The Right Rice

by Kelly DuBois

Brown rice has been glorified by Western thinking nutritionists because they assess food by nutrient levels, which gives brown rice a SLIGHT edge over white.  Eastern thinkers look at the net effect on the body. They have always known white rice crushes brown rice. So yes brown has a higher nutrient density but its negligible.  There is only one gram more of fiber in half a cup of brown rice than in half a cup of white. There’s five times that in one serving of broccoli. (Veggies are best place to get our fiber).  A half-cup of brown rice contains 1.5 milligrams of niacin versus .25 mg for white, which may seem like a big difference, but you can get more than 13 mg of niacin in a serving of salmon or beef.  Brown rice has 7.8 micrograms of folate and white has1.7 mcg, but you get a 236 mcg in one cup of spinach.  As for the glycemic response, there's not a big difference. Brown rice has a Glycemic Index of 55 and white is 65. The dark side of brown rice is it's antinutrient content. Rice like all other grains are the seeds of grasses and they have evolved a survival mechanism in their outer bran for protection against grazing insects, animals and humans. These anti-nutrients or plant toxins (phytates, tannins, enzyme inhibitors, and lectins) cause digestive problems, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and auto-immune issues. White rice is not loaded with nutrients, but it's a very clean starch source and much easier to digest and assimilate than any other grain.
Jasmine and Basmati are the best.​