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Better than

ICR

ICR

Member
Messages
24
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Has anyone tried Better than Rice pasta etc.?

Seems a bit expensive is it worth it?
 
Not heard of it, what is it made from?
 
Of the more readily available starches, pearl barley, which can also be used as a rice substitute, converted brown rice, wholegrain pasta such as Buitoni's and Blue Dragon wholewheat noodles are all usually OK. If you lower the portion sizes, say 60 g of converted brown rice, you'll have a still decent size portion for about 10g carbs and 60 kcals. Some people don't like the textures but, once you get used to the chewier starch, they can be very diabetic friendly.
 
It's also known as parboiled and I think Uncle Bens is sold as quick cook but the brown rice variety takes 25 mins so it isn't quick cook at all. You can tell by looking at the calories. Brown rice or white rice is about 300 kcals per 100g. Converted rice is about 100kcals.

Morrisons have theirs on their website as Easy Cook but it isn't what it says on the packet. The pack just says long grain brown rice.

http://groceries.morrisons.com/webs...own-Long-Grain-Rice/121612011?prevPageIndex=0

But, if you look at the nutrition half way down that page, you'll see it has lower carb and lower calorie values. You'll also see that a good portion of the carb value is fibre, so you won't be digesting it.

I usually cook it for 30 mins and it's still chewy.
 
Yorksman said:
It's also known as parboiled and I think Uncle Bens is sold as quick cook but the brown rice variety takes 25 mins so it isn't quick cook at all. You can tell by looking at the calories. Brown rice or white rice is about 300 kcals per 100g. Converted rice is about 100kcals.

Morrisons have theirs on their website as Easy Cook but it isn't what it says on the packet. The pack just says long grain brown rice.

http://groceries.morrisons.com/webs...own-Long-Grain-Rice/121612011?prevPageIndex=0

But, if you look at the nutrition half way down that page, you'll see it has lower carb and lower calorie values. You'll also see that a good portion of the carb value is fibre, so you won't be digesting it.

I usually cook it for 30 mins and it's still chewy.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I actually used to prefer brown rice so will check this out at some point when I've lost last bit of weight- staying off the big carbs till then.
 
Yorksman said:
It's also known as parboiled and I think Uncle Bens is sold as quick cook but the brown rice variety takes 25 mins so it isn't quick cook at all. You can tell by looking at the calories. Brown rice or white rice is about 300 kcals per 100g. Converted rice is about 100kcals.

Morrisons have theirs on their website as Easy Cook but it isn't what it says on the packet. The pack just says long grain brown rice.

http://groceries.morrisons.com/webs...own-Long-Grain-Rice/121612011?prevPageIndex=0

But, if you look at the nutrition half way down that page, you'll see it has lower carb and lower calorie values. You'll also see that a good portion of the carb value is fibre, so you won't be digesting it.

I usually cook it for 30 mins and it's still chewy.
Click to expand...
Thank you that's very useful.
 
ICR said:
Thank you that's very useful.
Click to expand...

I half lived on it when I was first diagnosed. It's a bit chewy but with some meat and a veggie sauce and herbs or spices, you can make lots of interesting dishes, from curries to mediterranean type meals. It's low carb and low calorie yet very filling.
 
Yorksman said:
It's also known as parboiled and I think Uncle Bens is sold as quick cook but the brown rice variety takes 25 mins so it isn't quick cook at all. You can tell by looking at the calories. Brown rice or white rice is about 300 kcals per 100g. Converted rice is about 100kcals.

Morrisons have theirs on their website as Easy Cook but it isn't what it says on the packet. The pack just says long grain brown rice.

http://groceries.morrisons.com/webs...own-Long-Grain-Rice/121612011?prevPageIndex=0

But, if you look at the nutrition half way down that page, you'll see it has lower carb and lower calorie values. You'll also see that a good portion of the carb value is fibre, so you won't be digesting it.

I usually cook it for 30 mins and it's still chewy.
Click to expand...


I've never heard of converted rice so looked on the tesco site and couldn't find anything that looked like it. I wish they'd label these things with what they are!
 
louch1 said:
I stick to brown rice or pasta. I was warned against using diabetic foods by my nurse.
Click to expand...

I agree wiith the nurse about diabetic foods, but these are not 'diabetic foods', they're just low carb for anyone on a low carb diet and can be very useful for us if we're really missing noodles, rice etc.
But don't listen to everything the nurses say, they usually say low fat and lots of carbs ;)
 
rowan said:
I've never heard of converted rice so looked on the tesco site and couldn't find anything that looked like it. I wish they'd label these things with what they are!
Click to expand...

I agree, it is a complete nightmare.

As it happens, I was in Lidl the other day and they sell a whiteish rice called Golden Sun Easy Cook Long Grain ice. Easy Cook is sometimes used to mean Converted or Parboiled but you can't rely on the title. You have to read the nutritional info. Lidl's is completely different to Tesco's Easy Cook Long Grain. For example,

Lidl's Golden Sun Easy Cook energy per 100g, 102 kcal; Tesco Easy Cook, 267 kcal.
Lidl's Golden Sun Easy Cook carbs per 100g, 23g; Tesco Easy Cook 77g carbs

http://www.fatsecret.co.uk/calories-nutrition/golden-sun/easy-cook-long-grain-rice/100g

This is a decent find because it is more like a white rice, quicker to cook and less chewy. Having two types of rice allows for a bit of a change. Since I stick to 60 - 75 g portions, it's usually under 20g carbs in a meal.

Have a look at this page which explains a little:

http://www.agricultured.org/brown-white-and-converted-rice/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yorksman said:
I agree, it is a complete nightmare.

As it happens, I was in Lidl the other day and they sell a whiteish rice called Golden Sun Easy Cook Long Grain ice. Easy Cook is sometimes used to mean Converted or Parboiled but you can't rely on the title. You have to read the nutritional info. Lidl's is completely different to Tesco's Easy Cook Long Grain. For example,

Lidl's Golden Sun Easy Cook energy per 100g, 102 kcal; Tesco Easy Cook, 267 kcal.
Lidl's Golden Sun Easy Cook carbs per 100g, 23g; Tesco Easy Cook 77g carbs

http://www.fatsecret.co.uk/calories-nutrition/golden-sun/easy-cook-long-grain-rice/100g

This is a decent find because it is more like a white rice, quicker to cook and less chewy. Having two types of rice allows for a bit of a change. Since I stick to 60 - 75 g portions, it's usually under 20g carbs in a meal.

Have a look at this page which explains a little:

http://www.agricultured.org/brown-white-and-converted-rice/
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'll look out for that! :)
I went into Lidl the other day for the first time but couldn't buy much, didn't have my reading glasses with me and couldn't read any labels!
 
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