Q & A Thursday: brown rice vs white rice

Posted by kathryn in Carbohydrates and Q & A Thursday

The rice we eat is actually the seed of the rice plant. The outer husk of the seed is first removed by milling and this product is brown rice. If this process is continued, the germ and bran of the rice are also removed, giving white rice.

During the milling process there is considerable nutrient loss. Brown rice, therefore is higher in fibre, B vitamins, potassium and magnesium than all types of white rice. While it’s not as low as basmati, as per the last post, brown rice stacks up well in the GI comparison.

Brown rice is a better choice, nutrition-wise, although it does take longer to cook. The next best is basmati, because of it’s low GI value.


Comments

Fiona 14 July, 2007

That’s great news, Kathryn. Brown and basmati are my two favourite types of rice. Is using a rice cooker okay?


kathryn 14 July, 2007

Glad to hear it Fiona and the rice cooker is absolutely fine. I’ve only got one recently, but love it. It also cooks lentils really well.


Stephanie 14 July, 2007

When I lived in Asia I discovered brown jasmine rice in Bangkok, which is amazing … clearly better for you because it hasn’t been polished but also with that lovely jasmine taste… have never been able to find it in Australia… have you ever come upon it here?


Andrew 14 July, 2007

Wow… All these rice answers really cover my questions on the subject.

Thanks for your efforts Kathryn.


kathryn 14 July, 2007

Stephanie, I haven’t had brown jasmine rice, although years ago there was a shop close to me that sold brown basmati rice – which was wonderful. Haven’t seen it for ages though.

Andrew – yes, the rice answers have grown in number! Glad to hear you’ve found it useful.


Lucy 14 July, 2007

Would never have thought to cook lentils in the rice cooker Kathryn.

Brilliant.

Thank you for all of this rice and grain-related info. The other good thing about brown rice is that it takes longer to chew, so you eat less and feel far more satisfied.


kathryn 14 July, 2007

I’ve only had a rice cooker for about 6 months, but I’m a huge fan of it. I cook rice and lentils in it frequently and today . . . I cooked barley in it – so super-easy. The lentils come out particularly well for salads – as in whole and with a bite, not too mushy.

Thanks for your comments Lucy.


carol 14 March, 2008

i love this site, just came across it last night,i bought a rice cooker last week as i found cooking brown rice on the stove took forever,and im so impressed,its great,and now i will cook the lentils in it,great idea,thanks.


kathryn 14 March, 2008

Carol, thanks for visiting. I didn’t know you could cook chickpeas in a crock pot – much easier than having to keep an eye on them. Cooking lentils in the rice cooker works really well – but I’ve only cooked whole lentils in it so far. Thanks for visiting and let me know how you go with your rice cooker experimentation!


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