White rice is brown rice with its husk, bran and germ milled away. That makes a softer, milder grain that keeps longer, and it also removes much of the fiber, vitamins and minerals. A dry ