Benefits of Eating Brown Rice
Rice is a staple food for about half of the world’s population. White rice accounts for most of the rice eaten but there are plenty of good reasons why brown rice is a healthier choice.
- White rice is much less nutritious compared to brown rice. In white rice, the bran layer has been removed, and with that most of the fiber content as well as many vitamins and minerals. Brown rice still has the bran layer intact and contains nutrients such as niacin, vitamin B6, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, and even some vitamin E.
- White rice is a starchy, high glycemic food, which raises blood sugar levels quickly thereby contributing to health problems such as diabetes and weight gain. The fiber in brown rice slows down the absorption of sugar in the bloodstream and is therefore always a better option.
- The high insoluble fiber and phytonutrient content of brown rice helps protect against various types of cancer, lowering cholesterol, and preventing heart disease.
- Brown rice is known to be a building, strengthening food that supplies us with plenty of fuel.
To make the most of brown rice there are a few important things to keep in mind while preparing and eating this grain:
- Eating the right amount is, as with anything, important. Too much grain can make the body acidic. Eat it as a side dish, not as the main portion of your meal and load the rest of your plate with vegetables, fruits or seaweeds and a complementing protein (animal or vegetarian).
- Chew well. Your saliva contains the enzyme ptyalin, which starts the breakdown of starches. This helps make the rest of the digestive process easier for your body.
- Soak your brown rice for at least 7 hours or overnight, preferably with an acid such as lemon juice, yoghurt, whey or vinegar. I like using apple cider vinegar. Just add 2 table spoons to 1 cup of rice and the soaking water. Whole grains, including brown rice contain some hard to digest proteins as well as certain anti-nutrients and enzyme inhibitors. These can interfere with the digestive process, nutrient absorption and may irritate the digestive track. Soaking whole grains helps to break down the proteins and neutralize the anti-nutrients, thereby making the rice easier to digest and more nutritious.
- You can further help the digestibility of brown rice by adding a piece of kombu while boiling the rice. Not only does this make the rice softer and more digestible, it also adds some beneficial minerals and alkalinity.
- Rotate your whole grains. However healthy a particular food may be, it is never healthy to eat the same thing all the time.
As it takes time to prepare brown rice, if you take the soaking and cooking process both into considerations, it might be worth your while to cook up a large batch on a given day and store it in the fridge or even freezer for use over a longer period of time. This way you have it readily available for use in different recipes. To reheat your rice, place it in a saucepan with a bit of water, some butter or ghee and cover it, stirring once in a while until it is hot.
Use brown rice as it is, along with vegetables, legumes, fish, chicken etc. or use it to make fried rice, breakfast porridge or risotto.
Here are some recipe ideas from the website:
Brown Rice Apple & Date Porridge (in the Balance Body, Mind & Spirit booklet)
Brown Rice Pumpkin & Spinach Risotto
Salmon Stir-Fry with Brown Rice
