BENEFITS OF BROWN RICE

Rice, especially brown rice, is a major food staple consumed by over half the world's population every day.
The difference between brown rice and white rice is not just color: the process that produces brown rice removes only the outermost layer, the hull, of the rice kernel and is the least damaging to its nutritional value. Indeed the more processed white rice is simply a refined starch that is largely bereft of its original nutrients.

Brown rice is not only fiber rich, but also protein-rich with only a small amount of fat. It provides vitamin E and B vitamins and minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc. By eating brown rice every day as part of a well-balanced diet, you can help ensure your body's good health.

Nutritional profile

• A team of researchers at Cornell University, including WGC Scientific Advisor Rui Hai Liu shows that whole grains, such as rice, contain many powerful phytonutrients whose activity has gone unrecognized because research methods have overlooked them. Dr. Liu's findings may help explain why studies have shown that populations eating diets high in fiber-rich whole grains consistently have lower risk for colon cancer, yet short-term clinical trials that have focused on fiber alone in lowering colon cancer risk yield inconsistent results. The explanation is most likely that these studies have not taken into account the interactive effects of all the nutrients in whole grains—not just their fiber, but also their many phytonutrients. 

• Brown rice is good source of fiber. A cup of brown rice provides 14.0% of the daily value for fiber, which has been shown to reduce high cholesterol levels, one more way brown rice helps prevent atherosclerosis. Fiber also helps out by keeping blood sugar levels under control, so brown rice is an excellent grain choice for people with diabetes.

• Just one cup of brown rice will provide you with 88.0% of the daily value for manganese. This trace mineral helps produce energy from protein and carbohydrates and is involved in the synthesis of fatty acids, which are important for a healthy nervous system.

• Brown rice is rich in selenium, a trace mineral that has been shown to substantially reduce the risk of colon cancer.

• Magnesium, another nutrient for which brown rice is a good source, has been shown in studies to be helpful for reducing the severity of asthma, lowering high blood pressure, reducing the frequency of migraine headaches, and reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. This is because magnesium helps regulate nerve and muscle tone by balancing the action of calcium.

• Complete amino acid profile proteins: amino acids are the building blocks of protein. A complete protein contains all 9 essential amino acids, that is amino acids that cannot be synthesized within the human body, thus need to be supplied by the diet. Protein in plants is notoriously thought to be incomplete. On the other hand, rice protein isolate is a complete protein with a 96% correlation to whey.

SOME BENEFITS OF BROWN RICE IN DETAIL

Brown rice and whole grains are good for weight loss
A six-week-long study published in "Nutrition Research" in February 2008 compared the weight loss benefits of a meal replacement containing white rice with one containing a mix of brown and black rice. Study participants who consumed only the mixed-rice meal replacement lost more weight and more body fat than participants who consumed only the white-rice meal replacement.

Whole brown rice lowers cholesterol

Here's yet another reason to rely on whole foods, such as brown rice, for your healthy way of eating. The oil in whole brown rice lowers cholesterol, as shown in a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Researchers from Louisiana State University suggest that the unsaponifiables present in rice bran oil could become important functional foods for cardiovascular health.

Brown rice reduces risk of metabolic syndrome

In one of the most recent studies, which appeared in Diabetes Care, researchers who analyzed data on over 2,800 participants in the Framingham Offspring Study, found that the prevalence of both insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome was significantly lower among those eating the most cereal fiber from whole grains compared to those eating the least.

The researchers concluded, "Given that both a high cereal fiber content and lower glycemic index are attributes of wholegrain foods, recommendation to increase wholegrain intake may reduce the risk of developing the metabolic syndrome."

Brown rice and other whole grains substantially lower Type 2 diabetes risk 

A study suggests regular consumption of whole grains also reduces risk of type 2 diabetes. (van Dam RM, Hu FB, Diabetes Care). Reasearch showed that risk of type 2 diabetes was 31% lower in women who frequently ate whole grains compared to those eating the least of these magnesium-rich foods. When the women's dietary intake of magnesium intake was considered by itself, a beneficial, but lesser—19%— reduction in risk of type 2 diabetes was found, indicating that whole grains offer special benefits in promoting healthy blood sugar control.

Lignans protect against heart disease
One type of phytonutrient especially abundant in whole grains including brown rice are plant lignans, which are converted by friendly flora in our intestines into mammalian lignans, including one called enterolactone that is thought to protect against breast and other hormone-dependent cancers as well as heart disease.

Fiber from whole grains and fruit is protective against breast cancer  

Researchers found a diet rich in fiber from whole grains, such as brown rice, and fruit offers significant protection against breast cancer for pre-menopausal women. (Cade JE, Burley VJ, et al., International Journal of Epidemiology).

