# White vs. Brown Rice?



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

I was watching T.V. the other day and they said there was not that much advantage with Brown Rice .Thoughts?

big rockpile


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## cvk (Oct 30, 2006)

Actually, just recently I sat down with a pound of each in their original packages and the nutrient information was the exact same on both packages. So with that in mind all a person is missing is fiber. If brown doesn't keep well and fiber is what is missing from white that keeps indefinately then why not store white and also some wheat bran (that keeps forever). Just add a handful to the rice and you have rice and bran.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

I dunno of any advantage of one over the other, but I much prefer the taste and texture of brown rice any day of the week.


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## NCLee (Aug 4, 2009)

Don't know for sure, but I suspect there's a lot of nutrient info missing from those labels. Nutrition labels on food packages don't tell the whole story. 

On another point, the rice cooker that I got for Christmas states to rinse white rice several times, until the water runs clear, before cooking. This is to remove the excess starch which can cause the rice to stick in the cooker. That rinsing also removes all the nutrients that were added back to the white "enriched" rice. Didn't rinse the last batch and had some browned rice in the bottom of the cooker. Didn't stick and burn, but did have some browned grains mixed in with the rice when I served it. 

Just 2-cents.
Lee


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

NCLee said:


> Don't know for sure, but I suspect there's a lot of nutrient info missing from those labels. Nutrition labels on food packages don't tell the whole story.


True. When they polish rice, they lose a hundred nutrients and only add back about 6 or 8.

Furthermore, they add back the few by spraying them on the outside of the white rice, and just handling it or especially rinsing it loses them again.

If you see a fine powder in the bottom of a white rice bag, that's the added nutrients that fell off.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Brown rice seems to have more complex starches. Converted rice behaves better but can be almost as bad as sugared foods when eaten without a lot of other slower digesting food to blunt the reaction.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Nutrition aside, white rice tastes like nothing, you have to doctor it up to give it any flavor. Brown rice has taste, though some brown rice tastes better than others. I prefer short grain brown rice, its more pleasing to me in taste and texture than long grain, but harder to find it in store. And then there are specialty brown rices... but thats probably more than you want to know. 

I am sure if you had actual choice of single varieties of rice and ability to do taste test side by side, then there are probably lot differences just like in corn varieties or wheat varieties. But average consumer just thinks corn or wheat or rice. And unfortunately thats the way its sold.


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## marinemomtatt (Oct 8, 2006)

The only time we buy 'plain' white rice is when our friend from Japan visits (what remains sits until her next visit)
We like Jasmine Rice (grown in Thailand), it smells wonderful and tastes divine...kinda like popcorn. We buy it in 50# bags three times a year...Nah, we don't like Rice...~lol~...
Brown Rice mixed with a little Wild Rice is a hit with my husband and I, but not our 24 yr. old...he says the texture bothers him. It's the texture that tells me it's good for yer innards...~lol~...


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## kyweaver (Nov 30, 2009)

I prefer white rice (jasmine mostly) to brown, but it is the only refined grain we eat, so I guess its ok. I just don't like brown rice.


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## thebaker (Dec 2, 2009)

Brown rice is not only better for you, but it's better for the environment than white rice too.

Rice goes through a variety of processes before it's ready for cooking. After harvesting, the seeds are run through a rice huller/husker for milling to remove the outer grain husks. After this process, you're left with brown rice. Nice and simple.

To create white rice, there's added steps. The germ and the inner husk (bran) is removed, the grain is then polished, usually using glucose or talc.

The crazy thing is that these added steps to turn brown rice to white remove nutrients that are sometimes then introduced back in via synthetic sources - this is called fortified white rice. The same type of thing happens in brown bread vs. white bread scenario.

The loss of nutrients is broad and substantial. Plain white rice has far less Vitamin E, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folacin, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron and over dozen other nutrients. Added to that, the dietary fiber contained in white rice is around a quarter of brown rice.

So, brown rice certainly appears to be more healthy, but where does the environmental benefit come from? It's basically down to processing - the less processing of a food, the less energy required. There's also the issue of the synthetic vitamins added back in - produced in laboratories and factories from a variety of chemicals; and these sorts of processes are well known for their negative impact on the environment.

If you're accustomed to white rice, making the switch to brown suddenly can cause a taste bud rebellion - it certainly did for me. It's somewhat of an acquired taste for many people. I suggest adding extra sauces to mask the "wilder" taste of brown rice for a while to allow your tastes to adjust. Once you've acquired a taste for brown rice, it's likely you'll never go back to white.

