Brown Rice Vs. Quinoa

Whether you call them whole grains or cereals, they are essential food items for healthy eating. They contain complex carbohydrates in high percentage along with vitamins, minerals, proteins and dietary fiber. The benefits of cereals are also attributed by their low fat content.

Given a choice to select healthy grains, most people have a difficult time in choosing one from brown rice, quinoa and oatmeal. Here, we shall focus on the comparison between brown rice and quinoa.

Grains that are not subjected to repetitive processing are grouped under whole grains. They still retain their bran and germ, which serve as natural sources of dietary fiber. Brown rice is a popular example of whole grains.

On the contrary, quinoa is used in the similar way as grain, but is not a true cereal and is classified under pseudocereal. But the question is, which is better brown rice or quinoa? To get your answer for this, refer to the following info about difference between brown rice and quinoa.

Botanically classified under true whole grains, brown rice is a seed product of the grass genus Oryza, whereas quinoa is a species of the broadleaf plant genus Chenopodium. In other words, brown rice plant is a monocot and true cereal, whereas quinoa is a pseudocereal, classified under eudicotyledons (meaning true dicotyledonous plant).

Brown rice is also referred to as partly milled or unmilled rice with reference to its processing mechanism. It is yielded after the outermost grain covering is removed during milling.

Coming to quinoa production, the process involves getting rid of the pericarp layer that contains saponins. However, you will also get unboxed quinoa in the market that needs to be soaked before cooking.

This partly milled rice is a rich source of complex carbs, hence its calorie count is relatively high. Serving 1 cup of cooked brown rice provides 216 calories, with an estimated 85 percent from carbs, 8 percent from proteins and 7 percent from fats.

In 1 cup of cooked quinoa, the total calories are 222, of which 71 percent come from carbs, 15 percent from proteins and 14 percent from fats.

Both brown rice and quinoa are reliable sources of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. However, the latter provides all essential amino acids, thus serving a complete protein source. Brown rice contains 3.5 fiber in 1 cup, and is rich in manganese, selenium and magnesium. While quinoa contains 5 g fiber in 1 cup, and provides manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus.

Brown rice is cooked by boiling 1 cup rice with 2¼ cups of water and simmering for some time. As far as cooking boxed quinoa is concerned, you can prepare it in the same way like rice. However for untreated quinoa, you should soak it in water for some hours and rinse off the outer covering to get rid of the bitter tasting saponins. Then follow the same cooking method to prepare nutty flavored, soft quinoa.

This was an overview about the comparison between brown rice and quinoa. The main difference lies in the fact that quinoa contains higher dietary fiber and more trace minerals than brown rice.

Another impressive part with quinoa is, it gives lysine amino acid, which is absent in most food items. Despite the higher calorie count of quinoa, it is considered a healthy choice because the amount of carbohydrate content is lesser than brown rice. Consequently, protein content is higher in brown rice as compared to quinoa.