The Benefits of Brown Rice

One way to choose to live a healthy life is to add whole grains to your diet, and avoid the processed grains.  Brown rice is an excellent example of one way to make a healthy change to your diet.

Brown rice has a wonderful nutty flavor and a chewy texture.  It takes a bit longer to cook, but once you've tried it, white rice seems bland and mushy.  I'm including an easy recipe to make brown rice after the following article.

This article from QualityHealth.com explains some of the benefits of brown rice:

Brown Rice for Diabetes

Here, a primer on brown rice to help you beat diabetes.

Next time you whip up some stir-fry, you may want to reach for the brown rice rather than the white variety. Doing so could reduce your risk of getting type 2 diabetes, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health that was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine

Eating five servings of white rice each week was linked to a higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes, while eating two or more servings of brown rice was linked to a lower risk of the condition. The researchers who conducted the study said that replacing 50 grams of white rice (that's one third of a typical daily serving) with an identical amount of brown rice could lower the risk of type 2 diabetes by 16 percent.

A new study, published online in the June 14, 2010 journal of Archives of Internal Medicine, is thought to be the first to look at white and brown rice consumption as it relates to diabetes risk in Americans.

Noting that U.S. rice consumption is on the increase, Qi Sun MD, who did the research while at the Harvard School of Public health, said, "We believe replacing white rice and other refined grains with whole grains, including brown rice, would help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes."

The Benefits of Going Brown

Brown rice, like other whole grains, is more slowly absorbed into the body than white rice, explains Brian Tulloch, MD, of Park Plaza Hospital in Houston, Texas and a past president of the American Diabetes Association. "And anything that reduces the rate of absorption of sugar will reduce the big swings in blood sugar," he says. "Rapid blood sugar swings have contributed not just to our increases in weight but in our diabetes rate."

Brown rice isn't the only whole grain linked to a lower diabetes risk, of course. The study also found that replacing white carbohydrates with whole grains like barley and whole wheat was linked to a full 36 percent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

Brown rice not only takes longer to raise the blood sugar, but it's just generally better for you, says Kent Holtorf, MD, medical director for the Holtorf  Medical Group in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"Brown rice has so many beneficial properties," he says. "White rice is stripped of all its good properties. Anytime you eat brown instead of white, you're doing yourself a favor."

One cup of brown rice, considered a 100 percent whole grain, contains two of the three recommended daily servings of whole grains and is made of complex carbs, according to the USA Rice Federation.  Like white rice, it's sodium and cholesterol-free, it's gluten-free, and it's the least allergenic of all the grains. Among its wonderful vitamins and minerals are folate, iron and zinc. So lose the white rice, and say hello to healthful, nutty-flavored, nutrient-loaded brown rice.

Here is a recipe for baked brown rice from Alton Brown:

Baked Brown Rice
1 1/2 cups brown rice, medium or short grain
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the rice into an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Bring the water, butter, and salt just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve immediately.

The reviews of this recipe are great, and Jackie from Columbus, Ohio, made the following modifications to the recipe:

This is an amazing recipe! or as one might say, "fool proof"! I made a double batch .I added cooked chicken cubes (used the broth instead of water) added green peas,cooked chopped carrots and a little dried dill to the dry rice . mixed the chicken broth with a 3 chopped olives,2 cloves of garlic,1/4 C crushed tomatoes,touch of tomato paste,saffron ,salt,black pepper,garlic powder,1 tbs butter and 1 tbs EVOO . There is no limit to what you can do with this recipe.My add ins might sound like a lot but I was following my middleeastern senses and this is where I was taken! the rice was perfectly cooked ,the grains where seperate from one another ,no mushiness or stickiness in sight! Unlike that one time when I made brown rice pudding without intending to or the other time when I made the brown rice mush into soup ,had some and hid it from my husband!you know how it is! or maybe not! haha .anywho if you're still following me! don't hesitate to try this recipe,use your instincts and creativity and you shall not be sorry! happy cooking!

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out for you :)