Carbohydrate

The most important thing rice has to give us is starch. A grain of rice, whether brown or polished, is about 80 per cent starch. Food writers love to point out that milling and polishing remove the bran and outer layers, and with them much of the dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. This is true, but it is no reason to avoid white rice, which is healthy and nutritious in its own right; its deficiencies are amply made up for by all the other foods in the average person’s diet – even in the diets of poor people in developing countries. The current UK recommendation is that intrinsic and milk sugars (the sort that don’t attack your teeth) and starch should account for 37 per cent of our daily calorie intake. Starch is good for us, and don’t let anyone put you off it merely because somebody else has eaten too much and got fat.