Brown Rice Nutrition Facts
A good source of dietary fiber and protein, low in sodium, excellent source of magnesium, selenium, manganese, iron and the vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6, rice is the main food for 50% of the world population.
Difference Between White and Brown Rice:
Rice has several layers. The outer layer, the hull, is removed to produce brown rice. This process is the least damaging to the nutritional value of the rice and avoids the unnecessary loss of nutrients that occurs with further processing. If brown rice is further processed to remove the bran and most of the germ layer, the result is a whiter rice, but also a rice that has lost many nutrients.
Interesting Rice Facts:
• Rice is widely believed to be one of the oldest foods known- traced back to 5000 BC.
• 96% of the world’s rice is eaten in the area in which it is grown.
• In certain parts of the world rice is the difference between life and death.
• Chinese word for ‘rice’ is the same as the word for ‘food’.
• in Japan the word for ‘cooked rice’ is the same as the word for ‘meal’.
• Rice has its own God in Indonesia and Japan.
• Chinese people believe that rice considerably increases appetite, cures stomach ailments and indigestion problems.
• An average person eats about 3-400 pounds of rice a year.
• Rice throwing at newly weds symbolizes abundance and prosperity.
Rice Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits:
• One cup of brown rice will provide you with 88% of your daily recommended manganese intake: for a healthy nervous system, protection against damage from free radicals, in the production of cholesterol which is used by the body to produce sex hormones.
• Brown rice, just like other whole grains / fiber rich foods may help in maintaining a healthy body weight.
• Selenium and dietary fiber help substantially reduce the risk of colon cancer.
• Brown rice is a good source of dietary fiber. Eating foods high in fiber may help women avoid gallstones.
• The husk part of rice is considered as an effective medicine to treat dysentery.
• The oil in whole brown rice lowers cholesterol.
• Being rich in carbohydrates, rice helps in normal functioning of the brain and acts as an energy source.
• Magnesium in brown rice helps lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.
• Magnesium, as well as calcium, is necessary for healthy bones. About two-thirds of the magnesium in the human body is found in our bones.
• Cooked brown rice has a medium glycemic index value of 50, which means it has a slow effect on blood sugar levels.
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References:
Wood, Rebecca. The Whole Foods Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Prentice-Hall Press; 1988 1988. PMID:15220.
Brown Rice, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php? tname=foodspice&dbid=128.
Ensminger AH, Ensminger, ME, Kondale JE, Robson JRK. Foods & Nutriton Encyclopedia. Pegus Press, Clovis, California 1983.
Fortin, Francois, Editorial Director. The Visual Foods Encyclopedia. Macmillan, New York 1996.
The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, Joseph Pizzorno, and Lara Pizzorno: Brown Rice Nutrition Facts.
http://healthmad.com/nutrition/ the-benefits-of-brown-rice/
