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This past weekend, I tried black rice for the first time. I had never heard of, seen, or tasted black rice before. It tasted similar to brown rice, kind of nutty in taste and sticky in texture, but was a little chewier. When it's cooked, black rice turns into a DEEP purple. Now, we know that brown rice has more nutritional value than white rice, but how does black rice compare? My curiosity got to me and I have done a little research on black rice and its nutritional value:
Benefits of black rice:
- has anti inflammatory properties
- has similar nutrient levels to brown rice
- has high amounts of antioxidants
- has high fiber and iron
- is packed with anthocyanins (Anthocyanins are phytochemicals that are found in foods with a deep purple color like blue berries. These phytochemicals are said to fight chronic disease such as cancer and heart disease.)
- has the same superfood properties as blueberries, but it is much cheaper
- has more fiber and less sugar than blueberries
- has the highest amount of protein when compared to white and brown rice and double the fiber of brown rice
- A 100g serving of black rice has 8.5g of protein, 3.5mg of iron and 4.9g of fiber
- A 100g serving of brown rice has 3g of protein, 2mg of iron and 2g of fiber
NOTE: Different resources listed different amounts for protein iron and fiber for 100g of the black and brown rice. I took the average.
Have you ever tried black rice? What do you think? I am personally going to try to cook black rice more often!
