We’re all thinking about how to lose weight and what we wouldn’t give to lose those extra pounds in a couple of days! To get back in shape as soon as possible, we resort to harsh diets and strenuous gym sessions. But it’s never as straightforward as that. It’s always a battle to stay committed and focused on your goals. While there are no quick fixes for weight loss, paying attention to your food can help you get there faster. Brown rice may supply the answers we need to achieve our weight loss goals.
We don’t mean you should substantially reduce your daily calorie intake, but you should be more mindful of what you eat and eat the right foods. This will assist you in obtaining the necessary nutrients for your body and shedding those unwanted pounds. The truth is that a healthy diet can help you lose weight quickly. Read on to learn about brown rice and the health and nutrition benefits it provides, as well as how to integrate it into our diet in the most effective way possible.
Health Benefits
Brown rice is nutritious, but it is also simple to cook and adaptable. While it isn’t exactly low in calories, it can help you stick to a calorie-controlled diet by adding nutritional content. It has roughly 216 calories per cup, while white rice has 242 calories.
This may not seem like much of a difference, but ingesting brown rice regularly, together with other healthy foods and a regular exercise routine, can go a long way toward helping you lose weight. Consider this: if you ate one cup of brown rice instead of white rice every day for a year, you’d save approximately 9,500 calories, and that’s just counting the weight you’ll drop by eating this type of rice not to mention the weight you’ll lose due to your exercises.
One cup of brown rice contains:
- Calories: 216
- Carbs: 44 grams
- Fiber: 3.5 grams
- Fat: 1.8 grams
- Protein: 5 grams
- Thiamin (B1): 12% of the RDI (Recommended Dietary Intake)
- Niacin (B3): 15% of the RDI
- Pyridoxine (B6): 14% of the RDI
- Pantothenic acid (B5): 6% of the RDI
- Iron: 5% of the RDI
- Magnesium: 21% of the RDI
- Phosphorus: 16% of the RDI
- Zinc: 8% of the RDI
- Copper: 10% of the RDI
- Manganese: 88% of the RDI
- Selenium: 27% of the RDI
Why you should consume it if you want to lose weight
- Brown rice has a lot of selenium a mineral that helps boost your immune system:
It reduces the risk of a variety of disorders. It contains selenium, which can help you lose weight by boosting your immune system. Brown rice also includes a significant amount of selenium, protecting you from common ailments such as colds and flu. Selenium is a critical mineral that your body needs if you’re trying to lose weight. You will be able to create a robust immune system and attain your weight loss objectives more rapidly if you consume it. - Anti-inflammatory benefits of brown rice:
Brown rice contains anti-inflammatory effects and is high in antioxidants, one of the best reasons to eat it. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant characteristics also aid in treating a variety of illnesses, such as asthma and arthritis. A study shows that participants who consumed brown rice had a reduction in weight and a positive influence on specific risk factors such as cardiovascular disease and waist and hip circumference. - Brown rice is high in fiber:
We all know that fibrous foods are easier to digest, and brown rice is one of these fiber-rich foods. Brown rice is easy to digest, keeps you full, cleanses your system, and aids with bowel movements that are easy and smooth. When your digestive system isn’t working correctly and is robust, you will also manage to maintain the right body weight. Everybody has a genetic metabolic requirement for whole grains. Our genetic whole grain needs are dictated by our DNA and genes. Brown rice can be used to satisfy your daily recommended amount of whole grains based on your genetics.
It is a food rich in fiber that helps the metabolism work actively and thus eliminate a more significant number of calories. Thread is also responsible for increasing your metabolic function, which ultimately aids in weight loss. Fiber is particularly important for the diet as it produces satiety, regulates sugars in the body, prevents carbohydrates from turning into fat, and keeps the digestive system healthy.
In addition, as it contains bran, which helps intestinal transit, it favors the elimination of fats, making it a food that should be in the diet of anyone who plans to lose weight.
- Brown rice keeps you energetic for a longer duration:
When trying to lose weight, hunger control is of uttermost concern. Another incentive to include brown rice in your daily diet is that it can help you stay active for more extended periods. Because of this, the manganese content in brown rice enables you to get proteins and essential carbohydrates, which converts these macronutrients into energy. You will stay energetic and can quickly burn extra calories, and will be able to maintain a healthy weight!
- Visceral Fat:
Often known as abdominal, stomach, or belly fat, is a form of fat that surrounds organs in the abdomen and can be hazardous. Having visceral fat in the belly is a sign of metabolic syndrome, a collection of disorders that include high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance.
For some people, reducing belly fat might have considerable health benefits. The best way to reduce visceral fat is through losing weight and diet. According to a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, switching to brown rice can help eliminate the dangerous visceral fat in your abdomen. Lignin in this whole-grain rice lowers the fat concentration in the blood and minimizes blood pressure.
6. Brown rice has a low density:
This rice contains water and fiber components which help keep it low in energy density. Since brown rice fills you up fast, it helps you lose weight by ensuring you eat less. So, it is advisable to consume brown rice earlier in the day, at the beginning of your meals, as it will not make you feel hungry or urge you to eat other foods later on.
According to a study conducted on women who consumed high and low-density diets, it was observed that those who ate higher-density foods gained a significant amount of weight significantly compared to the others over a period of six years.
