by Alexis Whaley

Created on: July 04, 2008

Brown rice is far better than white rice in the quest to lose weight. Why? Because brown rice has more fiber, fiber has fewer calories and little sugar, and fiber makes you feel fuller so you can eat less more easily.

White rice is brown rice with the bran removed. The bran contains most of the fiber and nutrition, such as vitamins, minerals, and bran oil, of the rice. Fiber creates bulk and has fewer calories than processed food. Leaving the bran in makes the brown rice whole-grain. Adding whole-grains to your diet results in fewer calories, but more bulk, which fills you up.

When starting to lose weight, one of the first things people do is to learn about healthy foods and to track what they currently eat. Many people are surprised to realize how much processed food they eat. It is convenient, tasty, and often cheaper. It is very easy to get, from vending machines at work to drive-thrus to much of what's sold in grocery stores. The more processing a food goes through, the finer its texture will be (for example, brown sugar compared to white sugar), and, in the case of prepared food such as cookies, crackers, and bread, sugar, salt, fat, and preservatives are added to improve flavor and make it last longer. These foods have lower nutritional values and higher calories than unprocessed food, and the extra sugar, salt, and fat can actually increase cravings for more.

If you can replace processed food with high fiber food, it will get easier to lose weight. Cravings will be diminished and the fiber is absorbed gradually, avoiding sugar level spikes. And if you feel fuller throughout the day it will be easier to stick to your meal plan. Other high fiber foods are fresh uncooked fruits, vegetables and nuts. Steaming vegetables instead of boiling them preserves more of the fiber. Beans and other whole grains, such as oatmeal, whole-wheat flour, sprouted grains, amaranth, barley, corn and quinoa, are also high in fiber (for even more, check out http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/w hole-grains-a-to-z). Lettuce, celery and broccoli are mostly fiber and water. Salads (with a little dressing) are a great way to get fiber. And the good news is, popcorn is high fiber!

Be careful not to overdo the fiber, however. When first losing weight, it's tempting to eat a ton of fiber so that you don't feel hungry. But too much fiber can lead to either of these two uncomfortable reactions: constipation or diarrhea. Add fiber gradually and keep everything in moderation as you make changes. Losing weight will not happen overnight, give your body time to adjust. And you will even see health benefits from the additional fiber as well.

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