Eating pasta and rice can be an excellent way to help meet the six to 11 servings of breads, cereals, rice and pasta recommended by United States Department of Agriculture. However, you can cut yourself short nutritionally if you prepare these foods incorrectly.
If you rinse rice or pasta and drain off the cooking liquid, or if you cook rice in too much water, you are needlessly wasting nutrients.
Ninety percent of the rice sold in the United States is enriched with a dusting of thiamin, niacin and iron, according to Rice Council of America. Rinsing rice before cooking washes these nutrients away, resulting in a loss of up to 25 percent. Rinsing is unnecessary because today's packaged rice already has been cleaned.
To preserve the nutrients in rice, simply cook in just enough water to be absorbed during cooking; usually the amount recommended on the package directions.