Brown rice vs White rice: Which is better?

Everyone is now fascinated about being fit and having their dream physique. And people also know that they need to look into their daily diet seriously and that one thing which everyone is familiar with is to manage their carbohydrate intake. One of the main and important source of carbohydrates that are essential to stay fit is rice.

You read articles , search through google , watch videos to know which rice is better Brown or White , but most places don't have the proper explanation. If consumed in a huge amount , it can lead to fat gain in our body. Before i directly tell you which one is better among brown or white rice , it is important for you to know how the rice is grown and processed.

PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING OF RICE

Do you know that only brown rice is produced and not white rice! Yes , you read it right , only brown rice is produced naturally , and it is then processed in rice mills and converted into white rice. There is a thick coating on white rice which we know as brown rice and all the important nutrients and digestive fibres is in that coating in brown rice and are not present in white rice.

You must have read or heard everywhere that brown rice is better than white rice , that is because Glycemic index of brown rice is lower than white rice (which means they do not spike our blood sugar levels as much as white rice) and therefore it gets digested easily and is not stored in our body as fat.

Glycemic Index of brown rice - 50 (approx)

Glycemic Index of white rice - 65 (approx)

When i started my fitness journey , i also thought that brown rice is healthy and better than white rice , as brown rice has digestive fibres. But , at that time i didn't knew the full back details of the same. I always believe that "Half knowledge is very dangerous".

You must have seen the diet of professional athletes and bodybuilders , they always eat white rice , and i used to wonder that why do they eat white rice and brown rice. And many people who are into fitness must think that brown rice is better , which is true at some point , but i will explain you the exact and correct details behind it.

HOW GLYCEMIC INDEX IS MEASURED

Glycemic index of any food is measured on individuals who are made to fast for 8 - 10 hours and then they are given the food , of which the glycemic index we have to measure , to eat.

After they consume the food , their blood sample is taken and their blood sugar levels are measured. The same experiment is done on 8 - 10 individuals for appropriate results.

Now , the main thing i wanted to explain is glycemic index is always measured of a single food item , like rice alone , bread alone , etc. Glycemic index of meals is not measured , where we combine 2 or more food items to make a complete meal , as in that case we cannot determine the effect of any particular food item due to the presence of other food items. For example , you can measure the glycemic index of white rice , but you cannot measure the glycemic index of rice when consumed with dal.

WHICH IS BETTER?

Now , by this time you know that glycemic index of any meal (including all three macros , proteins , carbohydrates and fats) is not measured. Another important thing is that whenever we consume proteins , fibres and fats in our meals , these macros brings down the glycemic index of the meal and hence they are called the POSITIVE PARTITIONING AGENTS.

For example , if the glycemic index of white rice is around 65 , then if white rice is consumed with proteins , fibres and fats , its glycemic index can go down till 40. People reading this blog are involved in fitness and they must have consumed these positive partitioning agents in their meals. So white rice is not bad to consume to achieve your fitness goals.

Now to talk about , which is better option : white or brown?

Since the top layer of brown rice is removed to make white rice , most of the fibres are in that top layer of brown rice. To talk about quantities , one cup of cooked brown rice has around 3 gram of fibres , whereas , one cup of cooked white rice has around 0.7 gram of fibres.

Though the top layer of brown rice has all the nutrients and fibres , it also has some anti-nutrients which hinder the absorption of other macros , like of you take protein and fats along with brown rice in your meal , so those anti-nutrients can lower the absorption of protein and fats in your body , and this is why all professional bodybuilders and fitness athletes PREFER WHITE RICE OVER BROWN RICE.

In fitness there is a general rule , that processed foods should be avoided and raw foods are always better , but this is an exception in case of rice , that brown rice is processed to make white rice , still white rice is a better option for you. So , if you are consuming white rice , you can add salad to you meal , that can cover your fibre intake which will be missing from white rice , and you can still benefit from it and it won't spike your blood sugar levels.

THE BOTTOM LINE

I think you must now have gotten a clear understanding of how rice works for our body. I say white rice is better that doesn't mean that you should never consider eating brown rice , obviously you can! But if your goals are to increase muscle growth you should prefer white rice in your meals so that you can properly absorb the protein and fats also from your meals.

For people , who are undergoing a calorie deficit diet and who just want to reduce their weight and have nothing to do about muscle building , can consume brown rice , but not more than once a day.

I hope my information in helpful to you. Please tell me how it worked for you and tell me more about your fitness queries in the comments below.