When you buy rice, because it keeps so well, try and buy in quantity to save on packaging. The rice we buy comes in cloth bags which we've put to very good use after finishing the contents.

Brown rice does take a little longer to cook than white rice, but the time isn't much longer if you pre-soak the rice for a while and cook using the absorption method. This is where you use less water and cover the pot, leaving very little excess water left by the time the rice has cooked - the steam generated using this method also helps speed up the cooking process.


The milling process that removes the bran layer of brown rice is what making the shiny and beautiful white rice. Unfortunately , the removal of such layer comes at a price , a nutritional loss that makes white rice less desirable for true health seekers. The following chart shows the nutritional difference between white rice and brown rice. As can be seen, the difference in minerals, vitamin and fiber is obvious .

http://www.funpcgame.com/health/brown-rice-vs-white-rice-nutritional-difference.htm


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## Guest (Mar 20, 2010)

thebaker said:


> Brown rice does take a little longer to cook than white rice, but the time isn't much longer if you pre-soak the rice for a while and cook using the absorption method. This is where you use less water and cover the pot, leaving very little excess water left by the time the rice has cooked - the steam generated using this method also helps speed up the cooking process.


I cook about a gallon and a half of short grain brown rice at a time (that's the amount AFTER it's cooked).

The way I do it is, I put the water and rice in the stock pot, with a little olive oil. I bring it to a boil. I give it a good stir, which momentarily slows the boiling. When it's boiling hard again, I put the lid on the pot and turn the heat off.

In an hour or so I check and it's perfectly cooked rice.


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

Another good way to cook brown rice is to treat it more like pasta at first: bring an ample (no need to measure) pot of water to boil, add the brown rice and cook for 40 minutes, then dump it into a colander. Let it drain for 10 seconds, then put the rice back into the pot (off the heat). Put the lid on tight and let it sit in its own steam for 10 more minutes. Take off the lid and you have nice fluffy brown rice.

I used to cook brown rice in my rice cooker but it took so much longer! The only time I use the rice cooker for brown rice now is if I want it a little more sticky, instead of fluffy.


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## rickpaul (Jan 10, 2013)

I love white rice, I put a 1/2 teaspoon of liquid shrimp & crab oil per pot of rice, you wouldn`t believe the difference in taste, you can put a little more dependin on your taste buds........


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## spicymustard (Jul 15, 2014)

I usually use white rice but that's only because I can't seem to cook brown rice properly.


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## Convoy (Dec 2, 2012)

one thing I noticed others haven't mentioned yet is brown rice has natural oils in it vs white so it does go rancid after awhile - which is why I buy white for the maybe 10 times a years I cook it up it wouldn't be used fast enough.


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## Cajun Arkie (Jun 11, 2012)

marinemomtatt said:


> The only time we buy 'plain' white rice is when our friend from Japan visits (what remains sits until her next visit)
> We like Jasmine Rice (grown in Thailand), it smells wonderful and tastes divine...kinda like popcorn. We buy it in 50# bags three times a year...Nah, we don't like Rice...~lol~...
> Brown Rice mixed with a little Wild Rice is a hit with my husband and I, but not our 24 yr. old...he says the texture bothers him. It's the texture that tells me it's good for yer innards...~lol~...


We also are jasmine rice fans. Just FYI you can purchase brown jasmine rice at www.cajungrain.com . They also have brown jasmine rice grits. I buy 25 lb. bag of rice several times a year.


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## FarmChix (Mar 3, 2013)

thebaker said:


> Brown rice is not only better for you, but it's better for the environment than white rice too.
> 
> Rice goes through a variety of processes before it's ready for cooking. After harvesting, the seeds are run through a rice huller/husker for milling to remove the outer grain husks. After this process, you're left with brown rice. Nice and simple.
> 
> ...


Agreed. If you are just looking at flavor, I would go with jasmine or arborio rice. There must be something to the nutritionals as the USDA is only allowing schools to use brown rice beginning this year. White rice is not allowed (sort of, without going into all of the details how they can every once in a while serve white rice) because of the sugars. So, there is something to the nutritionals on the brown vs. the white......


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Brown Jasmine and Brown Basmati from Lundberg Family Farms will convert even rice haters! There's all kinds of packaged rice convenience foods too, even white if you want to go that way. I think it's just the best rice available. And look for pretty red rice at Christmas time. http://www.lundberg.com/Products/Rice/Bulk_Rice.aspx


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