Benefits of Brown Rice

Day 159 of writing every day.

Getting back to the habit of preparing food for myself more often now that I have a larger and more reliably cold fridge, I went and cooked some brown rice that I had dropped out of my diet for a while. The norm these days for Japan and much of East Asian food is to have white rice as the main source of carbohydrates. Every dish seems to go well with white rice, so much so that Japan seems to serve dumplings with rice as well when the norm in Chinese dining is to eat dumplings by themselves.

As a side note, there’s no shortage of bread lovers in Japan and it has grown in popularity over the years, such that I’ve probably seen more bakeries and pastry shops in Japan than I did back in Minnesota.

But white rice is a highly processed form of the crop and it’s only with modern day technology that white rice is able to be so commonly consumed. Rice, when harvested, has a hard outer shell that’s not edible. To make it edible, the outer shell must first be removed, and even then there’s a middle germ layer of the grain that covers the white rice.

Traditionally, white rice was for the elite to consume because of the added work needed to remove that middle layer that transforms the brown rice into white rice, making it softer and taking out the less pleasant harder texture and bringing out the flavor of rice without the fiber.

In terms of cooking, brown rice takes more time and needs to be soaked in water for some time before cooking so that it can properly absorb water and take on a softer texture when cooking is finished. Cook brown rice without letting it sit in water long enough and it will turn out hard and grainy. There is cautionary advice about brown rice due to trace amounts of arsenic but I doubt anyone eats enough brown rice regularly for that to present a concern as an adult.

I find that having brown rice in my diet helps with feeling full and staying full on top of stool that comes out smoother. The glycemic index of brown rice is better than white rice as well, meaning there will be less of a blood sugar spike. That means less drowsiness or a lower chance of suddenly getting sleepy after eating a meal, which is something that everyone wants to avoid if getting behind the wheel or having to go back to work. I’ve never found the struggle to stay awake after coming down with a food coma despite eating a modest size for my body size and lifestyle. Being able to mitigate it alone is enough for me to appreciate brown rice besides the fiber and vitamins it offers that white rice doesn’t.

I hope that brown rice will see a greater resurgence in popularity in Japan.

Thanks for reading!