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Rice is a must-have grain in South Asia and East Asia, but it has gained popularity in other cultures in recent years as well. Unfortunately, this popular grain has been subject to a lot of controversy regarding its role in our diet. To clear things up a bit, here are four myths about rice and a closer look at their authenticity.

Gluten in Rice

Some people somewhere had it in their minds that rice has gluten and ever since it has become a myth that deters people with gluten-intolerance from eating it. In truth, however, rice in its natural form is completely gluten-free. This includes all species of rice like white rice, basmati rice, red rice, black rice, jasmine rice, sprouted rice, brown rice and even sweet rice, aka, glutinous rice.

Rice Makes You Fat

Rice is not rich in fat, but it’s very high in carbs, and while that’s great for generating the energy you need to go about your day, it can also make you gain weight fast if the energy is not utilized and the glucose gets turned into fat for storage. If you are on an ultra-low-calorie program like the HCG diet, rice may not be allowed. However, a lot depends on how much rice you are having and the strain of the grain as well. Check out this HCG diet rice article for more details on this. Overall, though, rice can make you fat and, therefore, this point isn’t entirely a myth after all.

Rice Doesn’t Have Protein in It

Rice may not be the best source of protein since it has a very high carb content, but that doesn’t mean the grain doesn’t have any protein in it at all. In fact, protein is the second highest nutrient in all strains of rice, after carbohydrates. Every 100 grams of white rice has about 3.2 grams of protein in it. It’s true that anyone looking to add more protein to their diet with grains would do better with amaranth, barley or buckwheat, but rice isn’t totally lacking in protein either.

Rice and Diabetes is a Bad Combo

This one falls into the category of “almost true” really. There is no doubt that white rice will boost your blood glucose levels pretty fast, so in that sense, diabetics would do better by avoiding rice. However, the same isn’t true for brown rice though. Nevertheless, the idea is to replace white rice with brown rice and reduce your overall intake significantly if you have diabetes. In conclusion, it can be said that there’s credence to this myth and diabetics do better without too much of the grain in their diet.

Did you know that rice is actually good for people who suffer from hypertension? As it happens, brown rice beats white rice even here as it’s the better choice for people with high blood pressure. The takeaway from all this is that if rice is a part of your regular diet, you should probably switch to brown rice because it’s better than its white counterpart in almost every way.