Why I prefer white rice over brown rice

Like most people in America I grew up thinking brown rice was healthier for you than white rice. Brown rice has significantly more fiber, minerals and vitamins, right? While the vitamin difference is actually negligible, brown rice does have much more fiber and minerals. So why don’t I prefer brown rice?

Let’s talk about nutrients vs. anti-nutrients. Nutrients are the things you’ve heard of like vitamins, minerals, fat, protein and the like. Anti- nutrients are naturally occurring compounds in foods that do more harm than good. And brown rice has plenty, including phytates and lectins. 

Phytates are anti-nutrients common in grain and legumes. They bind to healthy minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc, which keeps them from being absorbed in the body. Brown rice contains a little more mineral content than white rice, but you end up absorbing less. Phytates also inhibit the secretion of pepsin and amylase, the digestions enzymes that break down protein and starch. So it binds to some nutrients and keeps you from properly digesting others. Not a great ingredient for a healthy meal. 

Lectins are another problem. There are countless varieties of lectins in nature. Some may have health benefits, but a large number are linked to inflammation and chronic health issues. There is some debate in mainstream science about whether they should be avoided or not, but anything that causes inflammation should at least be limited in your diet. Brown has plenty of lectins, white rice doesn’t. 

Brown rice also contains both the bran and germ of the grain. This gives it extra dietary fiber, but makes it more difficult to digest. The majority of my patients who have chronic digestive issues already avoid brown rice because they know it makes their symptoms worse. 

Brown rice has significantly more arsenic than white rice. Not enough where one bowl of brown rice will poison you, but enough that it could cause skin and liver issues. 

White rice is a clean source of carbohydrate. Sure, it’s higher on the glycemic scale than brown, but serving it with a healthy fat slows down glucose absorption. That being sad, I wouldn’t recommend much rice at all to people with type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance. Also, if you’re trying to lose weight, I would go light on any type or starch, clean or not. And if you want nutrients, eat things like leafy greens and eggs, not grains.