Sheldon’s Corner: White rice and why it’s truly for athletes
While looking at diet through the lens of evolution can provide us with a lot of useful clues we can use, sometimes you have to take off those bifocals and look at it through the pair of “shades” that is Exercise Physiology & Sports Nutrition.
An athlete’s diet not only needs to provide baseline essential nutrient needs (essential amino acids, essential fatty acids – can you say animal protein) and micro-nutrients (animal and plant foods). It also needs to provide adequate fuel for intense training.
Now the truth is that once you account for essential nutrient needs, a variety of macro-nutrient amounts and ratios can be used to fuel the body (from low carb/high fat diets to low fat/high carb diets, to a moderate intake of all of the macro-nutrients). There is a lot of individual flexibility within that framework.
Also…it has been found that carbs are conditionally essential for anaerobic athletes and strength trainers, and white rice is the one super carb that all athletes need.
White rice gets a bad reputation because it is processed; however, in the case of competitive athletes, this is the one time where food processing may be beneficial to your health. Brown rice contains phytic acid which causes food allergy symptoms, gastrointestinal distress, and nutrient and mineral mal-absorption. The phytic acid that causes issues with digestion and nutrient absorption is located in the bran of the grain. The bran is removed during the food processing process of white rice which essentially changes that brown rice to white rice [1].
Once the bran is removed, you are left with an easily digestible starchy carbohydrate that can be great for athletes looking to replace glycogen stores post-workout and does not pose the risk of anti-nutrients which can cause intestinal inflammation and slow down recovery. White rice is a risk-free carbohydrate that can help to balance out the insulin and cortisol relationship by boosting glycogen stores without causing allergies, bloating, stomach distress, or other side effects of gluten, wheat, or other carb sources.
So if you are a competitive athlete, try adding in some white rice to your diet and make notes of any positive or negative effects in both your energy levels and your workout performances. If you have major body composition goals, are de-conditioned and/or overweight, white rice may not be the best choice. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, than white rice may be just as bad as cookies and chips; but for athletes with major performance goals and no body composition issues, it may be the golden ticket to strength and performance gains.