News and Information about Foodstuffs

Rice is often served as an addition to foods high in cholesterol, like a lot of Indian foods cooked in ghee, that clarified butter which threatens to block your arteries with every mouthful. But is the world missing a trick here in the battle to beat heart and blood circulation conditions and diseases? A new study has shown that eating three ounces of rice bran every day can lower your cholesterol levels, especially the harmful LDL or low density lipoproteins.

Rice bran has more micro nutrients than even raw cacao with a total of one hundred and twenty different antioxidants already identified. The bran also contains levels of nearly all vitamins with only the exception of vitamins c and d. It is especially rich in the whole range of b vitamins including b15. Oleic Acid, most commonly found in olive oil is present along with the fatty acids omega 3 and 6. It is also a good source of Co-Enzyme Q10.

The rice bran is normally removed for a reason. The oils in the bran start to break down quickly after the rice is harvested and would ruin the whole crop if left in its natural state. Food processors have found a way to stabilize the rice bran after it has been removed from the grain. Some of the bran is used to produce rice bran oil. This oil is used especially in stir frying in China and Japan because of its high temperature burn point. This allows the oil to be heated to as high as 250C without burning and its mild flavour does not impact the taste of the food. This oil saves cooking in foods high in cholesterol like animal fats such as butter or lard as well as all the health benefits of its nutrient levels.

Wholegrain brown rice does have the advantage of having more fiber than processed white rice but the micro nutrients in the bran are destroyed by the cooking process, especially with brown rice requiring two to three times the cooking time to make it easily edible.

By extracting the rice bran and stabilising its rich nutrient content it can be milled into an ingredient used in a variety of products that may be traditionally made with wheat or other grains and is the healthier option for many. New studies are being carried out to confirm early findings of its use in reducing cholesterol levels and cardiovascular diseases. Early results on people who ate three ounces of rice bran every day for six weeks found that ldl cholesterol levels were reduced by an average of fourteen per cent. Rice bran oil being an especially useful replacement for foods high in cholesterol like butter.

Sue Roberts