Hello, tender friends!
Rice can be either a superfood or wreck your health. The difference lies in its preparation.
If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know that I had to avoid grains entirely for many years. But now that I’m able to reincorporate small amounts of grains, I wanted to share with you the healthiest way to prepare rice that I’ve discovered!
Yes, I already know that many health experts recommend eating lots of whole grains. I know, I know, entire civilizations have thrived on grains. True. Sorry, but I sometimes get tired of one-sided views.
It’s also true that members of ancient civilizations prepared them in a vastly different way than most Americans do today. I believe that eating grains is one of the things that caused me a lot of health issues. (I fully respect people choosing to eat the diet that makes their body feel best, but I sometimes get tired of people demonizing meat in favor of whole grains).
Rice, like other grains and beans and legumes, contain anti-nutrients if they’re not prepared properly. This means that they will limit the absorption of other nutrients.
I was iron deficient anemic throughout my teens and twenties, and proper grain preparation is something no doctor ever mentioned to me. They simply recommended that I take an iron pill, and while I won’t go into it in this post, that was terrible advice for my body.
I also had several other nutrient deficiencies. I have likely read all the same research as you that claims that anti nutrients don’t cause problems for healthy people eating balanced diets. All I can tell you is that that was not true for me. How I feel about so much “research”:
So, I now prepare rice by fully submerging it in water and soaking it with apple cider vinegar for a minimum of 24 hours. I usually wait until the rice ferments, which can happen in 24 hours but takes up to a few days depending on the temperature in the house.
The water and apple cider vinegar will strip the rice grain of its anti nutrients while simultaneously increasing the production of good bacteria. I know the rice is ready when it has a pleasant foaming at the top that indicates peak fermentation.
Then, and I know this step is controversial, I pour out the water from fermentation. Some people say that it doesn’t matter because the anti-nutrients are deactivated, but I feel the difference if I don’t discard the water.
The grains will be milky even after you rinse them. This is because some of the starches have begun to break down in the mixture of water and apple cider vinegar. This is actually a good thing, because like the fermentation of vegetables, this reduces the carbohydrate count and makes it more digestible for your body.
Am I done? Nope!
I then cook the properly soaked and rinsed rice grains in my famous bone broth! This adds a ton of flavor and nutrition and protein. This soaked rice that is then cooked in meat stock is the base for Cub’s favorite breakfast, which I’ll share next week.
Everyone’s body is different, and there are many people who apparently never have any issues with grains despite the fact that they never soak them. If that’s you, that’s fantastic! I’m truly happy for you. But I do hope in sharing this to bring awareness to problems that unsoaked grains can cause.
Were there anti-nutrients in the Garden of Eden when everything God made was good? I don’t know. I also don’t know if there were weeds or not. This is something I’m genuinely interested in figuring out when time permits.
Ok, that’s all for today. Thank you for stopping by, and thank you to the new friends! I’ll be finishing up my series on self-compassion in Monday’s post. I’ll be releasing Cubs favorite breakfast, and why it makes me a nostalgic for traveling in my early twenties, in Thursday’s post!
Thank you for sharing!
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