Brown Rice Vs White Rice

Brown Rice Nutrition

Brown rice is a type of rice that is less processed than white rice. Many people are mistaken in believing that brown rice and white rice are different breeds of rice. In actual fact, white rice is brown rice that has been processed in a mill. During this process, the outer husk of the rice is removed. This outer husk is brown in color which is why the rice is known as brown rice.


The husk is usually made of components that are a helpful source of dietary fiber.

The brown rice diet, like many other diet plans, is advertised as a one-stop solution for an individual seeking to cleanse the body. Proponents of this type of diet suggest that the toxins present in the body get washed out when an individual consumes brown rice instead of white rice. There is considerable debate about whether this is actually true or not and whether brown rice nutrition is actually more than that of white rice.


There is one thing that is clear in the comparison of brown v/s white rice. Brown rice has higher fiber content than white rice. With this in mind, it is true, to some extent, that brown rice aids the process of digestion because it contains fiber.


Fiber is useful to smoothen the flow of food through the digestive system. Smooth flow of food through the system ensures that it passes into the bowel and out of the body quickly and efficiently. It also ensures that a large amount of food is passed as waste because the duration that the food is available for absorption is reduced as it continues to move through the digestive system.


From this point of view, it can be said that a brown rice diet will help with weight loss as the absorption of nutrition from this rice will be less than the absorption of nutrients from white rice. However the brown v/s white rice nutrition is a topic that could always be debated upon.

There are two ways in which a brown rice diet can be tried. The first way is to completely eliminate all other forms of food. This is not necessarily the best thing because it means that the body will be deprived of nutrition that is normally given to it. The individual on this type of brown rice diet will eat small meals of brown rice only and is allowed to consume plenty of water. The combination of water and brown rice will make the individual urinate and defecate more often than normal. This may be considered to be a cleansing process by some individuals.

Another variation of the brown rice diet is the replacement of regular rice with brown rice and also the consumption of brown rice with every meal. This type of diet is actually similar to any diet that seeks to reduce fat intake. Fatty foods will be banned in this type of diet as will foods that provide the individual with no nutritional benefits.

Individuals seeking to try these diets must consult with their healthcare specialists before attempting these diets. This is to ensure that there is no health condition within the patient that may be affected by this radical nutritional change.

Besides color, there is a lot of difference between brown rice and white rice. Unprocessed whole rice have many layers on its body, in case of the processing of the brown rice only the hull that is the outermost layer of the grain is removed. Milling process involves removing the layers present below the hull – bran and large part of germ giving us more white colored rice. Further processing is required to produce the nice shiny rice which we are used to see in the super markets. This polishing process removes the aleurone layer which is filled with essential fats. Aleurone layer is removed to increase the shelf life of the rice as the essential fats in this layer are highly susceptible to oxidation when exposed to air. The resulting product which we eat on the name of white rice is merely starch with most of its nutrients removed.

Where the difference lies –

Brown rice is a very good source of manganese and also a good source of other minerals like magnesium and selenium. Almost 11 nutrients are lost during the processing of white rice. Process to get polished white rice from brown rice destroys 80% thiamin, 67% niacin, 90% vitamin B6, 60% iron, half of phosphorous and manganese and all of essential fatty acids and dietary fiber. According to law in United States fully processed polished white rice should be enriched with thiamin, niacin and iron, however this enrichment cannot replace the loss of around 11 nutrients and are not the same as found in the original version.

Health and nutrients from brown rice

1. Manganese – a trace mineral in brown rice is necessary for energy production from proteins and carbohydrates. It is also necessary for the synthesis of fatty acids that are involved to maintain a healthy nervous system. It is also an important component of superoxide dismutase, an antioxidant enzyme found inside the mitochondria which prevents oxidative damage and thus protects against free radical oxidation in the body.
2. To maintain healthy body weight it is very important to focus on whole grains (brown rice) and decrease the consumption of refined grains (white rice) as far as possible.
3. Selenium along with fiber in brown rice helps to fight against colon cancer. A cup of cooked brown rice provides 14% of the daily value for fiber and 27.3% of the daily value for selenium.
4. Not only the fiber form brown rice, but also the essential oils present in them helps to lower cholesterol to a larger extent. Many studies found that rice bran oil, more than rice bran helps to lower the body’s LDL cholesterol.
5. The nutritional value of brown rice also protects the cardiovascular system of the postmenopausal women by lowering cholesterol and maintaining a normal blood pressure. Thus it is much wiser to include whole grains (brown rice) to gain maximum health benefits.