Are you a hardcore rice eater? There are many claims that eating rice rich in starch and fructose is not good for your health and especially for your heart. Taking increased quantities of starch could make you obese and also lead to a chain reaction that could result in a weakened cardiovascular system according to many.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the staple food that you ate actually took good care of your health and bettered the functioning of your heart instead of being harmless or harmful? What is more is that we are hardly ready to compromise on the taste while we want all the benefits in a platter!

Well, that is a tough combination to bring about. Most of the things that we like to taste are not exactly healthy and the other way around is also true.

Brown rice is one such wonderful exception that tastes good and takes good care of your health. It is ideally suited to be consumed as a staple diet and takes good care of your heart too.

Here is how Brown Rice helps you to maintain good cardiac health.

Heart friendly magnesium

Brown rice is rich in the heart-friendly mineral magnesium. Magnesium sets right the blood pressure and offsets the effect of sodium.

Brown rice is also rich in phytonutrient plant lignans that have been known to be effective in protecting the body against many diseases including heart diseases. These plant lignans are converted into animal lignans by friendly microorganisms in our gut. One such lignan called enterolactone is found to be protective against cancer and heart diseases.

Heart care for post-menopausal women

A study performed by the American Heart journal has established that women who had undergone menopause also benefited from brown rice. Women who are going through menopause undergo a number of hormonal changes that fuel further changes to their body makeup. Cholesterol levels tend to shoot up and so does blood pressure.

Brown Rice helps keep cholesterol and blood pressure under check. Women who took brown rice six times a week were seen to have a decreased risk of forming plaques and constriction of their blood vessels.

Lowering cholesterol levels

Increased cholesterol level makes blood more viscous and the heart has to take greater pains to pump it through the body. The outer layer of Brown Rice contains essential oils that are capable of reducing levels of bad cholesterol in the body. This was proven by a study performed by the American journal of clinical nutrition in which volunteers observed a seven percent reduction in bad cholesterol levels by taking brown rice. This could however not be established by taking just rice bran.

Bile regulation and fatty acids

Brown rice is rich in fibre content. In order to digest greater fibre, the body makes use of bile which is created using cholesterol. In other words, in order to digest increased fibre content from Brown Rice, the body pulls out more cholesterol from the blood to produce bile. This in turn results in regulating both bile production and blood cholesterol metabolism. As the end result, the bad cholesterol level is also reduced. Research studies have proven that taking whole grains such as brown rice helps bring in a better balance by reducing levels of bad cholesterol similar to statin drugs that are administered for this purpose.

Metabolic syndrome risk

Metabolic syndrome encompasses a number of parameters such as belly fat, higher levels of bad cholesterol such as low density lipoproteins and triglycerides, lower level of good cholesterol or high density lipoproteins, high blood pressure, etc. Higher risk of metabolic syndrome literally translates into a higher risk of developing cardiac diseases and type II diabetes.

A study published by Diabetes Care found that those who eat more whole grains such as Brown Rice had thirty eight percent lower metabolic syndromes. Whereas, those who had foods with higher glycemic index which results in an immediate release of sugars and energy, had one hundred and fourteen percent more chances of developing metabolic syndrome.

This allows us to conclude that brown rice is by far a healthier alternative to stay away from heart diseases and diabetes.