What's better, Rice or Potatoes?

[Such_Umami]

What is an all round better food?

 

[Greg]

What is an all round better food?

There are two ways to look at this: the positive regarding the quantity and quality of nutrients, and the negative regarding the presence of antinutrients
Potato trumps white rice regarding the number of nutrients: vitamins, potassium, amino acid profile. They are also more satiating.
But white rice is virtually free of any anti nutrients, while potatoes can have solanine, lectins (depending on how they are prepared), they also release glucose very quickly into bloodstream, so you need good inherent sugar control. If one can bear the negative aspects of potatoes, then potatoes will be overall better. One can live for very long on an all potato diet. Add some quality animal content like milk and yolks and you have complete diet. You can't do that on rice. If you base your diet on rice you need to supplement minerals and vitamins. Brown rice is not worth considering as it has severe anti nutrients - is anti DHT, has phytates, arsenic

 

[Blaze]

What is an all round better food?

I love white rice and it's my hands down favorite but it's no contest, potatoes are the best if you want to discuss the 2 from a nutrition standpoint.

 

[Apple]

There are two ways to look at this: the positive regarding the quantity and quality of nutrients, and the negative regarding the presence of antinutrients
Potato trumps white rice regarding the number of nutrients: vitamins, potassium, amino acid profile. They are also more satiating.
But white rice is virtually free of any anti nutrients, while potatoes can have solanine, lectins (depending on how they are prepared), they also release glucose very quickly into bloodstream, so you need good inherent sugar control. If one can bear the negative aspects of potatoes, then potatoes will be overall better. One can live for very long on an all potato diet. Add some quality animal content like milk and yolks and you have complete diet. You can't do that on rice. If you base your diet on rice you need to supplement minerals and vitamins. Brown rice is not worth considering as it has severe anti nutrients - is anti DHT, has phytates, arsenic

What is an all round better food?

I think parboiled rice should be considered ...
it is packed(fortified) with B vitamines which are not easily leached into water and it is usually lower in arsenic and lower in starches.

 

[Birdie]

Ray has touted potatoes for their nutrient value. And he would recommend white rice over brown. I use a California rice that is supposed to be lower in arsenic, but who knows. We don't use a lot of it. I use it as a small part of a meal and count on getting nutrients elsewhere.

Potatoes are a nightshade though, and being nightshade sensitive, I avoid them. Otherwise huge joint pain starts up and it takes weeks to clear. I buy the potatoes Ray recommends - young, new potatoes - once in a while for my husband.

 

[Starchless]

What is an all round better food?

they are both crap foods. They are both amazing for bodybuilding and gains, but I could never feel optimal mentally on either of those foods.

However, rice seems to be better than potatoes for more reason than one:

1. It isn't a nightshade like potatoes and therefore easier on the immune system, potatoes cause joint pains and aches for many.

2. It contains no vitamin B6 so it's easier to avoid getting too much in your diet, potatoes have tons of B6 (Excess B6 elevates serotonin)

3. Doesn't contain solanine so doesn't make you angry and unstable, potatoes alter mental states more often than rice

4. Has less fiber so is less likley to irritate the gut

5. Rice has more calories so is better for bulking and eating a lot, potatoes have less calories and are difficult to eat all at once

So yea. Rice is better.

But I avoid grains and potatoes in general

Edit: Also I'm not talking about taste, potatoes taste way better than rice in every way, rice tastes like nothing. But this is mainly about avoiding toxic substances.

 

[Dutchie]

while potatoes can have solanine, lectins

don't forget about oxalates and salicylates.

 

[David90]

What is an all round better food?

It Depends.

Rice has a good amount of calories (350kcal / 100g uncooked) while Potatoes have far less calories (70kcal / 100g). Rice has less Fiber (0.8 g per 100g) while Potatoes have more (2g Fiber per 100g, without the peel / 3g per 100g, with the peel).

If low fiber is the goal (and sheer bulking/muscle Building), then i would opt for white rice.
If nutrition and micronutrients are the goal, i would go for potatoes. But i would try to incoporate both, if possible.

 

[golder]

Does the answer change if they’re both extremely well soaked/cooked or does the benefit of doing this to both foods have an equally positive effect?

 

[limitless77]

It Depends.

Rice has a good amount of calories (350kcal / 100g uncooked) while Potatoes have far less calories (70kcal / 100g). Rice has less Fiber (0.8 g per 100g) while Potatoes have more (2g Fiber per 100g, without the peel / 3g per 100g, with the peel).

If low fiber is the goal (and sheer bulking/muscle Building), then i would opt for white rice.
If nutrition and micronutrients are the goal, i would go for potatoes. But i would try to incoporate both, if possible.

