Black rice vs. Brown rice – who wins?
Black rice vs. Brown rice – who wins?
“Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants,” says study co-author Zhimin Xu, associate professor at the food science department at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge. (Source:MSN)
Sounds good! I like that esp. since blueberries are often so expensive.
We all know that brown rice is better than white rice for a number of nutritional reasons (like how white rice has ZERO grams of fiber!). But now the question is…is black even better than brown? Let’s see.
BLACK (FORBIDDEN) RICE:
- 1/4 cup uncooked
- 160 calories
- 1.5 grams of fat
- 34 grams of carbohydrates
- 2 grams of fiber
- 0% DV for vitamin A, vitamin C, and calcium, and 4% DV for iron.
BROWN RICE (LONG GRAIN):
- 1/4 cup uncooked
- 171 calories
- 1.4 grams of fat
- 36 grams of carbohydrates
- 1.6 grams of fiber
- 0% DV for vitamin A and vitamin C, 1% DV for calcium, and 4% DV for iron. (Source:USDA)
They virtually look the same, don’t they? The only difference being that black rice contains anthocyanin pigments – the same thing that give many superfoods their deep rich red, blue, and purple colors. Like blueberries. Which are also high in antioxidants. Oh-Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.
So who wins? Well, depends which one is easier to find, cheaper, and tastes better with what you’re cooking that day. All in all, try to replace white rice with brown OR black rice. But don’t kill yourself if you can’t find black rice! Eat your blueberries!
7 thoughts on “Black rice vs. Brown rice – who wins?”
There are 7 comments posted by our users.
Sorry are you guys crazy honestly. I eat black rice and trust me if it had sodium I would know 100% *taste** and it doesn’t.. From my understanding sodium tastes like salt right soo it should be salty as hell if its what Sharon says as that much sodium is equiv to soy sauce.. (look at the label).. so taste both and tell me if its the same sodium content (soy sauce and the rice).. SMH you know rice don’t taste that salty.. only if YOU put salt in yourself
Yes, it’s just ignorant “experts”. Black rice is just another kind of rice, it doesn’t have any more sodium than any of the hundreds of other rice varieties. Check the nutrition info on any packaged black rice – just a few milligrams of sodium per serving.
According to the nutrition label on one of the nationally available brands of black rice, Hinode, there is zero sodium.
Are they lying? Or is the “black rice is full of sodium” thing a rumor started by unscrupulous or ignorant “experts”?
Please look into the difference in sodium content of Black Rice vs. Brown Rice. I believe that Black Rice has approximately 10 times the sodium of Brown Rice and thus not very beneficial to restricting sodium.
Makes sense
I just saw the same thing about sodium for black rice on livestrong.com. One (1) cup of uncooked brown rice contains only 8 milligrams of sodium, while a cup of uncooked black rice contains 1,177 milligrams. The daily suggested intake of sodium is 2,300 milligrams, and consistently overshooting that amount may increase your risk of high blood pressure.1 cup uncooked is 1177 mg of sodium vs brown rice. This is a huge bummer! I don’t add salt in my diet at all and this is the perfect example why consciously adding salt to your foods is so bad for you. Hidden salt exists already. Still love black rice, I’ll continue to measure cooked quantities so I know the 1/2 c cooked (1/4c uncooked) doesn’t exceed the it’s 294mg of sodium!
Sharon, your information about sodium in black rice from Brian Willett in Livestrong is wrong. I’ve been unable to find any reference to this figure older than his on the web, but plenty of evidence that there is no appreciable sodium that naturally occurs in any variety of rice. (http://www.livestrong.com/article/543493-nutrition-differences-in-black-rice-vs-brown-rice/) All varieties of rice require relatively low salinity environments in which to grow, and all varieties of rice contain negligible levels of sodium in their natural state. Even if black rice contained 10 times the sodium of brown, 10 times 0 is still 0.
Seasoned rice mixes can contain sodium, as can prepared rice. This sodium is added in the form of salt and other flavorings, but it does not occur or accrue naturally in the grain.
I am holding a bag of “Earthly Choice” brand All Natural Black Rice. According to the nutritional label, a 1/4 cup dry measure contains 0 mg of sodium, 34 g Total Carbohydrate, and 2 g Fiber. Even allowing for the leeway in USA nutrition labeling law, it could not have more than 4 grams of sodium per cup of uncooked rice.
PS: Since I see no evidence that Mr. Willett has ever published a retraction or correction, or a source to substantiate the original claim, I suggest you take whatever he writes with a grain of (… wait for it…) SALT!