Brown Rice for better health

[Laura]

Chris, get and read "Detoxification and Healing" right away. It's the best book on the topic that we have read so far.

 

[shijing]

I just wanted to report in on my last day of my brown rice fast. I am happy to say that the symptoms I had been experiencing the last two days (especially in the mornings) are gone today -- no more diarrhea, and no headache or muscle aches. I'd like to think that means that these symptoms were a detox reaction and not a reaction to the rice, but I don't know for sure. I'm going to continue the rest of the day, and then will break the fast at dinner tonight when it will have been exactly four days, and will probably just eat greens cooked with garlic, since that has been what I've been craving more than anything else, and then try to reintroduce other foods gradually over the weekend.

 

[shijing]

On the topic of lectins, since it came up recently, there is a Mercola article that was in my inbox this morning:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/16/The-Critical-Role-of-Wheat-in-Human-Disease.aspx

The Critical Role of Wheat in Human Disease

Lectin is a type of 'wheat germ agglutinin' (WGA) and glycoprotein. Through thousands of years of selectively breeding wheat for increasingly larger quantities of protein, the concentration of WGA lectin has increased proportionately.

WGA is largely responsible for many of wheat's pervasive ill effects.

What’s more, WGA is found in highest concentrations in "whole wheat," including its supposedly superior sprouted form.

What is unique about the WGA glycoprotein is that it can do direct damage to the majority of tissues in your body without requiring a specific set of genetic susceptibilities or immune-mediated articulations.

This may explain why chronic inflammatory and degenerative conditions are endemic to wheat-consuming populations.

WGA lectin is an exceptionally tough adversary as it is formed by the same disulfide bonds that make vulcanized rubber and human hair so strong, flexible and durable.

Like man-made pesticides, lectins are extremely small, resistant to breakdown by living systems, and tend to accumulate and become incorporated into tissues where they interfere with normal biological processes.

At exceedingly small concentrations, WGA stimulates the synthesis of pro-inflammatory chemical messengers. WGA induces thymus atrophy in rats. WGA can pass through the blood-brain barrier. It may also interfere with gene expression and disrupt endocrine function.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

I have long been sharing the dangers of eating all types of grains, including even the supposedly healthy whole wheat and sprouted varieties.

Typically, the “danger” is blamed on gluten, a protein most commonly found in wheat, rye and barley. Celiac disease, also more casually referred to as wheat- or gluten intolerance, occurs when your body cannot digest gluten.

The undigested gluten then triggers your immune system to attack the lining of your small intestine, which can cause symptoms like diarrhea or constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain.

Over time, your small intestine becomes increasingly damaged and less able to absorb nutrients such as iron and calcium. This in turn can lead to anemia, osteoporosis and other health problems.

However, this is truly only one problem linked to eating wheat, and may not even be the most serious one. That honor may actually go to wheat lectin.

What is Wheat Lectin?

Lectin is a defense mechanism for the wheat plant, designed to ward of its natural enemies such as fungi and insects. Unfortunately, this protein is also very resistant to breakdown by living systems, and it easily accumulates in tissues where it interferes with normal biological processes and acts as an anti-nutrient.

Typically, sprouting, fermenting or digestion can help to negate some of the harmful effects of such anti-nutrients (as in the case of fermenting soy, which removes many of its anti-nutrient properties). However, lectins are resistant to these types of processes.

For this reason, lectins exist even in “healthy” sprouted breads and may be in their highest concentrations in whole-wheat varieties.

Dr. Del Thiessen explained the dangers very well in the article The Awful Truth About Eating Grains. When you have a few minutes, I suggest reading that article in its entirety.

But to put it in a nutshell, Dr. Thiessen writes:

“Lectins, which are proteins that are widespread in the plant kingdom, are recognized as major anti-nutrients of food. Cereal grain lectins are wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). It can interfere with digestive/absorptive activities and can shift the balance in bacterial flora shown to cause problems with normal gut metabolism. The potential to disrupt human health is high.”

The Dangers of Wheat Lectin

What is lectin’s potential to disrupt your health, exactly? Here is a sampling of its dangers, which you can read about more in-depth here:

*Pro-Inflammatory: WGA lectin stimulates the synthesis of pro-inflammatory chemical messangers, even at very small concentrations.

*Immunotoxic: WGA lectin may bind to and activate white blood cells.

