How Does the Rice Diet Work?

The rice diet was originally designed by Walter Kempner, in 1939, a doctor at the Duke Hospital. In reality, he had joined the Duke University's Department of Medicine as a researcher. However, due to the onset of the World War II, he worked as a doctor to treat the sick and injured. It was during his practice that he discovered "The Rice Diet" while attending to a woman suffering from high blood pressure. He prescribed her a diet consisting of only rice and fruits. The woman followed his advice for two months and returned for a checkup, whereupon it was found that her bodily functions had improved tremendously and at the same time, she had achieved remarkable weight loss on his suggested diet. Thereafter, he aimed to formulate a diet that is suitable for patients suffering from cardiac problems, diabetes, hypertension and high blood pressure. A diabetic can achieve significant reduction in blood glucose and sugar levels on the rice diet, even completely eliminating the need for antibiotics!

Although there are health centers offering the rice diet program wherein you lose weight on the diet under medical supervision of a team of certified professionals that monitor your blood sugar and electrolyte levels daily, you can also try it at home with the guidance of a dedicated book to the cook recipes. In fact, there are quite a few variations of the diet and you may choose the one that suits your need. With the rice diet, you can expect a rapid weight loss of approximately 20 pounds within a month! In fact, those who have tried the diet have reported a weight loss averaging at 4 pounds a week. The rice diet consists of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nonfat dairy products, olive oil and beans along with rice. You may also add seafood and lean meats to the diet. It is recommended that the dieter should consume iron, vitamin D and calcium supplements along with food. Also, the rice diet significantly cuts down sodium intake to half a gram per day.

Role of the Rice Diet Work
The underlying principle of the rice diet is simple. It relies on reduction of salt in food, to as much as 500 mg a day, in order to induce loss of water weight. A balance of water is essential in the body or else it leaves a puffy appearance, making you look bigger than you actually are. Water retention is a big culprit responsible for that bloated tummy of yours. When you maintain an equilibrium of the volume of water in your system, your appetite is regulated. Hence, the rice diet has lasting effects on your weight loss. Did you know? Excess consumption of salt and sugar causes you to overeat! This is why most obese people are obsessed with their food and have trouble taking the weight off. Apart from cutting down sodium, the rice diet adds more fiber-rich food to your diet and is an excellent source of carbohydrates that prevents fatigue. Fiber not only cleanses your digestive track, it also keeps you full, acting as an appetite suppressant. The colon cleansing effect of fiber makes you feel healthy and active naturally, so you burn more calories. By absolutely eliminating salt and sugar from the plate in the first phase, the rice diet also gets rid of your cravings for different foods. It even motivates the dieter to eat healthy. Additionally, the diet limits saturated fat consumption by restricting the intake of saturated fat from processed foods.

The rice diet allows the 'ricer' to consume about 1200 to 1500 calories per day. It is truly wholesome, detoxifying and a low-fat way of healthy living. The rice diet is divided into 3 phases, as follows;

• Phase I: Whole grains and fruits
• Phase II: Vegetables and beans
• Phase III: Addition of nonfat dairy products

The third stage of the diet helps to keep the weight off while allowing a wider variety of food choices. The diet kicks off with a daily calorie limit of 800 and may be followed for a duration of 2 to 12 weeks depending on the dieter's preference. If you are a meat eater, the diet may accommodate a weekly serving of one low-fat meat dish. However, caffeine, alcohol and sugar are strictly prohibited on the diet. Do not forget to indulge in at least an hour of exercise, five days a week, along with your diet. It could be any cardio based workout regimen like running, yoga, pilates or a dancing session. The rice diet derives its name from the fact that the diet relies heavily on whole grains, especially rice, and includes it as an ingredient in at least one dish, for every meal. However, unrefined brown rice is a preferred choice over refined white rice as it contains 2.75 grams per cup of fiber more. It has a higher nutritional value as compared to its white counterpart.

As white rice is frequently the topic of criticism among health experts worldwide due to its nature of causing a spike in insulin levels, brown rice would be a smart choice especially if you are on the brink of or suffer from diabetes. A word of caution: don't overdo rice in your diet and follow the prescribed quantities to the T. Devoid of added sugars and fats, rice is a healthy whole grain to include in your diet. However, the insufficiency of a good source of protein, less than 20 g allowance in the diet, is a major source of concern to prevent loss of muscle mass. If you wish to increase your muscle mass on the rice diet, it may seem fairly impossible. The diet is extremely difficult to follow for a regular meat eater to sustain for a long duration.

The rice diet is not a fad diet. It is a scientifically proven health program with an objective of achieving physical fitness. It successfully combats obesity and kidney problems. Major rice consuming nations such as India and China have low instances of health problems like diabetes and hypertension as compared to their Western counterparts, further authenticating these claims backing the diet. This is an excellent diet that brings the body's water content to balance, eliminates toxins and increases vitality. The most notable feature of the rice diet is that it maintains the weight loss for months even after you get off it, as reported by most 'ricers'. This is unlike most other diets on which dieters quickly gain back all the weight reduced, along with additional weight! Not to forget, the well-balanced rice diet menu also fulfills the basic health goals for which it was designed. Even though it provides a variety of 30 healthy and palatable foods, some dieters may find it to be restrictive in nature. Most of these foods are incidentally low on the glycemic index (gluten-free) and make up for the high glycemic index of white rice, balancing glucose levels. It is advised that you consult a physician before embarking upon the diet. This is because the rice diet allows the consumption of extremely low levels of sodium and the deficiency of which may cause severe health problems. If you are allergic to any type of grains, you might want to consider getting a rice allergy test too.