As the two most staple foods in the world, the debate over whether rice or flour is better has never ceased. What is the truth? Let's conduct a detailed analysis from various perspectives.
Which is more nutritious?
Data from the "China Food Composition Table" shows that compared to an equal weight of rice (paddy rice), flour (standard flour) has higher levels of most nutrients such as dietary fiber, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, and selenium. Among these, the content of dietary fiber, vitamin B1, vitamin E, and calcium is more than twice that of rice. In terms of zinc content, rice is slightly higher. Regarding protein, flour has a higher content than rice, but its quality is lower. This means that when considering factors such as the proportion of essential amino acids, protein digestibility, and availability, the protein in rice is more easily absorbed and utilized by the human body. Therefore, when considering both the quantity and utilization rate of protein, rice and flour are almost on par.
Overall, both rice and flour are finely processed staple foods that provide very little vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. To get more nutrition from staple foods, it is still advisable to mix coarse and fine grains, replacing some refined rice and white flour with coarse grains like mung beans and oats.
Which is better for the stomach?
Both refined rice and white flour are quite digestible. If you have weak digestion, you can eat congee, steamed buns, soft rice, or soft noodles as your staple food; for people with gastric ulcers, normal rice and flour staple foods are edible, as long as you chew slowly; for people with excessive stomach acid, alkali-added flour products are a better choice, as they help neutralize stomach acid.
Many people believe that congee and rice soaked in soup are good foods for stomach care. However, this view is somewhat one-sided, as drinking congee for a long time does not actually "nourish the stomach." Because congee and rice soaked in soup are often swallowed without being chewed, they are not pre-digested by salivary amylase in saliva. Excess water intake dilutes gastric juice and increases stomach volume, which加重 the burden on the stomach to some extent. Moreover, long-term congee consumption can easily lead to insufficient nutrient intake. Therefore, stomach patients cannot drink congee for every meal; they can have it once a day and also eat some staple foods, chewing each bite 15~20 times, which can also help with stomach care.
Which is more conducive to weight loss?
In terms of calories, 100 grams of flour is 344 kcal, and the same weight of rice is 346 kcal, so they are very similar. After being made into staple foods, they undergo new changes: 100 grams of a steamed bun has 223 kcal, while rice has 116 kcal. Therefore, eating the same weight of steamed buns and rice, the former intake of calories is higher. However, eating steamed buns provides more protein and dietary fiber, making you feel fuller for longer. It is hard to say whether eating noodles or rice makes you less prone to weight gain.
In fact, whether it's steamed buns or rice, their satiety is relatively low, which is not conducive to weight loss, and they have a high glycemic index, which is not good for blood sugar control. Diabetics should limit their intake. To control weight and blood sugar, it is recommended to eat starchy beans like red beans, kidney beans, and mung beans frequently. They have a particularly strong satiety, are digested slowly, and cause a gentle rise in blood sugar.
Which is safer?
In terms of safety, both have certain risks. Data shows that in the diet of the northern population, the average aluminum intake is 4.6 times that of the southern population. This may be related to northerners' love of pasta, mainly coming from leavening agents used in fermentation, which make food soft and fluffy. Although since 2014, some aluminum-containing additives have been banned for food processing and production, and no aluminum-containing food additives are allowed in puffed foods, some unscrupulous vendors still use them secretly. To reduce aluminum intake, it is advisable to eat less fried foods like fried dough sticks and not to buy overly "soft" steamed buns and buns.
Eating only rice every day carries the risk of certain heavy metals exceeding standard limits, the most well-known of which are cadmium and arsenic, which is related to the growing environment of rice. Cadmium is very important in industries such as metallurgy, plastics, and electronics, and is often discharged into the environment through wastewater, then enters the food chain through irrigation, and rice is a typical "victim crop." Compared to other grains, rice easily absorbs arsenic from soil and water and accumulates it. The most reliable way to avoid rice with excessive heavy metals is to buy products with guaranteed quality.
In summary, there is not much difference between rice and flour. Eating only rice or flour every day poses certain food safety risks. The most important thing is to pay attention to variety in staple foods, rotate between rice and flour, and eat more whole grains and miscellaneous beans.