*Neurotoxic: WGA lectin can pass through your blood-brain barrier and may attach to the protective coating on your nerves known as the myelin sheath. It is also capable of inhibiting nerve growth factor, which is important for the growth, maintenance, and survival of certain target neurons.

*Cytotoxic (Toxic to cells): WGA lectin may induce programmed cell death.

Further, research shows WGA lectin may even:

*Interfere with gene expression

*Disrupt endocrine function

*Adversely affect gastrointestinal function

*Share similarities with certain viruses

WGA lectin is capable of passing through cell membranes of your intestines, gaining entry into your body. Further, if your mucosal barrier is compromised, for instance from taking certain drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen or due to a viral or bacterial infection, lectin may become even more problematic.

Keep in mind that lectin is not only in wheat. All seeds of the grass family (rice, wheat, spelt, rye, etc.) have high levels of lectin.

Wheat Gluten Can Also Damage Your Health

As I mentioned earlier, celiac disease occurs when your body cannot digest the gluten found in wheat (gluten is also found in rye, barley, oats and spelt).

According to statistics from the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, an average of one out of every 133 otherwise healthy people in the United States suffers from this digestive disease.

Previous studies have found that this number may be as high as 1 in 33 in at-risk populations.

"Gluten" comes from the Latin word for glue, and its adhesive properties hold bread and cake together. But those same properties interfere with the breakdown and absorption of nutrients, including the nutrients from other foods in the same meal.

The result is a glued-together constipating lump in your gut rather than a nutritious, easily digested meal.

The undigested gluten then triggers your immune system to attack the lining of your small intestine, which can cause symptoms like diarrhea or constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain.

Over time, your small intestine becomes increasingly damaged and less able to absorb nutrients such as iron and calcium. This in turn can lead to anemia, osteoporosis and other health problems.

The rapid increase in celiac disease and milder forms of gluten intolerance is no surprise considering the modern Western diet, which consists in large part of grain carbohydrates.

Additionally, modern wheat is very different from the wheat your ancestors ate. The proportion of gluten protein in wheat has increased enormously as a result of hybridization.

Until the 19th century, wheat was also usually mixed with other grains, beans and nuts; pure wheat flour has been milled into refined white flour only during the last 200 years.

The resulting high-gluten, refined grain diet most of you have eaten since infancy was simply not part of the diet of previous generations.

Further complicating matters is that celiac disease often goes undetected for years because symptoms are not always present. And because celiac disease has been considered rare in this country until recently, it often goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome or lactose intolerance.

If you do have celiac disease -- a blood test can let you know for sure -- it is imperative that you do not eat gluten in order to avoid further damage to your health.

Please be aware that gluten can be hidden in many foods including soups, soy sauce, candies, cold cuts, and various low- and no-fat products so you will need to be sure to check the labels before you eat it. Also watch out for malt, starches, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), texturized vegetable protein (TVP) and natural flavoring. Some pharmaceuticals, vinegars and alcohol can also contain gluten.

Should You Give up Grains?

In my experience, about 75-80 percent of ALL people benefit from avoiding grains, even whole sprouted grains. This is true whether you have gluten intolerance or not. This is because, in addition to the problems with anti-nutrients like lectin and proteins like gluten, grains rapidly break down to sugar in your body, which causes elevations in insulin which exacerbate health problems such as:

*Overweight

*High cholesterol

*High blood pressure

*Type 2 diabetes

*Cancer

The only consistent exceptions would be those whose nutritional type is a carb type and you don’t suffer symptoms of intolerance.

If you’re looking for a healthy alternative to wheat flour to use in your cooking, try coconut flour instead.

 

[wanderer]

I completed a 5 day brown rice fast with no serious side effects except excessive mucus. I quit coffee at the same time, but that doesn't cause me any issues at all these days, while in the past I've gone through a week of flu-like withdrawal symptoms. My inflammation went away and I felt good.

When the fast was over I moved on to the detox diet, but I continued to choke on mucus, making it impossible to do the breathing exercises without stopping every few breaths for a coughing jag. Eventually I had to deal with the fact that my body was telling me in no uncertain terms that I had to stop smoking, so I quit. It's hit me hard this time, no cravings but a deep depression that I'm trying to deal with by taking herbs and nutrients (I'm an old hand at this depression business). Today I started using nicotine gum for some additional relief, it seems to help.

