Health Benefits of Brown Rice

White rice begins as brown rice. Once the outer coating of rice bran is hulled off, however, not a lot of nutrients remain. A thousand years ago, Chinese physicians discovered that eating only refined white rice, devoid of the B vitamins in the bran, led to beriberi, a deficeincy in thiamine (B1). Modern research has identified a wealth of nutrients in the bran coating of brown rice. It is remarkably effective in lowereing high blood sugar and therefore serves as an excellent food for diabetics.

Rice bran contains more than seventy antioxidants, including the well known aging fighters vitamin E, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, coenzyme Q-10, proanthocyanidins, and inositol hexaphosphate. It is no wonder that rural farmers in Asia, who eat brown rice because white rice is too expensive, live longer and develop fewer health problems than their city dwelling counterparts, who eat mostly white rice.