Rice Milk: Few months ago, I decided I was going to take exercises seriously so that I can shed some weight.

I will be 50 years old next year, so it is my wish to have a banging body on my birthday. Besides, maintaining a good weight is good for one’s general well being.

I went to the extreme at some point because I stopped eating carbohydrates and then my body revolted! I was getting weak often, there were no bowel movements and the few times I went to the toilet, my stool was hard and at some point, my anus became so painful. The shocking part is that I was eating vegetables heavily, though it was only vegetables and no food at all. I never envisaged I could still have difficulty with my bowel movements.

I already walked the wrong path in my bid to shed weight. Now, I can tell you authoritatively that If you push your body too hard in the name of weight loss, there might be grave consequences. I eat regular foods now, (You do not have to stop eating your regular foods because you want to shed weight, there are ways to go about it and still achieve results) and the weakness I was experiencing has stopped. How am I going about it? Bit by bit, I shall be sharing with you all the steps I take in this weight loss journey.

This week, I will talk about rice milk.

For people who are lactose intolerant and those who have soy or nuts allergies, rice milk is the least likely to trigger allergies .This dairy-free variety of milk is made with white or brown rice and water. It is known to be low in fat, cholesterol free and therefore it works well for people with dietary restrictions on fat and cholesterol. There are plenty of heart healthy nutrients in the rice bran and these nutrients are also contained in rice milk. For example, unsaturated fat comes from rice bran oil which can lower your blood cholesterol. Niacin and vitamin B6 are also effective for this purpose. Rice milk is an excellent source of magnesium which helps control your blood pressure. Iron and copper increases your red blood cell production, giving you better oxygenation and vitality. It contains manganese and selenium which are powerful antioxidants that help protect you from all kinds of infections and cancers. Drinking rice milk can also give your immune system a boost.

Asian folklore stories have many mentions of rice and its derivatives in beauty-enhancing practices and rituals. Soaps formulated with rice milk as the main ingredient help cleanse and exfoliate your skin giving it a nice soft glow! Rice milk imparts a whitening effect to the skin, it leaves a gentle glow on the face, it helps to even skin tone when used regularly, it helps lighten scars and other dark spots on the face, it seals the skin with good moisture and helps eliminate excess oil secretion. Combined with honey, rice milk can leave the skin soft, smooth and supple. It soothes sunburns. You can use it as a toner by mixing it with turmeric powder.

There is also rice water which the Yao Women who come from Huangluo Yao village, China, use for their hair. They have the longest hair in the world and they have even been recognised in the Guinness Book of World Records. There are several factors that can be attributed to their extremely long and healthy hair but one thing that stands out is rinsing their hair in rice water.

It is also important to know the difference between polished and unpolished rice so that you will be able to choose which is best for your milk. Brown rice (unpolished rice) is a whole grain rice with the inedible outer hull removed but the bran and germ layer remain on, thereby constituting the brown or tan colour of the rice. A grain is considered to be ‘whole’ if its three original parts—the bran, germ and endosperm stay intact. A grain’s bran is its fibrous outer skin. The germ is its embryo which has the potential to sprout into a new plant. The endosperm is the germ’s starchy food supply. Since brown rice keeps all of the original parts, it provides more than twice as much fiber compared to its white counterpart. That is because white rice is not a whole grain; it is refined, meaning the bran and germ are stripped away, leaving only the endosperm. As a whole grain, brown rice also packs higher levels of essential nutrients. Whether you want to eat rice or make milk out of it, bear it in mind that brown rice is the healthier choice because the bran and germ, the two outer layers which contain most of the vitamins and minerals in the grain, are still intact.

To make your rice milk, all you need to do is to soak the rice grains for a few hours and then cook the rice in large volumes of water. Once cooked, blend the rice until it becomes a smooth paste. Now, sieve the blended mixture. Alternatively, soak rice in very hot (not boiling water) for two hours. The rice should be soft but still very raw (you should be able to snap a piece in half with your fingernail without much effort). Drain and add to a high-speed blender, add water, blend and sieve

Scientific studies

In a study titled, “Bacterial Inhibition and Antioxidant Activity of Kefir Produced from Thai Jasmine Rice Milk,’’ by Deeseenthum Sirirat et al, the findings suggested that rice milk-kefir may be considered among the more promising food components in term of preventing oxidative damage.

In a study titled, “Nutritional potential of dehydrated residues from rice milk production by Luan Ramos da Silva et al, the conclusion is that residues from rice milk production have high content of nutrients and phenolic compounds even after dehydration. Also, they can be used in other processes to improve the nutritional quality of new food products and reduce the waste of nutrients.

In a study titled, “Utilisation of Fermented Rice Milk as a Novel Coagulant for Development of Paneer (Soft Cheese),’’ by Rasool Khan Amini, the conclusion is that fermentation of rice milk with the SSF method and its utilisation as a novel coagulant for paneer production was demonstrated successfully.

Rice milk has a higher carbohydrate content which may not make it a suitable option for people with diabetes. However, if diabetics want to try this milk, I suggest they should use brown rice. Still, it is important to take it in moderation and they should always monitor their blood sugar levels too. What is more in this series? I will discuss how to make these plant-based milks go through fermentation and how to make homemade ice cream from them. Be on the lookout.

Olufunke Faluyi