On the bright side, in recent weeks I've eliminated sugar (I ate almost none anyway), wheat (a lifelong battle for me, still cheating occasionally at parties, but much less now), dairy, caffeine and alcohol. My blood pressure is normal for the first time in all the years I've been monitoring it and I'm loosing weight rapidly (hopefully not smoking won't bring that to a screeching halt).

I can't imagine being able to do all this without EE. It's more and more becoming the central purpose of my life, and all of the little daily pleasures I'm sacrificing seem insignificant.

 

[abstract]

and all of the little daily pleasures I'm sacrificing seem insignificant.

I know what you mean. It seems the more I shift towards healthy practices, the less I care about the unhealthy.

But I go back and forth between junk food and healthy food, still a ways to go on that.

 

[Laura]

I completed a 5 day brown rice fast with no serious side effects except excessive mucus. I quit coffee at the same time, but that doesn't cause me any issues at all these days, while in the past I've gone through a week of flu-like withdrawal symptoms. My inflammation went away and I felt good.

When the fast was over I moved on to the detox diet, but I continued to choke on mucus, making it impossible to do the breathing exercises without stopping every few breaths for a coughing jag. Eventually I had to deal with the fact that my body was telling me in no uncertain terms that I had to stop smoking, so I quit. It's hit me hard this time, no cravings but a deep depression that I'm trying to deal with by taking herbs and nutrients (I'm an old hand at this depression business). Today I started using nicotine gum for some additional relief, it seems to help.

On the bright side, in recent weeks I've eliminated sugar (I ate almost none anyway), wheat (a lifelong battle for me, still cheating occasionally at parties, but much less now), dairy, caffeine and alcohol. My blood pressure is normal for the first time in all the years I've been monitoring it and I'm loosing weight rapidly (hopefully not smoking won't bring that to a screeching halt).

I can't imagine being able to do all this without EE. It's more and more becoming the central purpose of my life, and all of the little daily pleasures I'm sacrificing seem insignificant.

While it could have been smoking - and if you were able to quit, then it probably was - my guess would be that the mucus was caused more by sugar. Sugar - in ALL forms - is VERY inflammatory. I've been learning this over the past few months via experimentation. Over the holidays, we ate absolutely NOTHING that was not "on the diet" with the exception that we had some sweet things - quite a bit of sugar. That sugar was natural, whole sugar, but it reacted on everyone in the house anyway. It took me a couple of weeks to recover from the inflammation of sugar and I am now being VERY careful. No more pancakes with maple syrup and natural jellies for me for awhile - if ever.

 

[Ollie]

... my guess would be that the mucus was caused more by sugar. Sugar - in ALL forms - is VERY inflammatory. I've been learning this over the past few months via experimentation. Over the holidays, we ate absolutely NOTHING that was not "on the diet" with the exception that we had some sweet things - quite a bit of sugar. That sugar was natural, whole sugar, but it reacted on everyone in the house anyway. It took me a couple of weeks to recover from the inflammation of sugar and I am now being VERY careful. No more pancakes with maple syrup and natural jellies for me for awhile - if ever.

Thank you for that post, I have noticed that an awful lot of recipes, that I've been attempting to convert to G-F etc have a great deal of sugar in them. I too have had mucus return over the holiday period, as well as weight gain, and have been wondering what has caused this, extra carbohydrates or sugar itself. Recently, having experimented different recipes for muesli-type bars containing natural sugar (although small amount) and dried fruit, and getting this reaction, I have been wondering if sugar is needed at all, or if a sugar substitute would work best. You have confirmed that sugar is now out for me. Although I'll experiment with sugar substitutes first.

 

[wanderer]

While it could have been smoking - and if you were able to quit, then it probably was - my guess would be that the mucus was caused more by sugar.

It may have been a combination of both. My smoking habit was unchanged, while I was certainly guilty of grazing on the desert tables a bit at the many holiday parties, eating a lot more sugar than I normally do (almost none). On the other hand, quitting cigs made the problem pretty much go away immediately, though it's taking some time to get cleared out completely. I remember that I have tested positive for allergic reaction to tobacco, but I'm not 100% sure since I wasn't a smoker at the time so it was irrelevant to me then.

Just curious, what's your thinking when you say "and if you were able to quit, then it probably was"?

