The big difference between the two is that brown rice is the whole rice grain, bran and hull included. It’s also called hulled rice or unmilled rice. Some people would say it has a mild “nutty” flavor and is more nutritious. Looking at the nutrients brown rice provides vs. white rice and what is lost, the list looks like this: (numbers are approximate and averaged from a couple sources)
| 1 Cup | Brown Rice | White Rice | Nutrient Reduction | RDI | Brown Rice% of daily total |
| Calories | 232 | 223 | 4% | ~2000-2500 | ~10% |
| Protein | 4.88 g | 4.10 g | 16% | 50 g | 10% |
| Carbohydrate | 49.7 g | 49.6 g | negligible | 300 g | 17% |
| Fat | 1.17 g | 0.205 g | 83% | 55 g | 2% |
| Fiber | 3.32 g | 0.74 g | 78% | 25 g | 13% |
| Thiamin (B1) | 0.176 g | 0.223 g | -22% ? | 1.5 mg | 11% |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 0.039 mg | 0.021 mg | 47% | 1.7 mg | 2% |
| Niacin (B3) | 2.730 g | 2.050 g | 24% | 20 mg | 14% |
| Vit B6 | 0.294 mg | 0.103 mg | 65% | 2 mg | 15% |
| Folate | 10 μg | 4.1 μg | 59% | 400 μg | 3% |
| Vit E | 1.4 mg | 0.462 mg | 67% | 20 mg | 7% |
| Magnesium | 72.2 mg | 22.6 mg | 69% | 400 mg | 18% |
| Phosphorus | 142 mg | 57.4 mg | 60% | 1000 mg | 14% |
| Potassium | 137 mg | 57.4 mg | 59% | 4700 mg | 3% |
| Selenium | 26 μg | 19 μg | 27% | 70 μg | 37% |
| Zinc | 1.05 mg | 0.841 mg | 20% | 15 mg | 7% |
If you look at the percentages, it seems like a lot is lost. Besides the conundrum of B1 increasing with the removal of the germ, if you look at the RDA for most of the nutrients, even the brown rice is a pretty poor source of vitamins and minerals. The highest RDA is 37% with Selenium. In comparison, 1 or 2 brazil nuts have more than enough selenium for the day. We could pick and choose which foods would be better sources for each nutrient, but we’re here to compare brown and white rice.
Nutritional value is usually gathered by looking at the amount of what we as people require from foods, and leaving off or marking zero for the absence of other nutrients. What we don’t see on the labels, or anywhere else, are the things we don’t need but are included like anti-nutrients. Labels don’t include the amount of phytic acid or kinds of anti-nutrients included in rice. But we do know that the phytic acid is stored in the brown part of the rice. The hull and bran contain virtually all of the phytic acid.
The question you are probably asking is “why should I avoid phytic acid?” Rice has a specific phytic acid called phytin.While a lot of animals can digest this compound, humans cannot. Phytin will chelate (or bond to) zinc and iron, and also calcium and magnesium rendering them unusable by the body. This means these nutrients in the nutrition label, will be significantly less absorbed by the body. So when you see zinc and magnesium on the label of rice as being a % of your daily value, you’re really not getting all that into your system. The bran also has some amino acids that inhibit trypsin, which helps digest proteins. So when you eat meat, and brown rice, your ability to digest the meat is reduced.
So while the phytin and the trypsin inhibitor probably aren’t doing much to rob you of nutrients already in your system, it isn’t allowing you to use the nutrients coming in with the rice. Both brown and white rice with its high carbohydrate value is a big source of carbs that can negatively affect weight loss and insulin sensitivity. Brown rice with its whole grain goodness is said to have a lower glycemic index (GI) than white rice, (brown basmati = 45, white basmati = 50) but even the GI idea could be called into question. So while brown rice has a slightly lower GI, it’s not exactly good.
You can find an endless supply of articles online on why brown rice is better. Nearly all focus on the brown rice being a whole grain which gives it more fiber, and how it has additional nutrients. I don’t disagree, but the idea that those nutrients aren’t useable to the body and the fact that the brown rice has anti-nutrients doesn’t come up. Fiber may not actually the cure all that the government and cereal boxes claim either. To read more about the myths of fiber, take a look at Chris Kresser’s fiber post.
There’s always that argument that Asians eat lots of rice and are lean and healthy. That’s true. And the people that this argument is usually based are, active, insulin sensitive, metabolically healthy, from a healthy ratio of Omega 3 to 6 fats, McDonald’s free diet, type people. So comparing an overweight American to this Asian, and thinking that just changing the American’s diet to include rice will result in weight loss and ideal health is a little far fetched. It’s not just the rice that makes this hypothetical Asian healthy.
In summation, brown rice has more nutrients, which may or may not be used by the body; it inhibits protein breakdown; has more fiber, which might also be over-hyped; and has a slightly lower GI, but is still high. If your glycogen stores are low after working out, and you need some easy carbs, rice could be a good filler, but otherwise seems to be a pretty poor staple. This doesn’t negate the fact that it’s easy to grow in humid, wet areas, and feeds a lot of people around the world. But if you had a choice of eating rice, brown or white, or some other carb like a sweet potato, I’d pick the sweet potato, with its lack of phytates and more nutritionally dense, more bioavailable vitamins and minerals.
If you have any questions or arguments I failed to mention, please post them in the comments section or send me an email. Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment