Rice Diet

[Guest FrederickSebastian]

So,

 

I have done a lot of research online, and have found that Asian cultures (especially Japan and Hong Kong) have life expectancies that are higher than the United States. Part of me wonders why this is. Since a major part of longevity depends on diet and exercise, I thought about what Asian cultures eat and drink. The first thing that came to mind was: rice and green tea. Would it be healthy if (most days) I ate a cup of rice with some red beans and olive oil? I would eat this 200 calorie meal four times per day totalling 800 calories per day. While this meal contains protein, carbs, and a small amount of fat, it does not have any real vegetables in it which is why I'm worried about not having enough variety in my diet... What do you think??

 

[Robert Cavanaugh]

What you describe is a horrible diet.  First, you can't survive on 800 calories per day.  You will waste away as your body cannibalizes itself.  Second, you rightfully point out the lack of variety which, based on your diet, is severely defitient in most key micronutrients.  Lastly, the Japanese have a epidemic of diabetes from eating so much rice.  BTW, the Okinawans, renouned for their longevity, utilize yams as their primary carbohydrate instead of rice.

[Dean Pomerleau]

I agree completely with Bob's assessment of the diet you are contemplating - it would be horrible for you long term and I wouldn't even suggest it for short term weight loss.

 

But Bob, I think you go too far blaming the alleged Japanese diabetes epidemic on their consumption of rice. See this post on the pioneering work of Dr. Kempner who used a very low fat diet of almost exclusively rice and fruit (mostly juice) to reverse many chronic diseases, including diabetes.

 

https://www.crsociety.org/topic/11305-really-low-fat-good-after-all/?p=13293

 

Dean

[nicholson]

My advice, fwiw: 

 

1.  Whatever it is you eat, make sure you are getting all the micronutrients by checking with CRON-o-meter (you will almost certainly have to supplement a couple of nutrients).

 

2.  Don't let your BMI drop below 20.0.

 

For sure 20.0 is safe.  And you will be slim at that BMI.  Somewhat below 20.0 may be safe also.  But the lowest safe BMI is not known, and undoubtedly will vary from person to person and with age.  There are some people on CRON who have BMIs as low as 16.  For sure they will either live to 160 or die early.  I don't know which.

 

And if you need to be persuaded about the importance of getting the RDAs of all the micronutrients, google: 'Triage Theory of Nutrition Dr. Bruce Ames'.

  

And it might be helpful for you to understand why Bob's comment above:  "You will waste away as your body cannibalizes itself." is so accurate.  It is impossible to burn off daily as little as 800 calories.  You will be burning more like 1500 to 2000 simply keeping your body temperature up, running your brain, the energy neeeded by your muscles to move about, the energy required to digest your daily food intake, ........  .  At 800 calories you will have a huge calorie deficit, so your body will have to look for a place to find the extra calories it needs simply to keep all your bodily systems running.   

 

At first your body will burn off whatever fat you have stored, and you will get slimmer and slimmer.  But after your fat stores are depleted the only remaining energy source is muscle.  So your body will then take protein from your muscle and burn that for energy just to keep your bodily systems running.  As Bob said:  "You will waste away as your body cannibalizes itself."  Cannibalizes your muscle cells.  One measure that can be used to determine when you have gone far enough in caloric deficit is a body fat percentage of about 10% (for males).  Often that may correlate pretty well with a BMI of about 20.  Below that and you are entering poorly charted, and potentially dangerous, territory.

 

And to add more to this post for the third time:  after you have maintained a BMI of 20 for an appreciable period, and gained a thorough understanding of the issues associated with dropping your BMI below 20, you will then be able to use your own judgment as to whether it would be appropriate for you to drop your BMI a little lower.

 

Rodney.