- Brown rice encourages slow sugar release:
A critical note among several health benefits is that brown rice helps neutralize your blood sugar level through slow sugar release in your system. As a result,
brown rice is especially beneficial for patients with diabetes. According to research, consuming half a cup of brown rice daily reduces your risk of developing diabetes by 60 percent. Since brown rice releases sugar slowly in your body, it also permits your body to process it slowly.
- Improve the health of mothers and babies:
Lactating mothers’ mental health may benefit from sprouted brown rice. According to a study published in the European Journal of Nutrition, Brown rice consumption exhibited favorable benefits among nursing women in mood disorders, sadness, and exhaustion phases. It has also been suggested that eating this rice during nursing can help the body tolerate stress and increase general immunological protection.
- Safety of the Heart:
Among several other health benefits, the high magnesium content in brown rice is good for your heart. This type of rice provides 21% of the recommended daily magnesium intake. Magnesium is an essential mineral for regulating blood pressure and is also used in reducing abdominal fat.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that whole grain consumption is associated with healthier carotid arteries and blood pressure levels. It’s not anything we need to be concerned about right now, but the earlier you start eating brown rice, the better.
- Brown rice reduces your cholesterol level
According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the oil contained in brown rice plays a vital role in reducing the level of bad cholesterol in your body. The study considered people with a moderately high cholesterol level and deciphered that the rice bran oil was responsible for lowering their LDL (bad) cholesterol by 7 percent. On the other hand, consuming rice bran itself did not.
Brown rice also contains good fiber content, which could lower cholesterol levels. This fiber aids in digestion which requires bile acids partly made with cholesterol. When you consume a complex carbohydrate like this, your digestion improves, and the liver pulls cholesterol from your blood to create more bile acid, thus reducing the amount of LDL in your body.
Starting your day with grains help in reducing cholesterol level. A study conducted and published in 2014 British Journal of Nutrition found that eating brown rice reduced insulin resistance, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol.
- Vitamins and minerals
For comparison, the following table compares the levels of various nutrients in 100 g of brown rice, white rice, and enriched white rice:
Mang Niacin Thiamin Selenium Mag
BROWN RICE
42% DV 16% DV 15% DV 11% DV 9% DV
WHITE RICE
16% DV 3% DV 2% DV
– 2% DV
ENRICHED WHITE RICE
16% DV 9% DV 14% DV 14% DV 2% DV
Manganese: This is a trace mineral found in many meals, particularly whole grains. It also aids fat and carbohydrate metabolism, calcium absorption, and blood sugar control. It’s necessary for metabolism, growth, development, and the body’s antioxidant system.
Niacin: Often known as vitamin B-3, is a B vitamin found in rice. Mainly in the form of nicotinic acid. Niacin, vitamin B-6, and iron: This impressive trio increases your body’s production of the amino acid L-carnitine to help burn fat.
Thiamin: Promotes the breakdown of carbohydrates and fats that come with food and helps form functional blood cells; Also known as vitamin B-1, thiamin is essential for metabolism and the function of the heart, muscles, and nervous system.
Magnesium: Magnesium acts as a cellular “battery,” converting energy from food and coordinating cell respiration with the help of ATP. This technique may assist you in burning calories during endurance workouts leading to fat loss.
Preparation Techniques
Cooking brown rice takes longer than cooking white rice because it requires a few more steps. There is no specific recipe for cooking rice, but you may prefer boiled rice to that which has been spiced.
Below are a few recipes for weight loss. Keep in mind the ingredients should be always washed and strained twice or three times to remove any dust or particles and any excess starch.
While washing the rice, avoid rubbing it.
Next, filter the excess liquid.

Black and white photo of a sportsman using talcum powder on his hands and preparing for weight training in a gym.
After you’ve finished washing the brown rice, pour 112 cups of water into a vessel for each cup of brown rice.
Bring the water to a boil over high heat.
Once the water has been turned o, it has to boil; add the rice and cook it in a covered pan over low heat.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer the rice for at least 30 minutes.
Before serving, steam the rice for at least 5 minutes, completely drying it. This type of rice can be cooked in the simplest way possible. The only difference between different colors of rice is that you must pay attention to your water. Brown rice must absorb all of the water so you can drain it while cooking white rice.
Other Use Cases
Brown rice can be consumed at any time of day by incorporating it into any healthy meal.
- You can enjoy it by topping it with eggs, avocado, salsa, and black beans for breakfast and following the 7-day diet.
- Breakfast can be replaced with brown rice porridge instead of oats.
- Combine it with vegetables and protein for lunch.
- Make burgers together with black beans for lunch or dinner.
- Use it in place of white pasta when making soup and curry.
- We combine it with fresh vegetables and olive oil to make a tasty side dish.
- Making pudding, sushi rolls, and risotto.
Wrapping up the Discussion on Brown Rice & Weight Loss
Brown rice is not only a must-have on any diet meal, but it is also beneficial to the health of those who aren’t on one. This type of rice has many health benefits, including lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, constipation, and osteoporosis.
The determination of whether or not to consume whole grains like brown rice is also dictated by your genetics. HealthCodes DNA can help you discover your genetic whole grain needs and 15 other DNA traits related to food sensitivities and metabolism. The best way to live a nutritious and balanced life is to understand your body’s needs. Getting brown rice into your diet according to your body’s genetics is the best way to take a step in the right direction toward that balance while achieving your weight loss goals.