How to Cook Brown Rice

By Rhonda Parkinson, About.com Guide

Asians tend to avoid brown rice, disliking the chewy texture and associating it with poverty. But while it is not traditional, you do see a few recipes using brown rice appearing in Chinese/Asian cookbooks, due to its purported health benefits. Unlike white rice, brown rice has not had the bran covering underneath the outermost hull removed, a process that removes much of the grain's nutritional content.

Unprocessed brown rice has a high fiber content, and contains B vitamins and minerals such as manganese, magnesium, and zinc. White rice also contains these nutrients, but in significantly reduced amounts (although in North America white rice is normally enriched with B vitamins and iron). Furthermore, brown rice is a good source of selenium, an important trace mineral that has antioxidant properties, and can help prevent colon cancer.

Besides the nutritional benefits, there is evidence that eating a diet high in whole grains such as brown rice helps with weight control. That was the conclusion of Harvard study, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, following over 74,000 US female nurses over a 12 year period. The researchers found that women who ate a diet high in whole grains were more likely to maintain a healthy body weight, and gain less weight over time.

Finally, another (2010) study study by Harvard researchers found that people who eat brown rice twice a week significantly reduce their chance of developing type 2 diabetes.

Learn more about the health benefits of brown rice - from the whfoods.org website

Even if brown rice never replaces the role of white rice in your diet, there are still reasons to start eating it more often. Of course, brown rice take longer to cook and generally requires more TLC than white rice. These simple instructions help you turn out brown rice that is not too dry and full of nutty flavor.

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• How to Cook Healthy Brown Rice
• Add Water to the Brown Rice
• Return the Water to a Boil
• Simmer the Cooking Brown Rice
• Remove the Cooked Rice From the Heat
• You're Done!

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