All About Rice : Variety, List, Health Benefits, Storage and Where to Buy It

All About Rice : Variety, Health Benefits, Storage and Where to Buy It. Rice is a cereal grain which is the staple food of more than half of the worlds population. Growing up in Southeast Asia. it is part of my meal everyday and even up to now that I already migrated in the United States. It has been a joke among my friends and family members that they will sent me door to door package of rice, but they said that before I went here, rice is everywhere in the United States and 80 percent of rice are locally planted here in the US -- in California, Arkansas and Louisiana mostly. Rice has thousand of varieties -- country specific. It is important to know what kinds of rice you prefer.

Rice can be classify according to color -- white versus brown rice. aroma/flavor, its stickiness or the size of the grain, medium, long or short grained and cooking characteristics.

Rice is the grain seed of the plant Oryza sativa, considered cereal grain -- it is an important staple food which is rich basically in nutrients -- Carbohydrates and other essential nutrients and minerals. It is the grain with the second highest production in the world.

Kind of rice :

• By color -- white or brown-- the brown colored rice grain is more nutritious and the husk - (outer is not removed unlike the white rice). According to the US De[artment of Agriculture, (1) cup of brown rice gives two-thirds of the minimum RDA. Brown rice provides more minerals than the white rice. The FDA recommends that white rice should be enriched as it lacks the other nutrients present in brown rice.
• By size -- medium grained, short grained and long grained
• By aroma or flavor-- Jasmine rice smells good. Not all rice have aroma. The flavor is at times like the smell of popcorn or roasted nuts
• Waxy or sweet rice-- short grain rice which is often sued commercially, plus it is firm and is used in gravy as well.
• Parboiled rice and precooked rice -- steaming the rice before it is milled is parboiled rice and precooked rice are rice (brown or white which is cooked already before milling it

• Great Energy Source as it is rich in Carbohydrates -- it gives the added energy for a person to fulfill our everyday energy needs
• it is good for your heart in general as it is less fat which contributes to the overall cholesterol
• It is good for your stomach as it is a good fiber
• Can prevent cancer as it has antioxidants
• It has the essential nutrients and minerals specially the brown rice
• It regulates sugar in the blood thus good to prevent diabetes (type II)
• A recent study said that it reduce Alzheimer's although this is not proven yet

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Important :

Always eat in moderation, too much rice is bad for your health, supplement rice with other necessary nutrients which we can get from natural foods. Natural foods are always healthy.

• You can buy rice dispenser and this is available in any big supermarkets
• Store the rice in dark, cool locations and safekeep it from rats
• Sealed it properly (Keep the container tightly closed)
• It depends on how many will eat rice, you should buy rice according to the needs, if the store where you buy rice is near then just store the needed amount-- say months

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Where to Buy or Procure rice

• Rice is available anywhere in the world, first you should be sure what type of rice you like, aroma, flavor, how to cook it -- choose between brown or white rice -- brown is advisable and for how long you will use it then you are ready to buy.
• In the US, it is available at stores like WalMart, Sams Club and Asian store. Asian stores are available in every city and different locations in the US, same as in UK, Australia and Canada, you can buy it at big supermarkets, usually by kilos in a rice sack.
• You can also buy rice at amazon.com and you can choose from Basmati or Jasmine and lots more