving only the starchy white endosperm. Because the milling process removes vitamins from the rice, in Malaysia, most white rice has B vitamins added back into it.

The way rice is processed or cooked can make a difference in its GI. The longer you cook any rice, the higher its GI rating will become, advises Your Diabetes Hub. Converted long-grain white rice has a lower GI than that of brown rice, but short-grain white rice has a higher GI than brown rice, says the American Diabetes Association. Basmati, wild rice and brown rice GIs are listed on the medium GI list (56 to 69). Short-grain white rice is listed as a high-GI food (above 69).

Brown rice is less processed than white rice. The rice grains have the outer hull removed, but the underlying bran and germ layers are left on the grain. The bran layers are what make the rice brown and more nutritious than white rice because the bran contains vitamins, minerals and oils. It also has more fiber than white rice.

Brown rice is sometimes called whole-grain rice and is a better food than white rice because of the additional fiber and nutrients it contains. Since a larger amount of fiber contributes to fullness, you may feel satisfied with a smaller serving of brown rice for a lower GL.