Brown rice

Studies in people

• Benefit

  Type 2 diabetes risk²

  People who ate more brown rice were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who ate less.

• Open question

  Blood sugar control³

  Brown rice may not control blood sugar as well as parboiled rice, though scientists are still studying this.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Appetite for fatty foods⁷

  In mice, brown rice and its γ-oryzanol cut how much they wanted fatty food.

• Benefit

  Liver damage from mould toxins⁸

  In animal and lab studies, a compound in brown rice helped protect the liver from a mould toxin found in grains.

• Benefit

  Cancer cell growth⁹

  In lab studies, germinated brown rice slowed cancer cell growth and spread.

Study type not stated

• Benefit

  Blood sugar and liver health⁴

  Brown rice may slow starch digestion and help keep blood sugar and liver stress down.

• Benefit

  Blood sugar and diabetes⁶

  Some brown rice landraces may help counter type II diabetes, the authors say.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Contaminant levels by grain type⁵

  Brown rice samples held more arsenic than white, though most of it may not be absorbed.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.