Feeding over 50% of the global population every day, rice rules the world!
However, the most consumed form of this crop is the highly processed polished one – the white rice.
White rice isn’t bad. It gives us the carbohydrate load that we need, but that’s about it. There aren’t additional health benefits of this variety as it loses most of its nutrients during manufacture.
Health nuts and fitness enthusiasts have figured out that rice is more than just carbs. That’s why they are saying ‘no’ to white rice and switching to a more sustainable, nutrient-dense option – the brown rice.
Brown rice is good for the body. And its benefits can be maximized by switching to the best brown rice brand.
There are many qualities of brown rice available in the market. Devoting to just any other brand may not be the best course of action, especially when you are trying this out for the first time.
So we dug deeper and jotted down these 14 healthy brown rice brands to enlighten your soul and nourish your body.
Benefits of Brown Rice- Health, Weight Loss and Nutrition
What sets brown rice apart? Why is it called a better option than white rice?
The answer lies in the fact that brown rice only loses its outermost layer during manufacture while white rice loses all of it. As a result, white rice fails to retain most of its original nutrient content while brown rice holds on to all of it.
This makes brown rice tons healthier than its traditional counterpart. We could write a book enumerating the health benefits of this variety. Instead, we just scratched the surface.
Brown Rice Helps You Fulfill Your Dietary Fiber Requirements
For an adult, the recommended daily intake of fiber is 25-30 grams. An average American eats half of it. The rest remains unmet, every passing day.
Brown rice is one of the richest sources of fiber nature has gifted us with. It helps us meet our dietary fiber goal.
In case you are wondering why dietary fiber is so important, here are some of the cool stuff fiber does to our body:
- Maintains good gut health and protects us from ailments such as constipation and colon cancer.
- Helps lower cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart diseases.
- Protects us from diverticular disease and diabetes.
- Makes us feel full for a longer duration and helps reduce our cravings.
Brown Rice Gives You Micronutrient Boost:
Regulating our micronutrient intake isn’t as easy as keeping track of our macros. While white rice is a good source of carbs, it contains a significantly lower amount of micronutrients.
Brown rice, on the other hand, brims with all kinds of vitamins and good minerals that are vital to sustaining a healthy body.
Brown rice:
- has double the manganese and phosphorus than white rice.
- is a rich source of selenium
- Contains 60% more iron than white rice
- Contains 80%, 67%, and 50% more Vitamin B1, B3, and B9 respectively.
A constant supply of these vitamins and minerals helps you to ward off infections, enhance your brain function, support your cell health, preserves your eyesight, and helps you get rid of toxic reactive oxygen species from your body.
Brown Rice Nutrition Helps You Manage Weight:
Switching to brown rice helps you lose weight and maintain it. This is a well-known benefit of brown rice, and scientists went further to prove it.
The Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology published a study that showed that people who eat brown rice instead of white, tend to lose more weight.
This is done in several ways.
- Firstly, the high fiber content gives you early satiety and makes you feel fuller longer. This overall decreases your cravings.
- A high fiber diet also plays a role in reducing blood cholesterol levels.
- According to a study we found in the British Journal of Nutrition, brown rice also happens to reduce visceral fat, a dangerous fat that accumulates in the abdomen.
All these plus a boost of micronutrients and antioxidants will help you keep in great shape.
Brown Rice Nutrition Keeps You Away from Breast Cancer, Colon Cancer, and Diabetes:
If you are pre-diabetic or have family members suffering from diabetes and don’t want the same to happen to you, switch to brown rice. It may just save you!
Your sugar level does not spike that much after taking brown rice. It is saturated with magnesium and fiber. This helps lower your BP and keep sugar levels at check.
Also, the nutrient profile of brown rice, including a high level of antioxidants, can protect you from breast and colon cancer.
Brown Rice Gives You an Energy Boost
Brown rice is starchy food. Starch is broken down inside our body to release quite a lot of energy. So it’s not only healthy we are talking about. You will find yourself tirelessly at work for hours.
