Nutritious Rice

Rice, like bread and pasta, is high in starches and low in fat. It consists mostly of complex carbohydrates and is a nutritious and sustaining everyday food. It provides us with starches that give energy, and also with protein, minerals such as calcium and iron, and B vitamins. In many parts of the world, rice has for centuries been the main daily food of millions of people, supplemented by vegetables, legumes and beans, and relatively small amounts of oil, fish, and meat.

Rice has the highest protein digestibility and energy digestibility among all the staple foods. The total protein content of rice is about 8 percent in brown rice and 6 to 7 percent in milled rice, lower than in some other grains. Usable protein, however, is calculated by looking at the completeness of the protein. In grains, the limiting or least available amino acid is lysine. Rice (and oats) have the highest levels of lysine of all the grains, and milled rice (as well as wheat) has the highest levels of utilizable protein.