In the study, pre-menopausal women eating the most fiber (>30 grams daily) more than halved their risk of developing breast cancer, enjoying a 52% lower risk of breast cancer compared to women whose diets supplied the least fiber (<20 grams/day).
Fiber supplied by whole grains offered the most protection. Pre-menopausal women eating the most whole grain fiber (at least 13 g/day) had a 41% reduced risk of breast cancer, compared to those with the lowest whole grain fiber intake (4 g or less per day). 

Brown rice helps prevent gallstones
Eating foods high in insoluble fiber, such as brown rice, can help women avoid gallstones, shows a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Researchers think insoluble fiber not only speeds intestinal transit time (how quickly food moves through the intestines), but reduces the secretion of bile acids (excessive amounts contribute to gallstone formation), increases insulin sensitivity and lowers triglycerides (blood fats).

Warning: non-organic rice may contain traces of arsenic. Choose organically grown rice whenever possible. For any crop to be labeled as organic, including rice, stringent testing of soils for contaminants, including arsenic, must be passed.

Tips to cook brown rice and a deliciuos recipe

Tips when cooking brown rice

1. Soaking for about an hour or so helps the plump grains to absorb moisture, swell and cook faster.
2. One cup of rice requires about three to four cups of water/liquid to cook.
3. Using vegetable or chicken stock or even stock cubes greatly enhances the flavour if you are cooking it as a one pot dish.
4. Cooking the vegetables along with the rice makes the dish very flavourful.
 

Brown rice with chicken and pumpkin

Ingredients:
Brown rice - 2 cups
Vegetable stock (two stock cubes dissolved in 1 litre of water)White wine - 1 cup (optional, add one more cup of water to the vegetable stock if you omit this)
Boneless chicken cut into strips - 1 cup
Pumpkin - peeled and chopped - 1 cup
Onions -1 big sliced finely
Garlic - 3 cloves chopped
Cinnamon stick - 1 chopped piece
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 2
Oil - 1 tbsp
salt to taste
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Directions:
1. Wash and soak brown rice in water for an hour.
2. Heat up the vegetable stock and keep aside; heat it up a bit later, if necessary.
3. Take a large non stick pan, heat the oil and add the cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf. Saute 1 minute then add the onions and fry till it is golden brown.
4. Add the chicken pieces and fry on high heat for two minutes till it gets seared on both sides and cooks a bit. Sprinkle chilli powder, lower heat and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add the white wine, drain the soaked rice and add it to the pan. Saute for 3 minutes.
6. Add half the hot stock to the rice and cook for about 8 minutes, then add the pumpkin pieces, the remaining hot stock and salt to taste and cook further for 10 minutes or till the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
7. If you think the rice needs more cooking, add hot water or vegetable stock half a cup at a time.
8. Serve hot.

Recipe from: Peppermill web

Sources: http://www.growingnaturals.com/whyriceprotein.php
http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/health-benefits-of-rice
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19083390
http://www.temple.edu/medicine/eguchi_brown_rice.htm
McKeown NM, Meigs JB, Liu S, Saltzman E, Wilson PW, Jacques PF. Carbohydrate Nutrition, Insulin Resistance, and the Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome in the Framingham Offspring Cohort. Diabetes Care. 2004 Feb;27(2):538-546. 2004. PMID:14747241.
Anderson JW, Hanna TJ, Peng X, Kryscio RJ. Whole grain foods and heart disease risk. J Am Coll Nutr 2000 Jun;19(3 Suppl):291S-9S. 2000. PMID:17670.
McKeown NM, Meigs JB, Liu S, Saltzman E, Wilson PW, Jacques PF. Carbohydrate Nutrition, Insulin Resistance, and the Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome in the Framingham Offspring Cohort. Diabetes Care. 2004 Feb;27(2):538-546. 2004. PMID:14747241.
Most MM, Tulley R, Morales S, Lefevre M. Rice bran oil, not fiber, lowers cholesterol in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jan;81(1):64-8. 2005. PMID:15640461.
van Dam RM, Hu FB, Rosenberg L, Krishnan S, Palmer JR. Dietary calcium and magnesium, major food sources, and risk of type 2 diabetes in U.S. Black women. Diabetes Care. 2006 Oct;29(10):2238-43. 2006. PMID:17003299.
Vogt, T. M. Ziegler, R. G. Graubard, B. I et al. Serum selenium and risk of prostate cancer in U.S. blacks and whites. Int J Cancer. 2003 Feb 20; 103(5):664-70. 2003.
Cade JE, Burley VJ, Greenwood DC. Dietary fibre and risk of breast cancer in the UK Women's Cohort Study. Int J Epidemiol. 2007 Jan 24; [Epub ahead of print] . 2007. PMID:17251246.
Tsai CJ, Leitzmann MF, Willett WC, Giovannucci EL. Long-term intake of dietary fiber and decreased risk of cholecystectomy in women. Am J Gastroenterol. 2004 Jul;99(7):1364-70. 2004. PMID:15233680.