Basic in flavor but high in nutrients, grains are a dinnertime staple because they’re infinitely versatile and pair well with almost any fish, meat, or vegetable.
Rice is the clear favourite – it is the third most produced agricultural crop globally, just behind sugar cane and maize. The nine largest rice producers are in Asia, with China producing 28% of the world’s rice in 2019.
With roots dating back to 8,000 BC and a big part of many diets, rice has naturally entered the healthy eating debate. Here’s what one nutritional scientist has to say about the “healthiest” option.
Which rice is the healthiest?
The question of “healthiest rice” often pits two types of rice against each other — white and brown. And while one often wins out over the other, the answer really depends on what you’re looking for in your diet.
Brown rice contains more fiber, fat, and slightly more protein than white rice due to the way it is processed. Whole grains are made up of three parts: the germ, the bran, and the endosperm. Brown rice contains all of these parts, but manufacturers remove the germ and bran for white rice. If you’re looking to add more fiber to your diet, brown rice is a great way to do so.
But in reality, all rice can be a healthy addition to your diet. The question of “which rice is healthiest” stems from a culture of exclusion and harmful diets, according to nutritionist Kera Nyemb-Diop.
“If the only food we ate was rice, it would make sense (to ask) because we care about balance of nutrients and fiber, so of course I would say brown rice is more complete,” Nyemb-Diop says. “But when you look at the reality, people are eating it.”
Rice is more often paired with a protein and vegetable than eaten alone, making it just one component of a healthy, balanced plate. If you’re looking for a more fiber-rich meal but don’t like the taste of brown rice, there are plenty of high-fiber vegetables you can pair with white rice.
“The beauty of nutrition is that you have so many options,” Nyemb-Diop says. “It really saddens me to see how nutrition is like a prescription or a religion that you have to follow, and if you don’t, you’re wrong.”
Ideally, people should enjoy a variety of rice types in their diets, whether it’s white rice, brown rice, basmati rice, arborio rice, jasmine rice, or other types, Nyemb-Diop says.
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Is white rice healthy?
Yes, white rice is healthy. Rice is a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, selenium, iron, folic acid, thiamine and niacin.
White rice is sometimes denigrated as the “unhealthier” of the two, but this view is a symptom of a larger problem in the way we view health, Nyemb-Diop says.
More than half of the world’s population considers rice a staple food, and white rice is more commonly consumed than brown rice. White rice is also a staple in the diets of many cultures.
Nyemb-Diop runs an online platform called “The Black Nutritionist,” where she encourages her audience to counter the myth that foods from Black, Asian, and Latinx communities are inherently unhealthy. Instead, she tries to share that there are healthy and unhealthy parts to any cultural cuisine.
Nyemb-Diop says many of her clients are embarrassed to eat foods they ate as children or have been told that white rice makes their diet unhealthy.
“If we look around the world, some of the communities that actually live longer, like Japan, rely heavily on white rice. It’s not really the right approach to focus on one food, we need to focus on other aspects,” he says. “Also, in the U.S., there are much bigger issues to address like housing inequality, access to healthcare, access to nutritious foods, so it’s easier to say one food is the problem, but it’s easier to say it’s white rice and your cultural food.”
Instead of restricting a particular food, Nyemb-Diop recommends adding it back into your diet, or the “abundance” strategy.
For example, white rice has a higher glycemic index and can be a concern for diabetics or people with high blood sugar. But if avoiding white rice completely isn’t possible, you can try pairing it with a protein instead so the rice doesn’t digest on its own. Instead of restricting yourself from eating white rice, ask yourself questions that will lead to a more balanced plate: “How can I add more vegetables to my diet? How can I add more fiber?”
It’s also important to be realistic: Advising someone whose cultural diet is based on white rice to eliminate it entirely can be an overwhelming and sometimes irresponsible request.
“This leads to an unhealthy relationship with food in marginalized communities, and that relationship will have mental health impacts but also physical health impacts,” Nyemb-Diop says. “It’s hard to nourish yourself properly when you have a disordered eating pattern and you feel ashamed of eating the foods you grew up eating.”
How can you include rice in your life in a healthy way?
Eat whatever you want
If you like brown rice, eat brown rice, says Nyemb-Diop. If you don’t, don’t force yourself. Adding any type of rice to your diet will have nutritional benefits, and focusing on the pleasure of eating is a good way to strengthen your relationship with food and your body.
Riced cauliflower and broccoli, ground vegetables marketed as rice alternatives, have been on the rise as low-carb alternatives over the past few years. Adding cauliflower or riced cauliflower to your meal will give you an extra dose of vegetables (only 1 in 10 adults consume the recommended daily intake of vegetables), but it doesn’t have to replace rice.
“I think it’s great to find ways to enjoy cauliflower, we should enjoy it for what it is, not as a substitute,” Nyemb-Diop says. “Why not have both?”
Practice an abundance mindset, not a restriction mindset
Many of Nyemb-Diop’s clients are afraid to add rice or other carbohydrates to their diets because they’re worried about overeating or overindulging on carbs. But eating a variety of foods—carbs, protein, fat, fiber—in moderation is the healthiest thing you can do for your body, which needs a variety of nutrients to function.
“When you try to restrict food, you often lose control, either by overeating or by actually being exposed to that food,” she says. “So what I use (for my clients) is to help them through the habituation process by consciously and really intentionally planning out the foods they fear and focusing on pleasure and creating a balanced plate.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with body image or eating issues, you can reach the National Eating Disorders Association’s free and confidential helpline at 1-800-931-2237 or via text at nationaleatingdisorders.org/helpline. For 24/7 crisis calls, text “NEDA” to 741-741.
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This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Healthiest rice?: How do white, brown rice fit into a healthy diet?