Chapati or Rice

Chapati or Rice?
To eat wheat or rice? It is the first question that pops up when a person decides to eat healthy.  So, which one is better? One needs to understand a little bit more about the human body, digestive capacity and ability of a person to cope with diet change.
What do you need to know?
1. Both wheat and rice provide approximately similar calories. Eg. Rice – around 345 k cals. Wheat – around 350 k cals per 100 gms. 
2. Wheat has more iron than rice.
3. On the acidity scale, wheat is more acidic than rice. 
4. On the heat producing scale, wheat produces more heat while rice is cooling. Heat producing foods are suitable for people trying to lose weight while cooling foods are preferred for people trying to gain weight. 
5. On the glycemic index scale, both chapati and rice have more or less similar glycemic index. The difference in texture however, makes chapthi/broken wheat more favourable for a person who is looking for low glycemic index foods. Typically, a diabetic will be advised a low glycemic index diet.
Who should be careful?
1. People who have high acidity levels should be careful with their meal planning if they regularly consume wheat. Cooling foods like buttermilk and vegetables should be included in the same meal. 
2. People who have gluten sensitivity can opt for rice and non gluten substitutes like jowar, bajra (pearl millet) etc instead of wheat. 
What can you do?
1. Most diabetics are of the opinion that the only diet change required for blood glucose management is to shift from rice to wheat. This change suits some people while some just hate it. In such cases, increase the vegetable composition in a meal while still retaining a small portion of rice. The body responds better when the person is ready for a compromise rather than a complete change in diet. 
2. Diversify your meal as much as possible. Include fresh fruit, cooked vegetables, raw vegetables, millets like foxtail millet, little millet, finger millet and pearl millet. Wheat is not the only option to get healthy. Millets have a low glycemic index and can be easily included into our diet. 
Each body type is different and one size does not fit all. Listen to your body and do what suits you the best.