Hello, this is Monica Reinagel, and you're listening to the Nutrition Diva

podcast. Great to have you here for this week's show. And now I want to talk about rice and I have to

begin by making a confession. I know that brown rice is more nutritious than refined

white rice, but I actually prefer the softer texture and the milder flavor of white

rice, especially white Basmati rice.

Now because I don't eat rice all that often and when I do I don't eat it in large quantities,

I often go ahead and have white rice instead of the more virtuous whole-grain brown stuff.

Because in truth, the nutritional differences are not as big as you might think.

But my recent discovery of black rice,

which is sometimes called forbidden rice,

has changed everything.

Now, like brown rice, black rice is a whole grain with all of the fiber-rich

bran and the nutritious germ intact. In fact, black rice has even more fiber and protein

than brown rice.

But where black rice really shines

is in its antioxidant content.

The deep pigmentation of black rice,

which when you look at it is actually a very dark purple comes from anthocyanins, the same compounds

that give blueberries their color and their health benefits. Anthosyanins help protect your heart and your brain,

they can lower your cholesterol,

they may even guard against cancer and dementia.

In fact, anthosyanins might be responsible

...