Brown rice vs. White Rice

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rebeccaoneillcarter
rebeccaoneillcarter Posts: 51
in Food and Nutrition
An excerpt from http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/94/1/Brown-rice-vs-white-rice.html

"Rice goes through a variety of processes before it's ready for cooking. After harvesting, the seeds are run through a rice huller/husker for milling to remove the outer grain husks. After this process, you're left with brown rice. Nice and simple.

To create white rice, there's added steps. The germ and the inner husk (bran) is removed, the grain is then polished, usually using glucose or talc.

The crazy thing is that these added steps to turn brown rice to white remove nutrients that are sometimes then introduced back in via synthetic sources - this is called fortified white rice. The same type of thing happens in brown bread vs. white bread scenario.

The loss of nutrients is broad and substantial. Plain white rice has far less Vitamin E, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folacin, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron and over dozen other nutrients. Added to that, the dietary fiber contained in white rice is around a quarter of brown rice."

And knowing is half the battle!

Replies

  • amycal
    amycal Posts: 646 Member
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    thanks for sharing - I actually prefer brown rice!
  • lordofultima
    lordofultima Posts: 293
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    brown rice, brown pasta, brown bread, the way to go!
  • vampirette
    vampirette Posts: 12
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    I also prefer brown rice. Stuff like this is so important to know! Thanks for the post, I will not be eating white rice again! (Except for in sushi because sushi is too delicious to ban from my life!)
  • tracybates
    tracybates Posts: 7 Member
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    I just made a great Chicken Stirr fry with Brown rice for dinner. Only 276 calories per serving. It was so yummy!! Thanks for sharing!
  • kappyblu
    kappyblu Posts: 654 Member
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    Thanks for that. I made the switch to brown rice a long time ago. My family (which includes 4 kids. 3 of which are 7 and under) love it! I buy the Uncle Ben's. The other brands I've tried always wind up too sticky. Yuk. The minute rice brown rice is good, but it is not enough to feed my whole family.

    It seems silly to me now all of the stuff they do to make the grain white and then add back in some of all that they took out.
  • countryrunner
    countryrunner Posts: 62 Member
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    I also prefer brown rice. Stuff like this is so important to know! Thanks for the post, I will not be eating white rice again! (Except for in sushi because sushi is too delicious to ban from my life!)

    I'm with you. Can't give up the sushi rice!
  • countryrunner
    countryrunner Posts: 62 Member
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    Another thing about brown rice... I saw something on tv the other day about how cooking your brown rice to al dente will improve its location on the glycemic index.
  • twistygirl
    twistygirl Posts: 517 Member
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    I love white rice, I have several friends from Korea, China, Philippines and they all eat white rice they don't cook it like we do. They wash it until it is really clean. No one ever mentions the vitamins they are all size 0-5. Now all my American friends eat brown rice and they are big as a house. I will continue to get my vitamins and fiber from other food sources. It's white rice for me. :drinker:
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    I knew that, my mom told me all that growing up which is why we weren't "allowed" to eat white bread. I still love my steamed white rice though. :bigsmile:
  • TheMaidOfAstolat
    TheMaidOfAstolat Posts: 3,222 Member
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    brown rice, brown pasta, brown bread, the way to go!

    Same here!
  • jadee76
    jadee76 Posts: 29
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    When white rice is all you have all day in a limited amount, yeah you'll probably be a size 0-5.
    A bariatric doctor told a friend that when it comes to food, "if it's white, it aint right"
  • kylielouttit
    kylielouttit Posts: 512 Member
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    I will eat brown bread no problem, but I just CAN`T like brown rice. White it is over here!
  • blazin_j
    blazin_j Posts: 26
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    Like most people, my taste buds prefers white rice over brown, but brown is healthier. It's kind of counter-intuitive at first, but anything that says "enriched" on it, like white rice or white flour or white bread, is not richer/better. It just means it's been processed and much of the nutrition value has been taken OUT. I've compensated for the brown rice taste by adding some curry powder to it. More tasty and healthier for you too!
  • JosieMomGramma
    JosieMomGramma Posts: 727 Member
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    I get my fibre & vitamins from a wide variety of foods. I love multi grain, rye & whole wheat breads prefer them over white bread anyday. But when it comes to rice make mine white Jasmine or Basimati for flavor. I really do not like the taste or texture of brown rice. I have tried it many times.
  • LoserCruiser
    LoserCruiser Posts: 184
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    I love brown rice but no one else in my house does, lol.
  • neebelung
    neebelung Posts: 115
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    brown rice, brown pasta, brown bread, the way to go!

    Mmm mmm, same here. Brown starches in general just have a heartier, nuttier flavor.
  • saraii
    saraii Posts: 11 Member
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    Now all my American friends eat brown rice and they are big as a house.


    hahaha love this.
    Yeah I can eat whole grain bread, pasta, tortilla whatever.. but when it comes to brown rice i cant, i treat myself to steamed rice. went from eating it every day, three meals a day + snacks.. to once a week if im lucky. So it feels as it balances.

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