WHETHER there is shortage or abundant supply of rice, people will still have a cheaper and healthier alternative to eat – rice blend.
Following the increase in the prices of rice due to the apparent rice shortage in the country, then, the rice blend would be a better alternative.
If rice, particularly white rice, would be too much for the budget, mixing white rice and corn grits could be an option for the health- and budget-conscious.
We all know that rice ranks as the most important staple in the Philippines, and in developing countries, 70 percent to 80 percent of a person’s calorie intake comes from carbohydrates.
Rice is a good source of energy for the body, but next to rice, corn is another important food staple.
Based on a study conducted by the Institute of Human Ecology at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB), rice blend (or rice composite), which is a mixture of white rice and corn, has acceptable taste similar to white rice alone.
Several years back, Dr. Artemio M. Salazar, research professor at the College of Agriculture in UPLB, said that if shifting to pure corn would become difficult, try rice composite or rice blend.
He shared his recommendation during a rice-corn grits seminar at the Philippine Rice Research Institute in Nueva Ecija.
Earlier, Salazar and his research team started the practice of mixing rice with corn grits, experimenting on various ratios of rice-to-corn in cooking.
The result was generally good because they used Quality Protein Maize, an open-pollinated variety of corn that is high in protein and tastes like rice.
However, they had two general issues about promoting the rice blend: first, the Filipino culture is rice-centric; and second, there is a debate on the quality – which of the two is better: white rice alone or white rice with corn.
From their research, Salazar concluded that eating rice mixed with corn grits has two major benefits – it is more nutritional and filling, and it is cheaper.
Therefore, eating rice mixed with corn is more nutritious, and it is also a more affordable choice.
“We usually eat rice three times a day. Each meal will take two hours before we digest and turn into glucose. If the glucose did not burn into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), it can heighten one’s risk of having diabetes. Eating food items low in glycemic index (GI), like corn, brown rice, and other staples can lessen the risk of diabetes. Moreover, low GI foods help delay hunger pangs and promote weight loss in overweight people,” he explained.
If rice is mixed with corn using a 50:50 or 70:30 ratio, it is still cheaper than pure rice.
But Salazar noted that some Filipinos are still hesitant to eat white corn because it is regarded as a poor man’s food and animal feed.
Decreased consumption of white rice can also contribute to the country’s attainment of food security.
If the corn-eating communities will increase, importation of rice is expected to be lessened. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
