Brown rice - benefits, composition and dishes, how it differs from white

First of all, let's look at what brown rice is. Brown rice is a cereal crop. The main difference from white rice is the lack of polishing. Brown rice remains in its shell, thereby retaining vitamins and minerals that help improve the body's condition. While white rice is completely cleaned and the casing is removed.

Useful properties of brown rice

The benefits of brown rice are undeniable. Cereals are an ideal side dish for a healthy lunch, as they help satisfy feelings of fullness and hunger for a long time. This is due to the perfectly balanced energy value. In addition, brown rice gives a good boost of energy.

In addition to the benefits of energy value, one can also note the unconditional benefits of the rich content of minerals and vitamins.

You can also highlight other beneficial properties of brown rice:

1. Improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. The normalization of the digestive tract is ensured by the abundance of fiber, which perfectly cleanses everything harmful from the gastrointestinal tract. In addition to removing harmful substances, fiber also promotes the absorption of beneficial elements.
2. Helps prevent blood diseases. The iron and vitamin K content is excellent for preventing blood diseases. Vitamin K helps thin the blood, which reduces the likelihood of blood clots. Iron helps improve hemoglobin synthesis, as well as tissue respiration.
3. Normalizes heart function. Helps prevent heart muscle diseases due to the potassium and magnesium content in brown rice.
4. Improves metabolism. Cereals contain B vitamins. Due to the presence of a whole group of vitamins. Brown rice helps improve metabolism by regulating metabolic processes and energy. This helps to give vigor not only thanks to BZHU, but also to B vitamins.
5. Strengthens the immune system and also slows down the aging process. Vitamin E and selenium, which are found in brown rice, help protect the human body from free radicals. This helps prevent various tumor diseases, even malignant ones. Vitamin E and zinc help strengthen the immune system.
6. Helps prevent vascular diseases. Manganese helps normalize cholesterol levels and also reduce the likelihood of diseases such as atherosclerosis.
7. Strengthens bone tissue, nails and joints. A large amount of phosphorus and calcium helps strengthen bones and connective tissues. Moreover, due to the complex content of phosphorus and calcium in brown rice, they are absorbed much better. And in order to consolidate the result, you can add a small piece of butter, which contains vitamin D.

We must also not forget about the benefits of brown rice for diabetics. Since people with diabetes have a rather meager diet, there can often be a deficiency in some useful microelements, and brown rice perfectly fills this deficiency.

Differences between brown and white rice

During milling, white rice, unlike brown rice, undergoes polishing, including removal of the germ and shell.Due to this, brown rice retains all the beneficial properties, the content of which is reduced in white rice.

Brown rice contains higher amounts of fiber as well as protein. Brown rice is high in calories, as well as carbohydrates and fat. However, white rice has a higher glycemic index. This means that white rice is much more digestible by the body and thus significantly increases the glucose level in the body. This can be dangerous for people with diabetes.

Brown rice differs from white rice in its abundance of nutrients. Moreover, during the diet there is absolutely no difference between eating white or brown rice.

What is contained in 100 grams of brown rice

100 grams of brown rice contains:

• 2.68 g fat.
• 7.5 g protein.
• 76.17 g carbohydrates.
• 12.37 g water.
• 1.27 g ash.

100 grams of brown rice contains 305 kcal, which is 85% of the daily calorie intake. However, brown rice contains many other beneficial components. More detailed data is presented in the table below.

What is cooked from brown rice - 10 popular dishes

Brown rice is much healthier than white rice, but it takes much longer to cook. In order not to spend a lot of time on cooking, it is better to soak the cereal for 3-4 hours.

After this, you can prepare one of the popular dishes:

1. Rice with vegetables - bell peppers, carrots and corn are most often used, but lovers can also supplement the dish with hot peppers.
2. Pilaf - according to the classic recipe, white rice should be used, but brown rice allows you to make the dish more healthy. To enhance the effect, you can also replace sunflower oil with olive oil.
3. Meat hedgehogs - for such a dish, the rice will have to be boiled in advance. Meatballs will become even tastier if you pour them with sour cream and tomato sauce.
4. Fried rice is an extremely versatile side dish that can be paired with any number of vegetables, sauces, and seasonings.
5. Fish soup - the main secret to this dish lies in starting to cook the rice before adding the rest of the ingredients. Frying and fish should be dipped into the broth only when the cereal is almost ready.
6. Rice flour - in order to get this preparation, you need to wash, dry and grind the rice. The flour can then be used to make cheesecakes, desserts or baked goods.
7. Stuffed cabbage rolls - you can recreate the classic version of the dish, but it will be even tastier if you replace the minced meat with fish.
8. Royal salad - this dish in its composition resembles everyone’s favorite rolls, which is why it often ends up on the holiday table. The peculiarity is that two types of rice are used for cooking - brown and white.
9. Turkey Rice with Sweet and Sour Sauce is a healthy main dish that's easy to prepare.
10. Rice with egg - this kind of omelette can be an excellent breakfast that will give you energy for the whole day.

How to choose quality brown rice in the store

Brown rice can be purchased either packaged or by weight. Of course, the second option is more common in Asian countries, where rice is the main component of the daily diet, but you can also buy grains in this format from us.

When purchasing, it is important to pay attention to the color, smell, appearance and, if possible, taste.Carefully inspect the brown rice for foreign impurities in the package. If you take grain by weight, do not hesitate to touch it and try it. The crunch will indicate a quality product.

Since not all manufacturers make the packaging transparent, it is not possible to view the rice in full. In this case, take either one of the familiar brands, or those that will comply with GOST.