Rice is a primary crop grown in most parts around the world and is now a food staple as well. You can find different types of rice today, including black rice, long-grain basmati, sticky rice, and white rice. Not only are the names different, the health benefits are different as well. In terms of brown rice, is it healthy?Should you replace it with other types of rice? Keep reading to find out.
Is Brown Rice Healthy?
Yes, it is. This natural wholesome food is loaded with essential minerals such as iron, manganese, zinc, phosphorous, selenium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. It also contains several vitamins, including riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, and alpha-tocopherol. In addition, it is rich in vitamin K, folate, and vitamin B6. It also provides you with a good amount of fiber as well as protein and healthy fatty acids.
Is brown rice healthy? Is it a better substitute of white rice? The answer is again yes. Brown rice is loaded with healthy nutrients, which are not present in white rice. Moreover, white rice undergoes the process of milling and polishing and hence loses its treasure of healthful components.
Is It Good for Weight Loss?
When people ask, "Is brown rice healthy?" they actually want to know if it really helps reduce weight. The truth is that switching to brown rice from white rice will help you lose weight to some extent.
Brown rice provides you with calories, but they are quality calories. A cup of cooked brown rice provides you with 216 calories, covering 14% of your calorie budget if you are on a 1,500-calorie diet. Still, it is better than white rice, which has about 242 calories per cup. It means that if you replace a cup of white rice with a cup of brown rice, you would lose about 9,500 calories in a year.
Brown rice can always be a part of your weight loss diet mainly because of its fiber content. Fiber keeps your digestive tract healthy and bulk up the stool to make it pass through the intestines smoothly. It also improves digestion and keeps you full for long, preventing hunger pangs and helping you lose weight.
Health Benefits of Brown Rice
Is brown rice healthy? Yes but how? What specific benefits does it offer? Here is more about it:
1. It Eliminates Free Radicals
Brown rice is loaded with powerful antioxidants and offers protection against free radicals. It protects your cells from oxidation damage and lowers your risk of developing several serious problems, including coronary heart diseases and cancer.
2. It Improves Digestion
Brown rice is great for your digestive system mainly due to its fiber content. Fiber makes you eat less and prevents flatulence. Brown rice has the bran layer on its surface that limits the absorption of acid and humidity, which in turn helps retain its texture. Fiber also bulks up stool and prevents issues such as colitis and constipation.
3. It Improves Cardiovascular Health
Selenium is important for a healthy heart and brown rice contains loads of it. Regular consumption of brown rice also plays a role in reducing plaque buildup in the arteries. This lowers your risk of developing cardiac disorders such as vascular diseases and hypertension. Studies show that the tissue around the grain of brown rice has a component that works against the endocrine protein angiotensin II and prevents hypertension and atherosclerosis.
4. It Strengthens Your Nervous System
Is brown rice healthy? Yes, brown rice is good for your brain and nervous system. It is rich in vitamin B and accelerates the metabolism in the brain. The presence of minerals such as manganese and magnesium also makes it good for your brain. Magnesium plays a vital role in balancing the activity of calcium in the body, which in turn helps regulate nerves and muscle tone. It also helps keep muscles and nerves relaxed. Vitamin E in brown rice also prevents oxidative damage and ensures the smooth function of the brain as well as your nervous system.
5. It Works As Antidepressant
Eating brown rice may help protect you from anxiety related disorders. Germinated brown rice is known for its antidepressant properties, which are mainly due to the presence of essential amino acids, such as glycerin, glutamine, and GABA. They are inhibitory neurotransmitters and block messages associated with depression, anxiety, and stress.
6. It Stabilizes Blood Sugar
Brown rice is good for diabetics because it helps stabilize blood sugar levels. Regular consumption of brown rice also lowers your risk of developing diabetes – a half cup of brown rice a day reduces your risk of developing diabetes by 60%. Eating white rice increases your risk of developing diabetes one hundred fold.