Health benefits of rice

Rice is the staple food in most of the countries and it is an important cereal crop that feeds more than half of the world’s population.

Health benefits of rice can be found in more than forty thousand varieties of this cereal available in the world.Rice is mainly consumed in two different forms: brown rice and white rice. Brown rice is unmilled or partly milled and retains the outer bran and germs and as such can be called whole grain rice. It is these outer layers that contain all the nutrients.

Health benefits of rice include providing fast and instant energy, good bowel movement, stabilizing blood sugar levels and providing essential source of vitamin B1 to human body. Other benefits include skin care, dysentery and heart diseases.

Rice is a great source of complex carbohydrates which give us the energy we need. According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations), rice provides 20 percent of the world's dietary energy supply.

Rice is low in fat, cholesterol, and sodium and hence makes a perfect food for those with high blood pressure and requiring a low-sodium diet. The calcium in rice (especiall brown rice) helps lower blood pressure.

Replacing rice with wheat is not a good idea since it means reducing your intake of amino acids (protein's building blocks) and Vitamin B. As for brown rice, it has the outer layer (husk and bran) intact thereby making it high in fibre. Now of course we want fibre but if your rice has more fibre than you can digest, brown rice will only cause indigestion. On the other hand, rice that emits blinding whiteness may not be the best source of nutrients either.

Thus, to get the best of both worlds, polish your rice to the extent that helps it retain its nutrients (proteins, Vitamin B and fibre) and looks brownish or reddish. Remove the outer bran but allow the rice grain to show off its brown/red strains. Don't worry, this won't compromise the taste and yes, you can eat basmati rice with the brown/red strains as well.

The protein in this rice (red-rice or hand-polished rice) is absorbed much better by your body than in brown rice. It is also way easier to cook and digest as compared to brown rice. It is easy to digest, easy to absorb, easy to assimilate proteins from and easier on your excretory system too. This is exactly how the farming community of India eats its rice.

Brown rice is said to contain high levels of neurotransmitter nutrients that can prevent Alzheimer’s disease to a considerable extent.

Rice powder is also used externally as a soothing powder in cases of skin inflammation such as small-pox, measles, prickly heat, burns and scalds.

To sum it up, rice is an important part of a healthy diet. To derive the maximum benefit from it, include unpolished or brown and wild rice varieties as often as you can in your meals along with white rice.

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