food

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• Once the barley has finished cooking, add the sautéed, seasoned vegetables to the cooked barley. Toss with a fork to distribute the vegetables and fluff up the grain. Serve hot. • note  To mince parsley, put it in a glass and, using kitchen scissors, snip the parsley until it is finely minced. • variation  For a more balanced dish, add lentils, garbanzo beans, or white beans for added protein. Adding hummus or part-skim cheese provides more fat. yield  6 servings. nutrition analysis per serving  138 calories, 27 g carbohydrate, 5 g protein, 1.6 g fat, 6.7 g dietary fiber

  102  Brown Rice Benefits Rice has gotten a bad rap, partly because it is somewhat calorie-dense and partly because even brown rice turns out to have a surprisingly high glycemic index. But if you eat it with extra fiber and keep your portion size below one cup, rice is an acceptable food, even if you have diabetes. Balance brown rice with a protein food and lots of steamed vegetables, and it takes its rightful place in a healthy, nutritious meal. Brown rice is the whole grain version of rice, with more fiber and more nutrients than its paler counterpart. Just one cup of brown rice will provide you with 88 percent of the recommended daily value for manganese. This mineral is involved in the metabolism of protein and carbohydrates, as well as the synthesis of a number of enzymes, proteins, fatty acids, and hormones. Brown rice is also a good source of selenium, a trace mineral that is involved in many antioxidant reactions in the body and that plays a role in thyroid health. Brown rice is high in fiber, which helps you feel full after eating and speeds the passage of foods through the digestive tract. This may help maintain both a healthy body weight and a healthy colon. In the late 19th century, it was observed that people who ate brown rice were less likely to get beriberi than those who ate exclusively white, polished rice. This led to an analysis of the differences between the two and helped lead to the discovery of vitamins. nutritional composition  One cup of cooked long grain brown rice provides 216 calories, 44.8 g carbohydrate, 5 g protein, 1.8 g fat, 3.5 g dietary fiber, 8 mcg folic acid, 84 mg potassium, 10 mg sodium, 162 mg phosphorus, 20 mg calcium, 84 mg magnesium, 1.23 mg zinc, and 1.77 mg manganese.

Carbohydrates: Grains

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