Brown Rice Cake and Buckwheat "Rice Cake"

[Rasheed]

  I recently bought brown rice cake and buckwheat rice cake, my question is: Are they healthy to eat?

[Michael569]

You are better of eating them in their natural state. The think with rice cake is that they are compressed under huge temperature to kinda glue the rice together. We know that when you heat carbohydrates to temperatures above 130 degrees you start producing acrylamides, suspected carcinogens and neurotoxins. Additionally, the high heat disrupts the molecular integrity making the rice even more easily digestible which spikes your blood sugar very rapidly. 

My second argument against rice cakes (or any grain cakes actually) is that they are what is classified as "diet food" a food that is extremely low in calories. Because of this people binge on them for hours. This means your pancreas constantly has to pump out digestive enzymes throughout the day. Your blood sugar is riding a rollercoaster so the pancreas also has to pump out insulin constantly. This puts a lot of unnecessary strain on your digestion and this is my main argument against the idea of eating many small portions per day. I'd just make nice huge buckwheat meals with vegetables, beans/ lentils, add some tofu to it and eat it in a single meal. Take in more calories in single go but then give your digestion break for couple hours. Ideally you want to spike your insulin 3-4 times a day not 20

[Rasheed]

4 hours ago, Michael569 said:

You are better of eating them in their natural state. The think with rice cake is that they are compressed under huge temperature to kinda glue the rice together. We know that when you heat carbohydrates to temperatures above 130 degrees you start producing acrylamides, suspected carcinogens and neurotoxins. Additionally, the high heat disrupts the molecular integrity making the rice even more easily digestible which spikes your blood sugar very rapidly. 

My second argument against rice cakes (or any grain cakes actually) is that they are what is classified as "diet food" a food that is extremely low in calories. Because of this people binge on them for hours. This means your pancreas constantly has to pump out digestive enzymes throughout the day. Your blood sugar is riding a rollercoaster so the pancreas also has to pump out insulin constantly. This puts a lot of unnecessary strain on your digestion and this is my main argument against the idea of eating many small portions per day. I'd just make nice huge buckwheat meals with vegetables, beans/ lentils, add some tofu to it and eat it in a single meal. Take in more calories in single go but then give your digestion break for couple hours. Ideally you want to spike your insulin 3-4 times a day not 20

  I like to eat those rice cakes with peanut butter, banana and apple, as my snack, before training...My trainer advised me to eat 6 times per day: 3 meals and 3 snacks. In this case, is it cool to eat them?

 To be honest, I do not binge on them. I take 2 rice cakes per snack. 6 in total per day...

 What is the best alternative for the rice cakes? I do not eat bread, and I start using rice cakes as alternative.