Type of Rice

There are at least a dozen different types of rice to choose from at the grocery store: long-grain, short-grain, white, brown, basmati, instant or converted.

The different types of rice include the following:
- Short-grain rice is very starchy and cooks up soft and sticky. It’s used in things like sushi, paella, and risotto.

- Long-grain rice contains less starch so the cooked grains are drier and more separate. It’s often used in pilafs or dishes with a lot of sauce.

- Jasmine and basmati are long-grain varieties that have been cultivated to bring out distinctive flavor profiles. They often turn up in Indian and Asian food.

- Brown rice—which is also available in long and short grains—is a lot chewier and heartier than white rice and takes about twice as long to cook.

You can also buy instant or converted rice. Both have been partially cooked and then dehydrated. If you’re using a pre-processed rice, it’s important to follow the preparation instructions on the package.

Nutritional Differences in Rice:
Brown rice is a whole grain, meaning that both the germ and the bran parts of the grain have been preserved. In white rice, these have been polished away. As a result, brown rice is higher in magnesium and other minerals. It also has more fiber. For example, a cup of white long-grain rice contains just one gram of fiber, whereas a cup of brown rice contains four. As a point of reference, you’re shooting for between 25 and 30 grams of fiber each day.

One of the things fiber does for you is slow down the speed at which carbohydrates are converted into blood sugar.

There are fairly big differences between the various kinds of rice in terms of cooking times and the texture of the cooked rice. So, if you are cooking from a recipe, it’s important to pay attention to what kind of rice the recipe calls for. Substituting a different kind of rice can really change how a recipe comes out—not always in a good way.

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Common mistakes while plannig a diet

Poeple diet like crazy but they are still not losing any weight. There are some diet-related mistakes you could be making. When you diet, you may fail to take into account some hidden calories you consume. At other times, you do not stick to your plan completely. Here are some basic dieting mistakes.

Eating too Fast
In today's hectic world, a leisurely lunch is a luxury. If you are at work, you may need to have a quick lunch so you can get back to that important project. At home, lunch is squeezed in between picking up your children from school, dropping them off at their classes, and running to the market to buy groceries.

Eating too quickly can wreck havoc in a diet plan. When you eat fast, you do not spend sufficient time chewing your food. This delays the signals to your brain that indicate you are full. The delayed signals increase the chances of you overeating. In addition, when you eat quickly, you are more likely to feel hungry faster than if you had taken the time to chew your food properly.

Missing Meals
People often believe that if they skip meals, they will lose more weight. This misconception is the number one cause of gaining weight while dieting. If you miss a meal, you feel hungrier. To make up for what you have missed, you tend to snack on unhealthy food or eat a little extra at other mealtimes. This increases the amount of calories you consume.

Skipping meals also affects your body's metabolism. When you do not eat, your body goes into starvation mode. A large percentage of the food you consume is stored as fat, because your body does not know when it will get food again. This fat adds to your weight.

Liquid Calories
When you diet, you not only monitor your food intake but also your consumption of liquids. Water is the only non-calorific drink. Any other liquids you consume will contain some calories. A can of cola contains 150 calories while a cup of tea can go up to 120 calories depending on the amount of sugar you put in it. Fruit juices, milk, smoothies etc. also contain many calories.

If you consume a large amount of liquids besides water, you fail to account for these hidden calories. There is no point in having a small lunch if you are going to keep drinking sweetened tea throughout the day.

Use of healthy food
Many people subconsciously add fattening items to their diet without realising it. For example, a salad is healthy as long as it is not overloaded with a high calorie dressing. Similarly, the calorific value of a whole wheat bread sandwich increases if you add rich mayonnaise or a creamy cheese spread to it. Most salad dressings and dips have a large oil and saturated fat content. These substances do not only make you gain weight but also are among the leading causes of heart disease.

You may often make mistakes while dieting. Do not lose heart. By identifying these mistakes, you can find solutions to them and truly achieve your weight-loss goals.