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Nigerians love white! We own white shirts, white hankies, white laces and linens, white socks, white undergarments, white shoes and love white cars, phones, wedding dresses and pets. In the mind of an average Nigerian, white is synonymous with good, clean, holy, pure and healthy. White is a color that is traditionally, culturally and socially accepted. We believe we can never go wrong with white.
This is hardly surprising, knowing that Nigerians are very religious people. Our love for white transcends to food as well. We love white rice, white bread, white sugar, white gari, white yam, fufu, pounded yam, semolina; to mention a few. We seem to believe foods that are white are very healthy and nutritious. That explains our obsession with white polished rice, which is a staple food in Nigeria. In fact, most Nigerian believe the whiter the rice the better, and so look for and purchase the 'whitest' variety. The average Nigerian eats rice at least once a day and an average of five(5) times in a week. White rice is popular and believed to be highly superior to the local brown unpolished rice, popularly known as ' Ofada' rice. In fact, consuming this foreign polished rice is considered a status symbol in the cities and it is the main delicacy on the menu of every social gathering from weddings to birthdays to anniversaries and so on. The locally produced brown rice, on the other hand, is seen as inferior and less appealing. Oh! This view is so wrong and ignorant!
White rice, like white bread, is processed and therefore, stripped of almost all its nutritional value. It is high in starch and calories and low in fibre and good carbs. In other words, an excessive consumption of this brand of rice, can lead to an unhealthy weight gain.
Another health problem associated with the excessive consumption of white rice, is that it elevates the sugar level of the blood, thereby, increasing one's risk of type 2 diabetes. Studies show that individuals who ate white rice five(5) times or more in a week were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than persons who ate it a lot less. Another study also showed an eleven(11) percent increase in the risk of having diabetes with each serving of white rice.
White rice is one of the top ten(10) inflammatory foods to avoid like a plague. Inflammation is the underlying cause of almost every degenerative disease including heart disease and cancer. A diet full of unhealthy carbs, specifically those found in white rice, can lead to inflammation in the human body, increasing the risks of developing cancer, coronary disease, memory loss and stroke.
Do not panic! Simply replace white polished rice in your diet with brown 'ofada' rice, but even that has to be consumed in moderation; eat lots of fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water. With this, the risk of inflammation is drastically reduced and longevity increased.
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