So i understand from your post that for cutting its better to eat potatoes?
Also im new to the raypeat diet, are fibers considered good or bad?

 

[Birdie]

So i understand from your post that for cutting its better to eat potatoes?
Also im new to the raypeat diet, are fibers considered good or bad?

Soluble Fiber Causes Liver Cancer, Insoluble And Antibiotics Prevent/stop It

Perhaps one of the most controversial topics in Peat-land is fiber. Over the years he has consistently recommended insoluble fiber, such as found in carrots/mushrooms/bamboo, while recommending explicitly against soluble fiber such as pectin and other fermentable starches. I think in one of his...

raypeatforum.com

 

[FitnessMike]

Potatoes hands down, but then im from Poland

 

[David90]

So i understand from your post that for cutting its better to eat potatoes?

Yes

 

[IVILA]

Potatoes are undisputedly the best carbohydrate source other than fruit. You can't find anything else that contains the number of nutrients that it has.

 

[BibleBeliever]

I think parboiled rice should be considered ...
it is packed(fortified) with B vitamines which are not easily leached into water and it is usually lower in arsenic and lower in starches.

This. Recently discovered parboiled rice.

From cronometer:
The left is white rice per 500 grams dry. The right is parboiled rice 500 grams dry. A large amount, which is roughly 400 carbohydrates at around 1800+ calories.

Parboiled has almost 3 times the vitamin b1 and b3: niacin, same with vitamin b6. A bit more copper and more selenium, about 2.5 times more calcium.

Fiber in white rice is 6.5 grams, versus parboiled is 9 grams.
White has .9 grams of pufa while parboiled has 1.6 grams.

Parboiled has a lot of the nutrients from the whole brown rice absorbed into it. It digests like white rice, basically like white rice that is naturally enhanced. It preserves longer too. It costs just slightly more when buying at 8kilo bags.
It is noted RayPeat speaks of vitamin b3 and b1 as the most important vitamins for sugar oxidation.

When rice was a staple in cultures through history, many developed beri-beri (vitamin b1 deficiency). This does not occur when they consumed brown rice. This also did not occur when consuming parboiled rice, which has been the common method in India.
See: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/003591572401702220

So how about parboiled versus potatoes:

Looking at potatoes peeled from cronometer, at about 2150grams, and giving 1849 calories.
Potatoes have almost double the b1 as parboiled, slightly more vitamin b3: niacin.
Over 3 times the vitamin b5, about 2.5 times the b6, about 5 times the folate, 177% vitamin c; rice provides 0. 39% of the vitamin k.
Potatoes have half the calcium, about 2.5 times more copper, almost double the iron, 3 times the magnesium, about half the manganese
Slightly more phosphorus. However a signficant difference: over 7 times the potassium.
The largest difference of all: potatoes have 1/17th the amount of selenium that parboiled rice gives.
Then slightly more zinc. .9 gram of pufa and a lot more fiber at 44.1 grams.

Potatoes overall have more nutrients, and especially in potassium and vitamin c. However potatoes provide very little selenium, while parboiled provides an extraordinary amount.
So far I have found potatoes certainly give a nice energy. RayPeat has stated that potassium act like a natural insulin, i think they take 60% of the job.
However potatoes do not digest very well for me, especially when as a primary fuel source. Even when peeled and well-cooked with saturated fat to prevent persorption.

Brown rice is known as a 5AR inhibitor and lowering dht. It appears parboiled does not have these negative effects, nor the anti-nutrients. Parboiled also appears to have less arsenic than white rice.

When researching washing rice. Some accounts stated that washing can remove over 25% of the vitamin b1, while negligible effects on arsenic. Thus the standard rice free from impurities is cooked as is while observing daily energy. It should also be noted that vitamin b1 lowers arsenic in the body.

Now for cost:
At around 14.50 for 8 kilos of rice. That means that the standard rate for the calorie yield used is around 90 cents per 1800ish calories.
Potatoes at a 10 lb bag being now 6.00, that means it is roughly around 1.45 per 1800ish calories. (assuming a 10% weight loss for peeling)
Although potatoes often go on sale for half the price, which would make it slightly cheaper per calorie.

For shelf-life, under certain conditions rice will store for up to 30 years, although less when stored in warmer conditions:

Storing White Rice

White rice, more commonly known as polished rice is a main food source for over half of the world’s population. Rice is an excellent addition to home food storage because it’s versatile, high caloric value, and long shelf life. Families should store about 300 lbs of grains per person in a...

extension.usu.edu

Potatoes of course don't compare for shelf-life any degree whatsoever, especially if your home doesn't have any form of cooling in hot climates; potatoes spoil very quickly when it is very hot and humid. Will store up to 8 months in proper conditions in a root cellar.