Sorry to hear you're losing your pancakes :( Food that makes you feel good always seems to end up being bad for you. I hope you can get back to them some day.

 

[abstract]

Sugar - in ALL forms - is VERY inflammatory.

Aha! Those few words have explained quite a bit to me.

Thank you laura, that's even more motivation to get away from sugar. I also found out that sugar makes free-radical levels sky high.

I'm very intruiged to see what my body will do if I just stay away from the freaking soda at work...oy.

 

[Bluestar]

Brown rice and lentils have been a staple in my diet. Also noticed that after eatting rice & lentils I had indigestion which was relieved with a digestive enzyme. Been weening myself towards doing the ultra simple diet. Though I am not a big animal protein lover and beans are very hard for me to digest. So after reading all of the info on lectins & grains I find myself at a loss of what to eat. At present I am reading Ultra Mind Solution by Dr. Hyman and will be saving to purchase the book Laura recommends, Detoxification & Healing. Having to sort all this out is a bit confussing. Thanks for all the info.

 

[Beau]

One thing I found helpful for reducing any indigestion or other digestive issues after eating brown rice and lentils is to soak the brown rice in water overnight before cooking, and with the lentils, to spend 5-10 minutes swishing it in cold water before cooking them. By cleaning the lentils that way, you are releasing a lot of gases that they hold. You'll notice the water turns white when doing this. I usually pour the water out and replace it with fresh water 3 or 4 times while doing this.

 

[Bluestar]

One thing I found helpful for reducing any indigestion or other digestive issues after eating brown rice and lentils is to soak the brown rice in water overnight before cooking, and with the lentils, to spend 5-10 minutes swishing it in cold water before cooking them. By cleaning the lentils that way, you are releasing a lot of gases that they hold. You'll notice the water turns white when doing this. I usually pour the water out and replace it with fresh water 3 or 4 times while doing this.

Thanks, I have been soaking the rice for only about an hour. Will let it soak over night. The lentils I soak for about 1/2 hour, so will soak them longer. Seeing the white foamy stuff, I have been rinsing it off and starting with fresh water. Maybe it has been the rice.?.

 

[Ares]

rice with lentils is the staple food of the south-asian subcontinental people - the trouble is that the rice type consumed seems to have changed from natural(brown/red) to white/processed. Still, the simple recipe of Rice (brown or red preferably) + daal/dal (lentil soup) is very popular, and quite nutritious. This can be further complemented by half boiled vegetables like beans, pok choy, spinach etc. to create a very healthy & really simple everyday diet

i'll add some more details after i get off work :)

 

[Oxajil]

Brown rice...

I've been probably living with white rice for all my years.
And when I started eating healthy (ignoring some sneaky slip-ups here and there) I started to feel bad every time I ate white rice (I've never experienced that in the past years or I haven't paid attention). My stomach starts to bloat and when I took some antioxidant pills with it I felt this cold air inside of me plus feeling nausea. White rice and I had to break up. So that's what I'm going to do, stop eating it. And I know already that it is going to drive my mom crazy. Because white rice is one of the key elements of the Persian cuisine. I never thought I would ever dislike white rice, but I actually do it now, because I saw the effect it has on my body.

(It is going to be difficult when we would visit relatives... because I'm sure it's either going to be a gluten dish or a white rice dish that they'll make for us to eat...)

Perhaps the reason why I start feeling this way towards white rice, is Sensitization
And seeing the info on this forum about white rice, it is no wonder why my body does not like it.

So now I've found a new friend, through this forum, and it's brown rice. To my surprise, it felt a lot more harsh than white rice. And I couldn't find the right sauce or anything to eat with it. I'm pretty picky when it comes to food...
I tried the sauce that my mom makes for white rice, but that was not tasteful with brown rice.
I've tried eating brown rice with nothing on it, but it is really eating with no pleasure at all.

But today! I tried brown rice with my mom's spinach. And it is really really good!

And I will share the recipe soon with you.

Am looking forward to your soup recipe moksha!

 

[Beau]

I cook brown rice in the pressure cooker, and that has actually improved the flavor of it a lot, compared to boiling. Also, in addition to adding salt before cooking I also throw in some turmeric, which also adds a nice flavor to the rice and gives it a yellow, fried rice look. Very tasty! I got that hint out of the Ultra Simple Diet book.