Is Rice Good for Breakfast? [Morning, Nuts & Cornflakes]

I’ve rarely eating rice in the morning mostly as it’s not part of my own western diet but also as I often feel a little bit bloated and low on energy when eating white rice.

So, I wondered whether rice really is a good breakfast option and so I did some research and here’s what I found.

So, read on to discover when the best time to eat rice is, how much rice you should eat, and which is better white rice, brown rice, or black rice.

What’s The Healthiest Way To Eat Rice For Breakfast?

If you love rice and want to eat it for breakfast everyday then it’s a good idea to prepare it in the healthiest way possible.

So, that’s the topic for this section. Here’s exactly how to do that.

According to Monique Tello, a doctor at Harvard Medical School, you want to combine it with fruit, yoghurt, nuts, and grains.

That way you get a mix of different nutrients that you can’t get from rice alone.

These are also the healthiest foods you can eat, according to her.

A good option can be to have half a cup of rice with a sliced banana, some pistachio nuts, and sour yoghurt.

But, the sky’s the limit, and you can choose any fruits, nuts, and seeds that you like. And combine them into your own unique bowl of awesomeness.

Rice is good for breakfast because it’s a seed.

Eating seeds for breakfast is one of the top recommendations from a doctor at the Harvard Medical School.

Doctor’s are not nutritionists, but they network with nutritionists, and do some nutrition training as part of their study.

Recently, there was a big wave of Paleo diet people, ketogenic diet people, and lots of other fads and diets that came and went.

And they can limit what you can eat. In my opinion you want to choose foods for breakfast based on how they make you feel and adjust accordingly.

Everyone’s body is different, and processes food in a different way.

Blood types and the foods you should eat with rice

There are different blood types that people have for example ‘O’, or ‘B’. And there has been some research that indicates that the diet you should eat should be based on your blood type.

Another doctor Robert Shmerling, explained what diets people should eat based on their blood type to maximize energy levels, and bodily function. Based on your blood type you should also eat different foods based on if you want to lose weight

For each of the different blood types he said they should avoid the following foods:

• Type O blood: wheat, corn, and dairy
• Type A blood: wheat, corn, and dairy
• Type B blood: chicken, corn, peanuts, and wheat
• Type AB blood: chicken, corn, buckwheat, and kidney beans

So, people with either Type O, and Type B should avoid dairy, and not eat yoghurt with rice for breakfast.

But, pretty much any other food you can think of is great to have with rice.

You should eat as much rice as makes you feel good.

But, you want to make sure that you balance it with other foods.

For example, if you eat a whole bowl of rice, a quarter of a banana, and one tablespoon of yoghurt. You’re getting most of the nutrients that you’ll get for the day only from the rice.

So, whatever nutrients the rice is lacking, you’ll also be lacking.

You want to have a diet that is varied as much as possible to maximize the different nutrients that you get from your food.

But, some proportions of the different foods won’t taste as good. So, it can make sense to have maybe half a bowl or rice, a quarter of a cup of yoghurt, and a handful of nuts.

Rather than dividing each food exactly, for example,

• 25% rice
• 25% yoghurt
• 25% nuts
• 25% fruit

It also comes down to how much you like to eat rice and which can vary based on how much energy you expend in a day, your height, and how big your bones are.

For example, a person who works a physically demanding job such as a car groomer, might feel like they want to eat more nuts than fruits.

Because the nuts will give them more protein which is used by the muscles, and nuts are more nutrient dense which will give them more energy throughout the day.

On the other hand, a person who works in an office, and only does light exercise might find they prefer more fruit, and yoghurt because their body doesn’t make them feel hungry for a bigger portion of nuts.

Is it OK To Eat Rice Every Day?

A large study done by Harvard Medical School showed that people who eat rice every day are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is where your body has issues with insulin. 

Insulin is used in all your body’s functions, and is necessary to maintain good energy levels. Therefore, you don’t want to eat rice everyday or eat rice at every meal.

Exactly how often depends on your personal preference, and your unique body composition.

As long as you don’t eat rice everyday, you shouldn’t suffer from any health issues.

According to Doctor Friedman at DoctorFriedman.com, the different types of white rice are the least nutritious.

Although rice is high in many nutrients that are good for the body, you shouldn’t eat white rice everyday. 

So, when you eat white rice you aren’t getting as many nutrients that you get when you eat black, wild, brown, and red rice.

Surprisingly white rice is the most common rice you see sold in stores and restaurants, and is the most common rice served at special occasions, such as birthday parties, and weddings.

Black rice in my city is about 4 times the price of white rice, so people likely buy white rice assuming they are about the same in nutrient value.

Rice is a good breakfast, but you shouldn’t eat it everyday.

Harvard Medical School has shown if you eat white rice every day you are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

If you are going to eat rice for breakfast then the best way to eat it is with fruit, nuts, seeds, grains, and yoghurt.

But, if your blood type is O or B you should avoid eating yoghurt, or any dairy products.

The healthiest rice you can eat is black rice and white rice is the least nutritious rice.

Other good breakfast options are coffee and bananas.

I wrote an article recently about whether coffee and bananas are a good breakfast.

You can read it by clicking Coffee and banana for breakfast, and also this article about whether cornflakes are healthy for breakfast can be found by clicking that link.