Ask the Tokyo Dietitian: Is white rice healthy? Plus your nutrition questions answered

Welcome to our new column “Ask a Tokyo Dietitian.” This column provides expert insight on food and nutrition, especially tailored to Japanese life.

Whether you’re looking for tips on how to balance traditional Japanese food with modern dietary needs, want to examine local food labels, or want to learn more about the latest nutritional science, our Registered Dietitians Victoria Lindsay is here to help. Each month, she tackles frequently asked questions, dispels myths, and offers practical advice to support your health and wellness journey.

Have any questions? Let us know in the comments below or email us at tokyodietitian@japantoday.com. Your question may be featured in a future article.

Question: Hello! Since I am visiting Japan, I would like to try local cuisine including sushi. However, I’m not really interested in raw fish. Do you have any suggestions or things to try instead?

Tokyo dietitian: Hello and welcome to Japan! There are so many delicious dishes I’d like to try while here, but I can understand your curiosity and hesitation about sushi.

Most people who are wondering whether to try sushi fall into at least one of three main categories:

1. Those who may not like the texture of raw fish
2. People who don’t like the taste of raw fish
3. People who are not very interested in seafood

Thankfully, people who fall into each of these groups have options. If any of these categories apply to you, feel free to try these tips when traveling and eating in Japan.

If you don’t like the slimy, sometimes slimy texture of raw fish, you may want to try fully cooked seafood dishes instead.

Japan is famous for its wide variety of fresh seafood. Although sushi receives all the honors, my favorite Japanese dishes include perfectly cooked fish. try pot Japanese-style hotpot with vegetables and seafood, Bowl (Rice bowl) Fish, shrimp Tempura (battered and fried shrimp), add seafood, Okonomiyaki (Japanese-style pancakes) and grilled fish dishes using cod and salmon.

You may also consider another option Aburi sushi. The top of seafood used for sushi is lightly seared with a torch. This changes the taste and texture of the sushi slightly and may make it more palatable for those who are new to eating raw fish.

It turns out that for people who don’t like the taste of raw fish, fish with a milder flavor that doesn’t have that “fishy smell” may be preferable. Examples include certain types of seafood such as cod, sea bream, tuna, scallops and crab.

Finally, if you’re not sure if you really like seafood, we recommend experimenting with mixed dishes that balance the flavor of seafood with other flavors, such as soups, stews, and stir-fries.

Another option is to eat foods that contain seaweed. Onigiri (Onigiri) Some people say that because of the seaweed, it doesn’t have a fishy smell and has a mild seafood taste.

Both brown and white rice can be part of a healthy diet when balanced with other foods. Image: Shige Hattori/PIXTA

Q: I live in Japan, and like many other people living in Japan, I eat a lot of white rice. However, I’ve heard that it’s important to eat more whole grains, so should I switch to brown rice? Is white rice bad for your health?

TD: That’s right, it’s the debate between white rice and brown rice. I wish there was a simple answer as to which one is better, but the truth is more nuanced, so let’s unpack this.

Before we get into it, let me just remind you that rice, especially white rice, is an important cultural food in Japan and many other parts of the world. I feel strongly that culturally meaningful foods are important to a balanced diet. So if you love rice and it’s something that’s important to you, I would never recommend giving it up.

Moreover, we can quickly state that (generally speaking) white rice is not bad for you. Which is healthier? As with many things in the world of nutrition, the answer is “it depends.”

There are some advantages and disadvantages when it comes to white rice and brown rice.

The main factor contributing to many of brown rice’s benefits lies in the fact that brown rice is rice in its natural form. This means that brown rice has not been refined and the bran and germ have not been removed like white rice does. For this reason, brown rice contains more fiber, vitamins, and minerals than white rice. However, the amounts of these micronutrients in brown rice are certainly small and may not have much of an impact when considering your overall diet.

Another benefit of brown rice is related to glycemic index scores. The glycemic index is a scoring system that ranks foods based on how well they raise blood sugar levels. White rice has a higher glycemic index score than brown rice, which means that white rice raises blood sugar levels faster than the same amount of brown rice, which can lead to higher blood sugar levels.

But before you give up brown rice, consider the following: Since brown rice is not refined, brown rice may contain more good ingredients, but it may also contain bad ingredients.

A growing concern in the food industry is the amount of arsenic and heavy metals in rice due to environmental contamination. Contained in brown rice more It has less arsenic and heavy metals than white rice. Although it is safe to eat, people who eat large amounts of brown rice or foods made with brown rice flour may want to be careful.

With this in mind (and excluding certain health conditions that require a choice between the two), I encourage my patients to think about their rice intake a little differently. Instead of fighting over one rice versus the other, if they accept it, why not increase the variety in their diet by eating both? Instead, they strongly prefer white rice. If so, that’s fine.

Perhaps the better question to ask is not whether you should eat white rice, but whether you are eating the optimal amount for your nutritional needs. Because white rice is cheap and easy to make, you may end up eating more of it, crowding out other important foods like fruits, vegetables, and high-protein foods. If you are unsure of the optimal balance of rice and other foods, please consult a registered dietitian.

Victoria Lindsay, MD, is a registered dietitian and nutritional consultant at Tokyo Medical & Surgical Clinic and a private practice based in Tokyo. To contact us, please go here: www.victorialindsayrd.com.

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