Brown Rice Vs. White Rice: Differences & Which One Is Better?

Brown rice is a whole grain. This means that it has all its part intact—the bran, germ, and the endosperm—only taking off the outer hull of the rice kernel. This also means it is high in nutrients, vitamins, and fiber.

The is the outer layer of the rice grain, and is full of antioxidants, fiber, and B vitamin. The middle layer, , is a rich source of essential proteins, some of the B vitamins, minerals, as well as healthy fats. The core, , contains carbohydrates, some proteins, and some of the vitamins and minerals. Brown rice is not stripped off any of these layers, which is both a blessing and a curse.

How?

For starters, with all these layers comes difficulties to digest them. Brown rice is hard to digest, owing to its high fiber content. It also has a very nutty flavor, that is not everyone’s cup of tea or ‘bowl of rice,’ honestly. Brown rice also contains phytic acid, which may hinder absorption of certain nutrients.

But, this process also removes the bran layer, and thus eliminates the threat of phytic acid. Most importantly, white rice is easy to digest as the milling helps cut down the content of grain based fiber whose overdose can harm the gut, thus hampering the digestion process. Though fiber is beneficial for most individuals, people with certain digestive disorders may be advised to avoid fiber. In such a case, white rice would be an important

One cup of brown rice is believed to contain twice the amount of phosphorus and manganese (88 percent) like white rice. It also has two and half times the iron and three, four, and ten times the vitamin B3, vitamin B1, and vitamin B6, respectively. Just a portion of this variety fulfills almost 80 percent of the recommended daily requirement of manganese. This mineral is essential in the formation of good cholesterol, energy and sex hormone production. Brown rice also contains 27.3 percent (19.11 mcg) of selenium, 20.9 percent (83.85 mg) of magnesium, 83.85 mg of potassium and 18.7 tryptophan. That’s an impressive quantity, if we were, to be honest.

Even though the difference is quite small, brown rice contains more calories when compared to white rice. A bowl of cooked long grain brown rice contains about 216 calories to 206 of the white variety.

But it is important to note this type also contains phytic acid. This anti-nutrient is known for its effect on mineral absorption, impairing the absorption of essential minerals like iron, manganese, potassium, and magnesium (1, 2). In this case, people can go for sprouted grain brown rice that has fiber that helps

A cup of long grained white rice contains about 0.5 mg of manganese, 9.7 mcg of selenium, 8.7 mg of magnesium, 17.4 mg of potassium, and 206 calories.

The good thing here is that white rice is free of phytic acid, which saves all its mineral content.

Brown rice is low on the glycemic index (GI) making it a better choice for people with diabetes.

A study conducted on overweight Asians concluded that those who had more brown rice than white witnessed a successful reduction in their blood glucose levels. It also leads to reduced resistance to insulin (3).

But, this property is also dependent on the brown or white rice you are comparing to. On the GI scale of 0-100 with 100 being most susceptible to a glucose spike, and 0 being the least harmful, brown rice sits comfortably at 50 (4). This number looks like a king when you are weighing your options between this variety and white jasmine rice (79) or short grain white rice (89).

But compare brown rice with white basmati rice and guess what! They are on the same level.

If you are a white rice lover and can’t go without it even for a day, I suppose you can do better by cutting down on the portion or going for a low GI variety like white basmati rice.

Brown rice is believed to be a healthier option for those looking to shed some pounds. As explained earlier, this whole grain variety is packed with most of the essential vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, as well as proteins, which makes it incredibly heart friendly. It also has an impressive fiber content which helps facilitate proper bowel movement, thus aiding weight loss.

Being a whole grain variety, brown rice is well suited for people having uncontrolled hunger pangs. It makes you feel full for a long time, thus controlling your calorie intake. Apart from all this, brown rice is also known to improve healthy gut bacteria in your microbiome.

The main downfall of this variety comes with its thick nature, which some people may find unappealing. With so many layers hindering, brown rice is tough to digest. Also, phytic acid here interferes with the proper mineral absorption. So, there is no guarantee that you’ll get all the nutrients promised.

Additionally, the calories in white rice are fewer when compared to its counterpart, even though the difference is quite small.

All of this shows that white rice is not a bad option for weight watchers if the portion size is controlled.

It is a given that brown rice, being nutrient and fiber-heavy, is not that easily digested. The main reason behind it is the presence of problematic middle layer bran which is home to all the fiber and phytic acid.

With all the grain layers intact, brown rice contains a significant amount of arsenic, several folds more than its white variety. That’s why brown rice should not be eaten often or in an unlimited quantity. In fact, many of the brown rice brands have been reported to contain at least 50% more than the safe amount of arsenic, per cup, with several others exceeding the limit by two folds. (5)

So it’s a given that, even with its whole grain promises, intake of more than one serving of top quality brown rice will expose you to the toxic arsenic. Portion-controlling is the key here. It also shows that brown rice is not fit to be made a dietary staple.

Long-term consumption of arsenic is known to increase the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, Type II diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases (6, 7, 8).

Rinsing the rice is even better. Doing this will not only get rid of impurities but also helps in further reduction of the arsenic levels.

Brown rice, while being all nutrient-dense, somewhat lacks in the healthy carb content. This proportion is highly overshadowed by the layers of fiber on the whole grain.

Though frowned upon, optimum carb content is essential for our body to function properly. It helps provide us with endless energy and is critical for keeping hormone production under control in women.

Just make sure you have superior white rice varieties, such as jasmine and basmati, in a limited manner to fulfill your carbohydrate requirements for the day. One cup of cooked long-grained white rice in a day is a reasonable quantity.

If we go by the nutrient data available, brown rice is said to have about four times the magnesium as white rice. This shows that having brown rice occasionally can help maintain stronger teeth and bones.

Both the rice varieties have low on fat. But, brown rice contains a little higher amount of fat when compared to its sister variety.

A cup of brown rice contains about three grams of fat when compared to the one gram of fat in white rice.

In the race to become healthier variety, this is another aspect where brown rice falls somewhat short.

While this variety is rich in essential B vitamins, it contains a comparably lesser amount of folate. This vitamin is absolutely necessary for women, particularly those who are pregnant or breastfeeding.