Is Cous Cous better for you than brown rice?

Question

In terms of good carbohydrates is cous cous better for you than brown rice?

Answer 1

Brown rice and even while long grain rice are better than cous cous;

Answer 2

Although couscous has a higher GI than brown rice, its index is 65 (medium GI) so it's not as bad as many purport it to be.

I strongly advise you not to exclude high GI foods from the ones you eat, just eat small and infrequent portions of them, mainly after a workout together with proteins.

The problem high GI foods have is that they are often eaten alone. If you eat them with proteins and/or fats, the GI is lower (see the case of milk: skim milk has a HIGHER GI than whole milk!).

On the other hand, if you are into low-fat diet, it's hard to find low fat stuff whose GI is low (but it's possible). In this case, the trick is ALL into mixing high GI foods with sources of lean proteins.

Hope it doesn't sound too complicated. It really is not. But you do your homework and read how things *work* not just absolute values or else you might think you're "eating healthy" and have "bad genetics" while it's only bad understanding of physiology.

Answer 3

I totally agree with the first two posters about the glycemic index...however, it might be worth adding that couscous is technically a pasta made from (typically) refined white flour, while brown rice is a whole grain in its natural state. I've been told that a good rule of thumb is to eat more things in their natural state, and less things that are refined.

Answer 4

i would imagine cous cous has a higher glycemic index than brown rice so that would basically make it less healthy.