Brown Rice vs White Rice | Nutrition, Blood Sugar, Arsenic

Brown and white rice are the same grain. White rice has had the bran and germ milled off, and with them goes most of the fiber, some of the minerals and some of the arsenic.

So choosing between them is a trade: more fiber and minerals in brown, less arsenic in white, and a smaller blood sugar difference than most people expect.

The short answer: brown rice has about four times the fiber of white and three times the magnesium. Its glycemic index (how fast a food raises blood sugar) is a little lower, 68 against 73. In one large US study, people who ate brown rice twice a week or more got type 2 diabetes about 11% less often. But in trials, swapping white rice for brown didn’t change blood sugar in people who already had diabetes or prediabetes.

Brown rice also carries more arsenic, on average about two-thirds more in FDA testing. For most adults the FDA doesn’t advise changing how much rice you eat. For babies and during pregnancy it advises variety: other grains alongside rice.

Either way, get cooked rice into the fridge within 2 hours.

Rice plays a small part in our kitchen: 4 of our recipes cook it, all with brown rice, and 4 more suggest rice as one way to serve them.

Brown vs White Rice Nutrition

Brown rice vs white rice comparison showing fiber, magnesium and arsenic differences

USDA’s figures for cooked long-grain rice, per 100 grams:

Per 100 g cooked	Brown rice	White rice, enriched
Fiber	1.6 g	0.4 g
Magnesium	39 mg	12 mg
Potassium	86 mg	35 mg
Manganese	0.97 mg	0.47 mg
Iron	0.56 mg	1.20 mg (added)
Folate	9 µg	58 µg (added)
Carbohydrate	25.6 g	28.2 g

In a cooked cup, that’s about 3 grams of fiber in brown rice against 0.6 grams in white. A cup of brown rice also has a little more carbohydrate, about 52 grams against 45, because a cooked cup of brown rice weighs more.

Enriched white rice carries more iron and folate than brown. They’re added after milling, at levels above what brown rice has naturally: unenriched white rice has just 0.2 mg of iron and 3 µg of folate per 100 grams. Enrichment puts back iron, folate, thiamin and niacin. It doesn’t put back the fiber, the magnesium or the potassium.

Brown Rice vs White Rice and Blood Sugar

Rice and blood sugar infographic showing that the whole meal pattern matters, not rice alone

The glycemic index gap is small. In the international tables, boiled white rice scores 73 and boiled brown rice 68, against pure glucose at 100. The tables also note that some white rice varieties score low.

A bigger gap shows up once rice is ground or puffed: in the same tables, rice crackers scored 87 and rice milk 86. Cooked whole grains, brown or white, are digested more slowly than either.

In a 2010 Harvard study of nearly 200,000 American nurses and health professionals, people who ate white rice five or more times a week were 17% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who ate it less than once a month. People who ate brown rice twice a week or more were 11% less likely. The researchers estimated that swapping a third of a serving a day of white rice for brown went with a 16% lower risk.

A 2012 meta-analysis found the link was strongest where rice is the staple. In Chinese and Japanese studies, where people ate three to four servings of white rice a day, the highest eaters had a 55% higher risk of type 2 diabetes than the lowest. In Western studies, eating one to two servings a week, the difference wasn’t significant.

Both are observational studies, and they can’t separate the rice from everything else brown-rice eaters do differently. When trials switched people with diabetes or prediabetes from white rice to brown for weeks to months, their HbA1c (a measure of average blood sugar over about three months) and fasting blood sugar didn’t change.

Cooled rice may be a little gentler. In a small 2015 Indonesian trial, analyzed in 14 healthy adults aged 20 to 40, white rice that was cooked, chilled for 24 hours at 39°F and reheated had more resistant starch (starch that escapes digestion and behaves more like fiber) than fresh rice, and it raised blood sugar about 18% less. An earlier Indonesian study found no effect, and this trial used white rice in people without diabetes. Only do this if you cool the rice safely (see below).

Cooling cooked rice can increase resistant starch and change the blood sugar response

Bowl of brown rice mushroom risotto with corn, peas and beans

Arsenic in Brown Rice vs White Rice

Arsenic in brown and white rice infographic showing why brown rice carries more and why dietary variety matters

Rice plants tend to absorb more arsenic from their environment than other crops, the FDA says, partly because rice is usually grown in flooded fields. Brown rice keeps the bran layers that milling removes, and in FDA testing it carried more.

In the FDA’s 2016 risk assessment, uncooked brown rice averaged 154 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic, the more harmful form, and white rice 92. Yet most of the arsenic Americans get from rice comes from white rice, because they eat about ten times as much white rice as brown.

The FDA’s advice depends on who’s eating:

For most adults, no change. The FDA says it isn’t advising the general population to change how much rice they eat because of arsenic. It does advise a varied diet, so that no single food dominates.
For babies, variety. Relative to body weight, babies eat about three times as much rice as adults, mostly as infant rice cereal. The FDA advises iron-fortified cereals, and says rice cereal is a good source but shouldn’t be the only one: oat, barley and multigrain infant cereals are alternatives. Since 2020, it has also held manufacturers to a limit, which it calls an action level, of 100 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal.
During pregnancy, varied grains, such as wheat, oats and barley, alongside rice.

Babies and pregnancy get the extra care because of the developing brain: the FDA found that arsenic exposure in pregnancy and infancy can lead to a child doing less well on developmental tests that measure learning.

