About Rice Bran
Rice bran is a highly nutritious food that had been previously discarded during the processing of white rice. Today, it is recognized for its nutritional benefits and is included in foods that are produced all over the world. Add this to my Recipe Box.
How Rice Bran is Made
Bran is produced during the milling of whole grains, and as a result there are various types of brans: rice bran is one example, but there are also brans produced from wheat, corn and even millet bran. During milling, each kernel of rice is dried and then hulled, when the hard outer shell of the rice is separated from the rest of the kernel. This hard outer shell is the rice bran.
Benefits
Rice bran contains a high amount of three types of fatty acids: palmitic, oleic and linoleic. The fatty acids found in rice bran help raise your high-density lipoprotein (HDL), also known as "good cholesterol." Rice bran is also high in protein.
Uses
Rice bran is often incorporated into breakfast foods like cereals and breakfast bars. Rice bran can also be sprinkled on top of bread or included in the dough before baking to add nutritional value.
Arsenic in Rice Bran
There have been scares about the presence of arsenic, a carcinogenic substance, in rice and rice bran in recent years. Arsenic does occur naturally in rice and rice bran, but not at harmful levels. NutraCea, a company that helps with food aid in some developing countries, has produced rice bran solubles that contain 0.48 mg/kg and 1.16 mg/kg of inorganic arsenic, well above the United States safety levels. Generally, though, there is a low to zero risk of arsenic poisoning from consuming rice bran.
Other Uses
Rice bran has a high oil content, and rice bran oil has been marketed in the United States since 1994. Rice bran oil is considered a healthy oil because it contains gamma oryzanol, an antioxidant.
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