Other potatoe highlights: Potatoes contain keto acids, with deal with ammonia. Some biochemists have speculated that if one had no kidneys, they could theoritically survive solely on potatoes, as the keto acids deal with ammonia so effectively that they could take the place of them.
I forget the exact ratio of numbers, but Ray has stated that something like 20 grams of potatoe protein is equal to roughly 36grams of milk protein, due to the keto acids.
Potatoes have been consumed in various situations where they have been lived on for years without any noted nutritional deficiencies.

How about cooking time?
Rice: put in instapot, add water, cook. Quick, efficient.
Potatoes: namely the time to peel and thus takes much longer.
(the solanine is in the peels and just under, which can induce terrible stomach issues and arthistis symptoms; WestonPrice has some good articles about nightshades and potatoes:

Nightshades

Read this in: Nederlands 🖨️ Print post Problems from these Popular Foods Exposed to the Light of Day The nightshades are members of an enormous family of plants […]

www.westonaprice.org

When experimenting with eating the whole potatoe, I have found what felt like little calcium deposits usually in the upper back/neck muscles that would go away when stopping consumption. I also noted EXTREME digestive ailments when consuming potatoes with the skin as a regular staple. This effect was negated when peeling and well-cooking. However digestion only so-so.



What do you digest better? Rice or potatoes? Has anyone else here discovered parboiled rice?

Orange is great, but the cost can be difficult. Many orange juices give digestion issues. In some cases Ray has stated if orange was not available he would use coca cola as the carb source, in another he stated masa harina. Masa is the nixatamalized corn, that is higher in niacin and calcium. However it is extremely high in pufa as a staple, while the rice and potatoes provide far more niacin, being low in pufa. Coca cola provides no nutrients to sustain as a staple.
Oranges in bulk are good, if juiced very time consuming. The expense is extreme in contrast to these starches.
Overall the starches are more practical for the carb sources. Fruits like oranges being consumed to whatever extent they can be in addition seems most practical.

 

[YourUniverse]

I prefer pasta to both

 

[cremes]

This. Recently discovered parboiled rice.

From cronometer:
The left is white rice per 500 grams dry. The right is parboiled rice 500 grams dry. A large amount, which is roughly 400 carbohydrates at around 1800+ calories.

Parboiled has almost 3 times the vitamin b1 and b3: niacin, same with vitamin b6. A bit more copper and more selenium, about 2.5 times more calcium.

Fiber in white rice is 6.5 grams, versus parboiled is 9 grams.
White has .9 grams of pufa while parboiled has 1.6 grams.

Parboiled has a lot of the nutrients from the whole brown rice absorbed into it. It digests like white rice, basically like white rice that is naturally enhanced. It preserves longer too. It costs just slightly more when buying at 8kilo bags.
It is noted RayPeat speaks of vitamin b3 and b1 as the most important vitamins for sugar oxidation.

[snip a bunch of useful data]

I just bookmarked this. Very useful post. Thanks for taking the time to write it up.

 

[Runenight201]

I eat them both, with green beans and eggs

 

[Jennifer]

How about cooking time?
Rice: put in instapot, add water, cook. Quick, efficient.
What do you digest better? Rice or potatoes? Has anyone else here discovered parboiled rice?

I digest skinned creamer/immature potatoes better than rice, however, I make white rice (parboiled and jasmine) for my family and to increase the nutrition and add flavor, I cook it in broth (seafood, beef, chicken, mushroom) instead of water.

 

[LucH]

Arsenic in rice type (Arsenic dans différents types de riz)

Brown rice contains higher amounts of arsenic than white rice. If you eat large amounts of rice, the white variety may be a better choice (12, 49, 50).
Choose aromatic rice, such as basmati or jasmine (51).
Choose rice from the Himalayan region, including North India, North Pakistan and Nepal (7).
If possible, avoid rice that is grown during the dry season. The use of arsenic-contaminated water is more common during that time

Details on the link (in French, with English sources)
riz et arsenic

Not all rice contains high arsenic levels, but determining the arsenic content of a particular rice product may be difficult (or impossible) without actually measuring it in a lab.
But keep in mind that all types of rice take up / absorb arsenic from the soil.
So, it would be highly advised to vary your sources of carbs.

Which rice has the lowest arsenic?
Basmati and Jasmin rices have lower levels of arsenic says consumer report
Arsenic In Your Food Investigated - Consumer Reports