HEALTH: Are rice cakes good for you?

But how can rice cakes be bad for weight loss? Looking at the nutrition facts on a side of a packet reveals well, a whole lot of nothing: hardly any calories (about 35 a pop), no fat, no fibre and minimal vitamins and minerals. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Let’s talk skin first. When there is too much sugar in the blood, the glucose molecules attach to the proteins in collagen, a protein that allows skin to stay supple.

  • When this happens, destructive molecules called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs) are formed and these compounds start to stiffen the otherwise elastic fibres in the skin.

  • The result? Lines, blotches and wrinkles. And the more sugar you eat, the more AGEs will develop.

Even though Maureen came to see me for her eczema, the idea that my suggestions could also help her lose weight was more than welcome.

Eczema is an inflammatory skin condition and whenever you think of any sort of inflammation, you should think ‘red and raw’. I explained to Maureen that one of the things that could, no would, make this redness worse was sugar.

Maureen told me that since she turned 35, it has been harder for her to lose weight. She’d read somewhere that all excess sugar in the body turns to fat, so she’d pretty much cut it all out. But she’d also started eating rice cakes in a bid to get healthy. Turns out, those little pieces of ‘polystyrene’ aren’t that healthy after all.

You see, rice cakes, like any other unnaturally white food, are refined carbohydrates, broken down into sugar by the body. In fact, they can have a glycaemic index rating as high as 91 (pure glucose has a rating of 100), making it the kind of carbohydrate that will send your blood sugar on a roller coaster ride – bad news not just for Maureen’s skin, but her weight loss efforts too.

Let’s talk skin first. When there is too much sugar in the blood, the glucose molecules attach to the proteins in collagen, a protein that allows skin to stay supple. When this happens, destructive molecules called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs) are formed and these compounds start to stiffen the otherwise elastic fibres in the skin.

The result? Lines, blotches and wrinkles. And the more sugar you eat, the more AGEs will develop.

But how can rice cakes be bad for weight loss? Looking at the nutrition facts on a side of a packet reveals well, a whole lot of nothing: hardly any calories (about 35 a pop), no fat, no fibre and minimal vitamins and minerals.

But since they are so refined and so high glycaemic, instead of taking your mind off of food, snacking on them can induce a spike in blood sugar that might just leave you feeling sluggish and craving more rice cakes or worse, the very foods that you were trying to avoid in the first place.

So, instead of reaching for them the next time hunger strikes, try choosing a nourishing snack with healthy fats, protein and fibre. Here are five quick and easy ideas:

Plain yogurt sprinkled with berries

HUMMUS WITH VEGGIES

A serving of almonds (about 20) and a small piece of fruit

Wholegrain toast with topped with a sliced hard boiled egg or avocado

www.nutritionbysona.com