Rice Cakes – Thought They Were Healthy? Think Twice

Rice cakes are often considered as a healthy snack particularly due to their low calorie content. One rice cake is in fact around 40 calories. However, these 40 calories are pure carbs, with 0g protein and 0g fats.

The problem with rice cakes is that they are made from puffed rice.

“These modern methods of food processing, like puffing, appear to make the starch in foods more readily digested (because of the gelatinization process). A study showed that the ratio of starch digested was significantly higher for the processed forms of rice, corn, and potato compared with the respective cooked foods.“ [1]

This means that our body processes the carbohydrates from puffed rice found in rice cakes faster than it does with cooked rice.

“Faster digestion means faster glycemic response, in return triggering blood sugar spikes that can possibly increase hunger, lead to overeating and increase the risk for diseases related to insulin resistance, like diabetes and heart disease.“ [2]

And the same applies for whole grain rice cakes.

The starch in whole grain rice cakes is similarly altered as a result of the puffing process, meaning the typical 0.7g of fibre per rice cake will not help to slow down the absorption speed of carbs. Thus puffing will essentially turn a complex carb into a simple one, a slow one to a faster one, and a fast one to an even faster one.

So what are the options for the rice cake junkies?

As an alternative to rice cakes we recommend oat cakes. Oat cakes contain whole grain oats which are processed through milling, a process which unlike puffing does not alter the structure of starch. Oat cakes are higher in calories than rice cakes but on the other hand are more nutritious and will have way less impact on your blood sugar, helping you feel fuller for longer.

Furthermore, other than oat cakes you can also opt for a myriad of healthy carbs, many of which are listed here.

To fitness with love,

Martina

References:

[1] International Food Research Journal 21(1): 13-24 (2014): Rice in health and nutrition

[2] Scientific American: Wholegrain Foods Not Always Healthful