Which is better for weight loss - rice or buckwheat: compare calories, benefits and reviews of those losing weight

Porridge

What is healthier and more effective when losing weight?

Rice or buckwheat for weight loss, which is better to use? There is no need to give a definite answer to this question, because everyone has their own food preferences. Some wince at the very smell of buckwheat, while others cannot even look at rice. You should also consider possible contraindications to consuming one of these cereals.

A significant advantage that buckwheat has is that it does not undergo so much processing before it hits store shelves. During processing, rice loses many beneficial properties and elements, which makes it less healthy.

If weight loss is based on a mono-diet, during which a person eats only porridge for 7 days (no longer allowed), buckwheat will also be a leader.

Attention! Rice not only supplies the body with useful substances, but also flushes them out. It may be possible to lose extra pounds on a rice mono-diet, but after it completely different problems may knock on your door. From dizziness to loss of consciousness.

Rice is known for clogging up the stomach. It's not hard to guess what follows. This cannot be said about buckwheat; the fiber it contains, on the contrary, improves intestinal motility. But rice is suitable for those who want to get rid of excess fluid in the body. It is a strong diuretic product, and with its help you can get rid of 1 kilogram of excess fluid per day.

It is worth choosing buckwheat if it is present:

• heartburn;
• rheumatism;
• skin diseases;
• diseases of the thyroid gland, liver, cardiovascular system.

Then the weight loss process will take place without harm to health.

Pregnant women and people with gastrointestinal diseases should avoid rice.

Attention! If you choose a rice diet, you should give preference to brown rice. It has undergone fewer heat treatments and is more useful.

Having weighed all the pros and cons, when choosing a diet you should focus on your own preferences and the absence of contraindications, because surviving a week eating only one type of cereal will not be easy.

Groats

You might find it interesting. On our website you can calculate the calorie content of foods for free, choose a diet from a professional nutritionist, and read weight loss stories from our readers.

Diet severity

And in this regard, both the rice and buckwheat diets are approximately equally difficult. The fact is that you can only eat porridge all day without salt or other additives. Agree that the same porridge for a week gets incredibly boring. But the situation can be mitigated by the fact that you can eat it as much as you like. That is, you most likely will not feel hungry. Moreover, the diet requires frequent meals (every two to three hours).

Miscellaneous

Benefits and harms

What is healthier, rice or buckwheat? Rice is very popular in East Asian countries. Buckwheat, in turn, has a good reputation among the Slavic peoples. Below is information about the benefits and harms of each of these cereals.

Benefits of rice

Brown rice is grains that have been processed with only the hard outer hulls removed. Thanks to this, most of their valuable properties have been preserved, especially the content of vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber. White rice, which in turn has undergone an intensive refining process, is actually the endosperm itself, containing mostly starch.

White rice, unlike brown rice, has a longer shelf life after opening the package. This is due to the fat content, which is higher in less refined grains. Fats oxidize when exposed to air.

This small disadvantage of brown rice is a drop in the ocean compared to the benefits of consuming it. Thanks to its high fiber content and fairly low glycemic index (55), it ensures a longer feeling of fullness. Brown rice is also a storehouse of vitamins and minerals.

It contains mainly phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper and a small amount of iodine. Among the vitamins, it is necessary to mention the B vitamins, especially B1, B3 and B6. White rice, although much poorer in terms of minerals and vitamins, is not without its benefits. First of all, it is easy to digest. Therefore, it is an excellent food for convalescents, as well as for those suffering from catarrh of the intestines.

However, you need to be careful when consuming white rice because its GI is 70. The ideal time to consume it is after finishing your workout. White rice will perfectly restore depleted glycogen stores in the muscles.

An excellent choice is wild rice, which contains 4 times more fiber than white rice. These grains support digestion and speed up metabolism. It has a fairly low GI (35). Basmanti rice has a slightly higher GI (50). Also recommended is jasmine rice, which is rich in potassium and B vitamins. As the name suggests, it tastes similar to jasmine.

This variety is especially recommended for people with hypertension, heart and cardiovascular diseases. Its IG is 60. Parboiled rice is an intermediate option between white and brown rice. Its name refers to the heat treatment to which it is subjected.

As a result, some nutrients are forced out of the shell into the grain. The GI of this rice ranges from 50 to 70. Parboiled rice is an excellent solution for people who do not like brown rice and want to provide the body with nutrients missing from white rice.

The benefits of buckwheat

Buckwheat is a fairly good source of carbohydrates and proteins. Buckwheat protein is better digestible than other grains, has the same nutritional value as legume protein (peas, soybeans) and is rich in the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which the body does not produce.

