However, most people eat a variety of other foods (meat, veggies, etc.) that have these minerals and no phytic acid. Thus getting less minerals from rice isn’t a big concern for most people.

It sure doesn’t hurt to soak your rice prior to cooking it, but it probably doesn’t make a big significant difference for most people.

So far no publicized study has looked specifically at the glycemic difference between white basmati and brown basmati. But based upon what we do know, it would stand to reason that brown basmati rice would have a slightly (2-5 points I’d guess) lower Glycemic Index as well as a tad more vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

The difference in white and brown rice, however, is not as significant as most people think. For example, long-grain white rice has 0.4g fiber per serving while long-grain brown rice has 1.8g fiber per serving. On one hand there’s 4 1/2 times as much fiber in brown rice as compared to white rice, but on the other hand there’s only 1.4 more grams of fiber in brown vs white rice.

My advice, go with brown rice unless you like white rice quite a bit better. If so, enjoy your white rice – it’s probably the last of your nutritionals worries!

You didn’t mention how significant the difference between ‘white’ basmati and ‘brown’ basmati rice is. Is brown basmati better then white basmati in the same way brown rice is better then white rice e.g. unprocessed, more fibre, more nutritional value or is the reported difference not so signifcant health wise?

Great reading and a great article. Thanks Clay

If using brown rice, should care be taken to soak it in order to contend with anti-nutrients and make certain micronutrients more bio-available?