Rice is a main staple in more than 100 countries worldwide. In some households, rice is included with more than one meal a day. This starchy high-calorie grain is generally low cost, making it accessible to all and a vital base of many diets. Each country showcases a rice specialty to reflect local spices and taste preferences: risotto in Italy, paella in Spain, jambalaya in the southern U.S., coconut rice in Colombia, steamed rice in China, rice and beans in Mexico, and sweet rice in Portugal, to name a few. There are over 53 grams of carbohydrate in a single serving of white rice. Only a tiny amount of that carbohydrate comes from fiber. Most of it is starch and a small amount is sugar. The glycemic index of white rice is estimated to be 73. The glycemic index of brown rice, on the other hand, is estimated to be about 68. Short-grain rice tends to have a higher glycemic index than long-grain, medium-grain, and brown rice. Brown rice has significantly more fiber than white rice (about 3 grams per cup of cooked brown rice) because it is a whole grain. Brown rice also has fewer carbohydrates than white rice at 49.6g per cup. All rice is originally whole-grain, with the bran attached. White rice is produced by pearling, which is a process through which the grain passes through a machine where it is rolled and the bran is gently "pearled" off, leaving the white kernel intact. This makes the grain a processed, refined grain, no longer a whole grain. Pearling also lowers cooking time and extends the shelf life of grains. The calorie content of 1 cup of cooked rice varies from a high of 241.8 kcals for medium-or short-grain white rice, to 218.4 kcals for medium-grain brown rice, 216.5 kcals for long-grain brown rice, 205.4 kcals for regular long-grain white rice, to a low of 165.6 kcals for ‘wild rice’.