White Rice vs Brown Rice – Which Is Better?

Recently we made an effort to eat more healthy in our household. This led to replacing regular foods with healthier alternatives; for example:
white sugar → brown sugar
regular bread → whole wheat bread
Vegetable oil → coconut oil and ghee
Honey → Manuka honey (thanks from a tip from a patient!)

However, during the process, one of the staple foods we had difficulty replacing was rice. While researching online I noticed articles posting the benefits of white rice, and some sites even suggesting that white rice was more beneficial than brown rice. Is that really the case? Let’s explore:

According to researchers at the Harvard School Of Public Health, eating two or more servings of brown rice per week led to a decrease in type two diabetes. In fact, replacing a third serving of white rice with brown rice reduced the chance of type two diabetes by 16%. Completely replacing white rice with brown rice led to a further reduction of 36%!(1). Continuing on with the same study, researchers also noted that people whose families ate white rice often were more likely to have a family history of diabetes.

Brown rice provides slow release sugar, meaning that instead of spiking the blood sugar, brown rice helps stabilize blood sugar which can explain why it reduces the rate of diabetes.

Here is a breakdown of the nutritional components of both rice types:

Lastly, here are five more health benefits of brown rice in case you have not been convinced!

Helps with weight loss by improving digestion and making you feel full sooner
Reduces the risk of heart disease and high cholesterol
High in selenium which can help reduce the chance of arthritis
High in manganese (different from magnesium!), which is used to maintain our nervous system.
Rich in naturally occurring oils which can help normalize cholesterol levels. (3)

1. http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20100614/brown-rice-vs-white-rice-which-is-better#1
2. http://www.livestrong.com/article/381241-nutritional-values-of-white-rice-vs-brown-rice/
3. http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/10-reasons-why-brown-rice-is-the-healthy-choice/