In addition, buckwheat contains vitamins: B1, B2, PP and a certain amount of minerals, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, nickel, copper, zinc and iodine. In addition, buckwheat is an excellent source of silicon. A lack of silicon in the diet causes heart disease, strokes, varicose veins, bleeding gums, bone and joint diseases, hair loss, brittle nails, and fatigue. In addition, buckwheat contains antioxidants: rutin, quercetin, pelagmin, procyanidin.

Thanks to them, it strengthens blood vessels and increases their tightness. It can also prevent the formation of varicose veins and swelling. Buckwheat has anticoagulant properties. Other benefits of this cereal are slowing down the aging process, supporting the body's immunity, and even regulating hormonal and antibacterial therapy. All thanks to the antioxidant content.

Buckwheat, due to its high fiber content and low GI level, is recommended for people who are on a diet and have diabetes. In addition, this cereal also consists of D-chiro-inositol, a compound that is involved in the proper action of insulin. In addition, it is gluten-free, so it can be consumed by people suffering from celiac disease.

You can buy two types of buckwheat in stores: unroasted and fried. The latter is less valuable because some vitamins are lost during the heating process, but this type of buckwheat has a more pronounced taste.

Rice

Green buckwheat – raw food diet rules!

It is often discussed on thematic forums for proper nutrition of athletes. It is considered a very healthy cereal for athletes, which is recommended for consumption after preliminary complete soaking.

In the sprouted state, green buckwheat is considered an excellent building material for the muscle mass of bodybuilders. In addition, experts say that the taste of the sprouts is excellent; they have a pleasant and delicate taste, so they will appeal to all those with a muscular figure.

Flakes

Reviews of those losing weight

As they say, how many people, so many opinions. Some managed to lose 10 kilograms. I must say that there are many such people. There are also those who managed to lose 1-2 kilograms. It all depends on the characteristics of the body, its reactions to food, the processes of accumulation and breakdown of fats, etc.

Important! You don't need to be on a rice or buckwheat diet for more than a week. Otherwise, the extra pounds may go away, but so will your hair and teeth. In everything you need to know when to stop.

You can use rice or buckwheat for weight loss, following all the recommendations, which will be much more effective and enjoyable. But one should take into account the fact that all diets can end the same way, namely, the return of lost kilograms. And it’s good if they don’t bring “friends” with them. Therefore, you need to change your diet and try to maintain proper nutrition constantly.

What's the best way to cook?

How to cook rice with minimal calories

Sri Lankan researchers have developed a new method of heat treatment of rice. This cooking method, thanks to heat treatment, reduces its calorie content by 50 percent. At the same time, it retains valuable nutritional properties. All you need to do is boil water and add coconut oil (about a teaspoon of oil per half cup of rice).

Then cool the rice and leave it in the refrigerator for about 12 hours. Looks like it, doesn't it? Just what effect does it have on calories and nutritional value? The process described above is an example of a fascinating branch of chemistry - food chemistry. The whole technique is based on the knowledge that not all starches behave the same.

Many starchy foods, such as potatoes and rice, contain varying amounts of resistant starches, depending on how they are cooked. When exposed to temperature, chemical changes occur in them that convert resistant starches into digestible ones.

The researchers tested 8 different ways to cook rice. They used 38 different types of grains grown in Sri Lanka. They found that adding fat, such as coconut oil, before cooking and then cooling the rice changed its chemical composition.

After this, it contains more resistant starches. Oil reacts with starch molecules and changes their structure. On the contrary, the cooling process for 12 hours leads to the formation of hydrogen bonds between amylose molecules, which also leads to the conversion of absorbed starch to resistant starch.

Recommendations for cooking buckwheat during a diet

Also, with this method of preparation, the glycemic index is lower than with conventional preparation. This means that buckwheat will saturate the body with energy, but will not be deposited in fatty tissue.

When cooking buckwheat, like rice, you should avoid salt and other spices. To ensure that eating such porridge is not boring, you should add fresh vegetables, cottage cheese, kefir, eggs, chicken, etc. to it.

Effectiveness for weight correction

Both rice and buckwheat are actively used by those who are watching their figure or want to lose excess weight. If we compare which cereal is better for weight loss, it turns out that they give almost the same results.

By strictly following all the rules for preparing dietary dishes with these cereals, you can lose from 3 to 5 kg in 3 days. This is due to the fact that both cereals actively remove excess fluid from the body, which is often the main cause of excess weight. In addition, thanks to the carbohydrates they contain, both rice and buckwheat allow you to get enough quickly and not feel hungry for a long time.

It is important that these carbohydrates are not stored as fat “reserves”; most of them are converted into energy, the rest are excreted from the body.

At the same time, according to professional nutritionists, the buckwheat diet will be more effective if the cereal is consumed with kefir. And when using rice cereal, it is worth remembering that the effectiveness of the diet largely depends on the choice of product. The most effective and healthy option is to eat brown rice. In second place in terms of health benefits is steamed rice. But the very popular white polished product has virtually no benefits either for the figure or for the body as a whole.