Contents
How it’s done?
First, a little about the technology of creating our text hero. To make products such as rice wafers, puffed rice, milk flakes or (sometimes also) popcorn, a process called extrusion is used. It consists in the fact that grains of rice, wheat, corn etc. are subjected to high temperature and high pressure. This causes them to inflate and thus increase in volume. If necessary, these grains are additionally formed into the desired shape during the entire process. One of the advantages of extrusion is the fact that the products processed in this way have a long shelf life, and the high temperature used in the process protects them against pathogenic microorganisms. These products, such as wafers, which I am writing about today, can therefore be stored for a long time, and the only risk, for example in a bag, is to crush the contents in the package.
I have come across questions as to whether, due to the method of producing such wafers, you should drink more water when consuming them. If you take the recommended amount of fluid, i.e. 2 liters per day, there is no need to increase the water supply. However, if you know that you generally drink fairly little, then of course you should pay more attention to it and add 2-3 cups of water to your usual serving size.
What about nutritional values?
Unfortunately, such a high degree of processing of the beans does not have a very good effect on the content of nutrients available in the starting product. First of all, in rice wafers we find a smaller amount of lysine and methionine, i.e. exogenous amino acids (protein molecules) (which we must take with food, because our body does not produce them on its own, unlike endogenous amino acids) and vitamins. At the same time, however, rice extrusion reduces the trypsin inhibitor * content, which is good news as it belongs to the group of anti-nutritional substances.
* Inhibitor – simply put, it is a substance that inhibits a chemical reaction. In the case of a trypsin inhibitor, it stops the action of trypsin, which is a digestive enzyme in our body responsible for breaking down proteins. Trypsin inhibitors can be found primarily in the seeds of legumes, while in their case anti-nutritional substances are eliminated by boiling.
Overall, rice cakes contain a very small amount of fat and protein. Their energy comes mainly from carbohydrates. Of course, they must be included in our diet, but we should not forget about the other ingredients. On the occasion of carbohydrates, it is also worth mentioning that the glycemic index of rice wafers is 64. As you can see, it is therefore in the upper values of the average GI range. So this is not the worst result, but nevertheless people for whom the index value and carbohydrate content is an important factor when composing a menu should consider whether it is really worth buying this type of product.
Below I present a table with basic information about the nutritional values of the wafers. It comes from one of the many producers of such products, Sonko – http://sonko.pl/produkty/wafle-ryzowe/ and concerns natural rice wafers.
Since, as I mentioned at the beginning of the text, the questions often concern whether rice cakes are a good bread substitute, below for comparison I also present a table with the nutritional values of whole grain bread appearing in our diets:
As you can see, whole wheat bread has a lower amount of carbohydrates and at the same time is more high in fiber. However, it can be concluded that rice cakes have a little more protein. By the way, you also have to give them the fact that one wafer is approx. 9-10 g, and one slice of bread is approx. 35 g. Although wafers are more caloric per 100 g, one “usual portion” will be less caloric than one slice of bread. However, it can be argued which of these two products will satisfy us more. After all, I personally believe that the standard, whole wheat bread will win here. Note that, in terms of the amount of energy, one slice of bread equals about 2-3 wafers. Nevertheless, even 3 wafers have only about 1 g of fiber, which, as we know, corresponds to, among others, for increasing satiety (not to mention the work of the intestines or the level of glucose or cholesterol in our blood). Of course, each organism is different and may react a bit differently, but you can safely say that, in general, whole grain bread will be more filling than rice cakes.
An impunity for a snack or a sin between meals?
At this stage, you probably thought that since one innocent waffle has only about 35 kcal, it will not have an impact on weight loss. To some extent, you are right in such a situation, but will each of us be able to settle for one small wafer? Exactly … We all know how addictive it is to munch something tasty.
So if every now and then, in a time of high hunger, you happen to have one rice waffle between meals, nothing terrible will happen. However, if such a situation occurs more often or more wafers are consumed, then it should be abandoned – a few such wafers are a good addition to the caloric content, which can slow down and hinder the slimming process.
Summarizing…
It is certainly better to eat one of these wafers from time to time instead of crisps or crackers or other completely unhealthy snacks. Maybe it, along with a portion of raw vegetables, can be a good solution, e.g. when we do not have another snack, our day has become more intense and we are hungry, and there is a lot of time left until the next meal or we want to occasionally eat something small, e.g. while watching a movie. However, rice cakes are not a good substitute for bread and cannot be eaten with impunity and without restrictions. As always – “everything is for people”, but most of all, remember about moderation.
Photo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-drinking-water-1458671/