Can Brown Rice Help You Lose Weight?

What you eat counts for just as much as how much you eat when it comes to dieting. Eating foods that are high in fiber and nutrition will help you shed pounds and stay healthy at the same time. Choosing the right foods, like brown rice, can help you lose more weight more quickly, more easily and in a healthier way.

For many people, white rice is a diet staple. But, if you’ll buck tradition a little and replace white rice in your diet with brown rice, you may find that it’s easier to lose weight, and to feel full while dieting.

Brown rice is the exact same thing as white rice; it is just processed a bit differently. Brown rice is unmilled or only partly milled, as compared to white rice which is very milled and processed.

White rice gained favor many years ago because of the processing that it endured. This processing made the rice last much longer in storage, and created a milder taste. This milder taste was favored in Asian foods, where the rice is designed to take on the flavor of the meal’s primary ingredient.

White rice, then, was the more expensive rice to purchase. Therefore, the unmilled brown rice became the food of the poor, and for years, it was hardly eaten.

We have learned since then, however, how much more nutritious brown rice is for us.

Why brown rice is superior to white rice

For dieters, brown rice is superior to white rice because it has more fiber and nutrition. In producing white rice, the bran layer and the germ layer are removed. These two layers provide most of the nutrition and fiber in rice.

Brown rice keeps you feeling fuller and helps stabilize blood sugar levels

Eating brown rice over white rice ensures more fiber in your diet. This fiber helps you feel full for longer and helps keep your blood sugar levels stable, because it takes longer for your body to digest the rice. This stable blood sugar helps keep insulin levels in check. Low levels of insulin prevent the storage of fat and help prevent hunger.

Through processing, white rice loses its magnesium, fatty acids and the rice bran oil. Rice bran oil has been shown to lower bad cholesterol levels. So, from a nutritional standpoint, brown rice is a better choice.

Brown rice has a nutty flavor and a chewier, heartier texture than white rice. For some, it requires some getting used to. But, once you’ve become accustomed to eating it, you’ll likely find that you prefer it to white rice because it has so much more flavor and texture.

Choosing foods like brown rice helps dieters lose more weight and keep it off without having to make such drastic changes in the way they eat. So maybe give brown rice a chance and see if it can help you lose weight and make you feel healthier in the process.