Which Type of Rice Is Healthiest?

There are at least a dozen different types of rice to choose from at the grocery store: long-grain, short-grain, white, brown, basmati, instant, converted - whew! Which one is best?

Cooking with rice

There are fairly big differences between the various kinds of rice in terms of cooking times and the texture of the cooked rice. So, if you are cooking from a recipe, it’s important to pay attention to what kind of rice the recipe calls for. Substituting a different kind of rice can really change how a recipe comes out—not always in a good way.

The different types of rice

The different types of rice include the following:

• Short-grain rice is very starchy and cooks up soft and sticky. It’s used in things like sushi, paella, and risotto.
• Long-grain rice contains less starch so the cooked grains are drier and more separate. It’s often used in pilafs or dishes with a lot of sauce.
• Medium-grain, as you might expect, is somewhere in between.
• Jasmine and basmati are long-grain varieties that have been cultivated to bring out distinctive flavor profiles. They often turn up in Indian and Asian food.

All of these types of rice are availabe as either white or brown rice.  In each case, brown is the whole grain version, whereas white rice has been milled to remove the germ and bran.  Brown rice is a lot chewier and heartier than white rice and takes about twice as long to cook.

But we're not done yet!

You'll also find varieties of whole grain rice that aren't white or brown but rather red, purple, or black. These are special varieties of rice that are high in pigments called anthocyanins.  

And finally, you can also buy instant or converted rice. Both of these have been partially cooked and then dehydrated. If you’re using a pre-processed rice, it’s important to follow the preparation instructions on the package.

Here’s an article that talks more about the culinary properties and uses of different kinds of rice. But what about the nutritional aspects?

What are the nutritional differences in rice?

Because brown rice retains both the germ and the bran parts of the grain, it is higher in magnesium and other minerals. It also has more fiber. For example, a half cup of white long-grain rice contains less than one gram of fiber, whereas a half cup of brown rice contains 1.5 grams. As a point of reference, you’re shooting for between 25 and 30 grams of fiber each day. 

Although all rice is quite low in fat, brown rice has slightly more due to the fat content of the...

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