Rice is a staple food in India and other Asian countries and also takes a good share of international recipes. It is easy to prepare, tastes good and can be paired with a variety of side dishes to make us crave for more. We only picture rice as steaming white grains and don’t pay much attention to its types and qualities. When nutrition is considered, it is important that we have the knowledge of what we put in our body, just like we are particular about the quality of oil put in our vehicles. That brings us to the topic of comparing two types of rice, i.e brown and white, and making everyone aware of the small but necessary things.
The difference between white and brown rice is in its refinement. When the outer most layer of the grain of rice called the husk is removed, brown rice is achieved. White rice is produced when the next layer beneath the husk known as bran and germ are removed leaving mostly the starchy endosperm.So, now you know that brown rice is whole grain rice with the inedible outer hull removed, white rice is the same grain with the hull, bran layer and cereal germ removed.It is these differences which provide some nutritional benefits in brown rice which is not present in white rice. They both have the almost equal amount of calories and carbs. Brown rice has 40% more protein and nearly five times as much fiber. However, it is not much at all with only 5-gram protein and 3.5 gram of fiber per cup.When considering micronutrients, brown rice certainly seems much superior to its white rice counterpart. Brown rice is a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, thiamine, niacin, vitamin b6, and manganese and is high in fiber. One of the important nutrients difference in both the rice is magnesium. One cup of cooked brown rice which is 195 grams of brown rice contains 84mg of magnesium, while there is only 19 mg of magnesium in one cup of white rice.White rice might lack in some vitamins to some extent but it is free of pesticides to a large extent since the cleaning or refining removes most of the chemicals. Brown rice contains anti-nutrients (phytic acid) that may reduce the body ability to absorb nutrients.Anti-nutrients are natural or synthetic compounds found in a variety of foods — especially grains, beans, legumes and nuts — that interfere with the absorption of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. They can even get in the way of the digestive enzymes, which are key for proper absorption.Phytic acid is considered as an anti-nutrient because it binds with the minerals in digestive tracks and greatly reduces its absorption rates. Research has shown that this can halt the absorption of crucial minerals such as zinc, iron and magnesium. A research has also shown that diet consisting of brown rice reduced protein digestion more than white rice.Arsenic: One thing we should know is that both brown and white rice contains high levels of an inorganic compound known as arsenic. This arsenic is toxic to our body especially children and pregnant women.Regular consumption of this compound can cause bladder, lung and skin cancer as well as heart disease. Arsenic levels are considered a measure of purity and non-toxicity in groundwater and soils. Arsenic from pesticides and poultry fertilizers, and also that present in the soil is taken up by rice.There is more arsenic in bran which leads to brown Rice containing about 80% more inorganic arsenic on average than white rice of the same type because arsenic tends to accumulate in the outer layer of the grain.Fortunately, you can reduce arsenic content in your rice by thoroughly washing it with water before cooking and cooking it in 6: 1 water to rice ratio.
It is a good antioxidant and promotes weight loss because of its fibre content which leads to healthy bowel functioning. You feel fuller by eating a small bowl of brown rice. Since it is a complex carb. It keeps blood sugar stabilized as it releases sugar slowly and in a sustained manner. This makes it a better option for diabetes patient. One major thing in which brown rice can hold over white rice is its effect on diabetic patients. In one meta-analysis white rice was responsible for the increase in the risk of diabetes by 11% for each daily serving. While the brown rice was associated with 16% decrease in the risk of diabetes.The Glycemic Index (GI) is a relative ranking of carbohydrate in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels. Its ranking is based on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating (glucose is given a value of 100). Low glycemic index diets have shown to improve both glucose and lipid levels in people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The glycemic index of white rice is, which is considered a high-glycemic index food. Brown rice has a glycemic index of 55, making it a low-glycemic index food. Wholegrain Basmati rice has G.I of 52 which is the lowest glycemic index of all rice types, this means once digested it releases its energy slowly keeping blood sugar levels more stable, which is a crucial part of diabetes management.
An Interesting thing is that GI is a measure of a particular food. But do we eat one kind of food or meal at a time? The answer is No, we usually eat a complete meal which consists of carbs, protein and fats. Consuming these different macronutrients at a time bring down the overall G.I of food and makes the GI of a rice irrelevant to us.Nowadays its quite common in the market to find white rice that is enriched with the nutrients that were removed during refinement, which negates the potential nutrients benefits of brown rice. White rice is much cheaper and takes less time to cook compared to another form of rice. The price of brown rice is higher than white. The difference in prices of both can be used to buy fruits and nutritious, fibrous vegetables.Germinated brown rice or sprouted brown rice has much nutrition advantage. It can be made by soaking brown rice in warm water for 5-15 hours before cooking. This stimulates germination, which activates various enzymes in the rice, giving rise to a more complete amino acid profile.
Note: this article is from own website theholisticwellbeing
More more info refer to my website
