Brown Rice Vs White Rice - Which One Is Best For Your Health?

Brown Rice Vs White Rice

White Rice vs Brown Rice

Today I am gonna share with you "Brown rice vs white rice - Which one is best for your health? ".Nowadays brown rice is a popular topic. Everyone seems to suggest you, having brown rice in your meals. In many studies, it has also been proved that, in comparison to white rice, brown rice is much healthy than white rice. But at last the question arises  " What actually is this brown rice ?? "

The popularity of brown rice has been increasing over the years possibly replacing traditional white rice counterpart. Brown rice for weight loss isn't much different from the usual trendy superfood that pops up from time to time. But. is it a truly worthy replacement or like most of the time, is it just an unnecessary change?

So without taking much of your valuable time, let's begin with today's article.

What Is Brown Rice?

What is brown rice? The rice we use in our daily life is white rice, brown rice is actually white rice which is not refined. We can say it is just the rice after cultivation with the husk removed from its above surface. It is purely unprocessed. You must be knowing, natural products are much healthier than man processed products and so is the brown rice.

Why Brown Rice Is Healthy?

The most important reason for brown rice being more healthy is the layers present over it. There are mainly three layers on rice - bran, germ and endosperm. In bran and germ, there is a higher content of protein, fibers, and iron. While in the endosperm layer there is mainly carbohydrate content.
When rice is refined, both bran and germ layer gets removed, so the white rice is only left with carbohydrate and so this white rice is considered a little bad for health. Since in brown rice there are all the three layers which help us to provide us with all protein, fibers and many other nutrients, it becomes so so good for health.

So let's know about brown vs white rice in great detail and its advantages and disadvantages and why it is much healthier than white rice.

1. Fiber Content In Brown Rice

Brown rice contains a lot more fibers as compared to normal rice we use daily. In every 100 grams of brown rice, there is 2 gram of fibers, while in white rice its content is less than one gram. Rice enriched with fibers give us more satisfaction and also helps us to keep our stomach full for a longer time. So, it doesn't let us feel hungry due to which we take less food. Hence, it is also helpful to lose weight and burn fat. Hence for people who are following weight loss routine, they should take brown rice instead of white rice.

2. Glycemic Index Of Brown Rice

The foods in which the glycemic index and glycemic load are less, those type of food help to maintain the blood glucose level balanced. So, if brown rice is consumed by diabetes patients also, then also they will have no bad effect on their health instead it will improve their condition.

In comparison to white rice, the glycemic index of brown rice is too low. Hence, if you are a diabetes patient, there's no need to worry, you can have it as much as you wish.

Brown Rice

3. Iron Content In Brown Rice

The amount of iron which is required by our body every day, among that 5% of it can be supplied by having 100 grams of brown rice in your meal. But at the same place, if we are having 100 grams of white rice, it is capable of providing only 1% of iron. From this, we can conclude that how much beneficial is brown rice in comparison to white rice. So due to this anemic persons are advised to eat brown rice in their meal as it maintains the iron amount in our body to the best level.

4. Nutrients In Brown Rice Vs White Rice

In comparison to white rice, brown rice has a higher content of micronutrients such as selenium, zinc, etc. These small micronutrients help to strengthen our immune system to a great extent. The immune system plays a vital role in safeguarding our body from several kinds of diseases. Both zinc and selenium are antioxidants, which is required for the functioning of the normal human body and brown rice supplies them in good amount.

5. Refinement in brown rice vs. white rice

First, in a structural sense, the difference between white and brown rice is its refinement. Rice is actually the seed of the grass species Oryza Sativa, And it contains multiple pieces and layers. When refined, white rice removes all but one part of the seed, the endosperm. At the same place, brown rice only removes the outermost layer of the seed, the hull, leaving behind the endosperm, along with part of the awn, the bran, and the germ. And it's these remaining pieces that supposedly provides beneficial sustenance that is non-existent in white rice.

In a macronutrient standpoint, the extra pieces provide brown rice 40% more protein and twice as much fiber. However, it's still not that much overall. At only 5 grams of protein and 3.5 grams of fiber per cup.

6. Availability of Micronutrients

When it comes to micronutrients, though, then brown rice certainly seems superior to its white rice counterpart. But, brown rice also contains the antinutrient phytic acid. Phytic acid is considered an antinutrient because it binds to minerals in the digestive tract which greatly reduce its absorption rate.

Researches have shown that this can affect the absorption of crucial minerals such as zinc, iron, and magnesium. One research even found that a diet which consists of brown rice reduced protein digestion more slow than white rice.

Even though brown rice contains more minerals, the study also found that mineral levels were the same in both brown and white rice diets. On top of this, it's quite common in the market to find white rice that is enriched with the nutrients that were removed during processing, which negates the potential nutrient benefits of brown rice.

For more on brown rice vs white rice:

                                 

Some Disadvantages Of Brown Rice Over White Rice:

In comparison to white rice, brown rice has two disadvantages.

1. The first one is about its taste. Brown rice has a very weak taste as compared to white rice. So, due to its little bad taste many people avoid its use. At the same place, white rice has good taste.

2. Its availability in the market is very lower than white rice, hence due to its low supply it's a bit costly than white rice.

3. White rice is very free while brown rice is a bit sticky when you cook it. Hence due to its sticky nature, it becomes a bit difficult to consume. That is why it can not be used in Biriyani and Pulau.

And it also leads to a low taste. Here a big question arises that we should spend money on our medicines or brown rice? Then obviously you should go for medicines. And, it would probably not be better if you eat good but less.


4. One thing you should keep in mind though is that both brown rice and brown rice contains high levels of inorganic arsenic, a compound toxic to the body, especially for children and pregnant women.

Regular high consumption of inorganic arsenic can increase the risk of bladder, lung, and skin cancer as well as heart disease.

5. Ironically the quote "healthier brown rice" contains roughly 80% more arsenic than white rice.

The solution to this problem:

Fortunately, you can reduce arsenic levels dramatically by thoroughly washing your rice just before you start cooking it in a 6 to 1 water to rice ratio.

So, far it might sound pretty bad for brown rice, even though we're told it's supposed to be dramatically healthier.

The best thing that brown rice hold over white rice, is its effect on diabetes. In one meta-analysis white rice was associated with increased risks of diabetes by 11% for each daily serving consumed. At the same time, brown rice was found out to decrease the risk of diabetes by 16%, especially when replacing it with white rice consumption.

It is just because of the difference in the glycemic loads, the effect a food has in increasing blood sugar levels. White rice sits at a moderately heavy 29 on GL while brown rice is a respectable 16. If you are already at risk of diabetes, then switching to brown rice does make a bit of sense.

Fitness Goal Achievement

Finally, when it comes to fitness goals, you simply should have a look at its macronutrients breakdown. As discussed neither are sources of protein, which directly means it probably wouldn't be the first thing to consider while building muscle or strength. However, they are high in carbohydrates, which can provide you energy.

Also as like most carb foods, they are extremely calorie dense and simple to eat in great amount. It means, it is not so great for weight loss but can be beneficial for bulking your muscles.

So, at last, who wins the battle between brown rice and white rice?  And I can't say this time as you have got quite a good perception to it after studying so long.

According to me, no one wins the battle between white rice and brown rice can be a draw.

So, hope that you must have enjoyed reading and knowing the benefits of brown rice in place of white rice.

If you have had any health-related queries, feel free to share it with us using our comment section. We will provide you with the best answers. Also, comment below which one you are going to prefer, brown rice vs white rice.

Thanks for reading this article.

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