Rice Diet: Can I Really Lose Weight with It?

The rice diet is suitable as a short motivation kick to lose a few kilos in a few days. But how does this form of nutrition work and how long can I do it?

What is the rice diet?

You have a weakness for rice and would like to lose a few pounds in a few days? Then the rice diet might be just right for you! Rice is the main component of the meals – that’s why it’s also one of the so-called mono diets. Because the calorie intake is automatically reduced (about 850 to 1,000 kcal per day), you can lose up to three kilos in a few days with the rice diet.

The rice diet was actually invented to treat high blood pressure. The German-American Dr. Walter Kemper developed the diet concept in order to provide his patients with the lowest possible sodium diet.

This is how the rice diet works

Depending on whether one wants to lose weight with the very strict or the loose version of the rice diet, the rice is combined with more or less other foods at each meal. If one follows the concept strictly, in the first week of the diet rice is eaten daily with all three meals, one 60 gram portion (dry weight) each. To vary the taste a little, a little applesauce or salad may be eaten with it.

In week two, additional fruit and vegetables are on the menu, and from week three on, fish and lean meats (e.g. chicken) are added. It is best to drink water or unsweetened herbal tea. If we want to keep the rice diet moderate, all additions (meat, fruit, etc.) are allowed from the beginning. This allows for much more variation in recipes.

What’s the point of the diet?

The effect of this form of diet can be quickly seen: Rice binds water and contains a lot of potassium (especially whole grain rice, which also contains healthy fibre). The body is thus dehydrated. And the rice diet has even more advantages:

• Few calories
• Gluten-free, therefore also suitable for coeliac patients
• Metabolism is stimulated

What are the disadvantages of the rice diet?

Ultimately, the rice diet is also only a temporary change in diet, which can make a few kilos disappear in the short term, but carries a great risk of the unpleasant yo-yo effect. The diet has the following disadvantages:

• Very one-sided and therefore difficult to maintain
• Low protein content, which promotes muscle breakdown
• Unlike low carb, energy comes mainly from carbohydrates. It can come to vitamin and nutrient deficiency

What should I avoid with the diet?

Some foods should be completely removed from the menu during the rice diet:

• Smoked meat
• Cured
• Salt
• Greasy

Ultimately, the success of the rice diet, as with many other diets, is mainly due to its dehydrating effect. This can be motivating at the beginning of a change in diet, but the diet should not be continued for more than a few days. The strict variant should not be implemented at all, because the body gets too few nutrients.

Extra tips: You don’t like sports? Losing weight without sport is just as possible as losing weight without hunger. We also give you our best weight loss tips, everything about the Pineapple Diet and the concept of the 1200 Calorie Diet and Buttermilk Diet.