You can also cook some of it out. FDA scientists found that cooking rice in plenty of water, 6 to 10 parts water to 1 part rice, and draining it like pasta cuts inorganic arsenic by 40 to 60%, depending on the rice: about half for brown rice. Rinsing before cooking barely changed the arsenic. Both draining and rinsing wash away the iron, folate, thiamin and niacin added to enriched white rice, which brown rice doesn’t depend on.

The cooking water matters too, since rice takes up arsenic from it. If your water comes from a private well, have the well tested.

Leftover Rice Safety

Cooked rice can carry spores of Bacillus cereus, which survive cooking. If the rice sits warm, they grow and make a toxin that causes vomiting, usually 30 minutes to 6 hours after eating. The FDA links this vomiting type of illness mostly to rice and other starchy foods, and the toxin survives reheating, so reheating doesn’t make badly stored rice safe.

Four habits keep it safe, all from the USDA’s rules for leftovers:

Refrigerate cooked rice within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if the room is above 90°F.
Spread it in shallow containers so it cools quickly.
Use it within 3 to 4 days, counting from the day the rice was cooked, not the day it went into another dish. Or freeze it for 3 to 4 months.
Reheat it until it’s steaming hot, to 165°F.

Pot of creamy mushroom soup made with brown rice, with a ladle

How We Cook Brown Rice

The Whole Grains Council gives 2½ cups of water for every cup of brown rice and 25 to 45 minutes of cooking, for about 3 cups cooked. It also suggests letting grains soak for a few hours to shorten the cooking. Two of our recipes soak the rice overnight, one of them “to cook the brown rice more quickly.”

Brown rice with vegetables: 1½ cups of soaked brown rice simmered with the vegetables in 3 cups of water for about 40 minutes, then left covered 10 minutes to absorb the rest.
Brown rice mushroom risotto: soaked overnight with lentils, then simmered about 30 minutes.
Creamy mushroom soup: a cup of unsoaked brown rice simmered with the vegetables for about 35 minutes.
Brown rice pudding: a cup of already cooked brown rice, simmered 5 minutes with plant milk, banana and dates. A good use for leftovers.

Four more of our recipes suggest rice as one way to serve them:

Vegetable tofu stir fry: brown rice, quinoa or noodles
Red lentil soup: rice, potatoes or whole grain bread
Lentil meatballs in tomato sauce: mashed potatoes or rice
Chickpea curry: buckwheat or rice

Bowl of brown rice pudding with raisins and cinnamon, a spoon lifting some out

Brown Rice vs White Rice for Diabetes, Pregnancy and Babies

Rice during pregnancy and for babies infographic emphasizing grain variety and rotating infant cereals

From Venny, a medical doctor and a specialist in Nutrition and Dietetics: for most adults, brown rice is the better everyday choice, and white rice isn’t poison. Rice is a starch, and a plate built on rice, beans and vegetables is a good plate whichever color the rice is. What brown rice adds is fiber and minerals, and in the long-term studies, the people who ate it had less type 2 diabetes.

If you have diabetes or prediabetes, don’t expect the swap alone to move your numbers: in trials, switching from white rice to brown didn’t change HbA1c or fasting blood sugar. What has moved them is changing the whole diet. In a 22-week trial of 99 people with type 2 diabetes, 43% of those on a low-fat vegan diet reduced their diabetes medication, against 26% on the American Diabetes Association’s diet. If you take medication, change your diet together with your doctor, because doses may need to come down.

If you’re pregnant, or feeding a baby, arsenic is a reason to vary your grains, not to fear rice. In pregnancy, eat wheat, oats and barley alongside rice, and remember that draining rice also washes out the folate added to enriched white rice. For a baby, choose iron-fortified cereals and don’t make rice cereal the only one.

Venny is a medical doctor and a specialist in Nutrition and Dietetics; Andy holds a master’s degree in psychology. This is general information rather than medical advice.

Which Rice to Buy for What

Which rice to choose infographic comparing brown rice, white rice and alternating grains

Situation	Choose	Why
Everyday rice	Brown	Four times the fiber, three times the magnesium
Diabetes or prediabetes	Brown, as part of a whole-diet change	Swapping the rice alone didn’t change HbA1c in trials
Rice every day	Either, cooked in plenty of water and drained, with other grains alongside	Cuts inorganic arsenic by 40 to 60%
During pregnancy	Wheat, oats and barley alongside rice	The FDA’s advice; draining enriched white rice also washes out its added folate
A baby’s first cereals	Iron-fortified, rotating rice with oat, barley and multigrain	The FDA’s advice for infants
Rice pudding or a quick lunch	Leftover brown rice, stored safely	Our rice pudding starts from cooked rice

Andy: Which rice you eat is mostly settled at the store. In a Dutch study, people given a free sandwich mostly kept the bun they were offered: 94% kept whole wheat when it was the default, and when white was the default, only about 1 in 5 asked for whole wheat. Both groups felt equally free to choose. It measured choices, not eating, but the lesson carries: make brown rice the one you cook without thinking.

Where to Start With Brown Rice

Cook a cup of plain brown rice in 2½ cups of water, and get what you don’t eat into the fridge within 2 hours. The next morning, a cup of it makes our brown rice pudding in about 10 minutes. Later in the week, soak 1½ cups overnight for our brown rice with vegetables.

And, always, seek health consciously.