Brown rice is healthier than white for a number of reasons.

This video was originally published on NutritionFacts.org and republished with permission. NutritionFacts.org

Brown rice has four times more fiber than white rice, but that’s just the start of its benefit to health. Brown rice, in addition to including more fiber than white, has also been shown to reduce weight and blood pressure. What’s more, the high quality of the fiber in pigmented rice (as well as other pigmented rices and foods like blueberries) turns out to promote growth of the good type of bacteria our gut needs.

White rice has an incredibly long shelf life making it the more popular choice, and that is unfortunate. The only difference between white rice and the colorful variety is the milling process, which removes the fibrous outer husk, full of all the great phytonutrients and fiber, and leaves only the significantly less nutritious center. These phytonutrients are responsible for a litany of health benefits including anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.

There is a saying that the key to good health is to ‘eat the rainbow.’ More often than not, the colors people are eating come from dyes in candies and processed foods rather than plant based foods. But if all everyone did was switch to a hued variety of rice instead of the standard rice even rot doesn’t want to touch, the world would be a much healthier place.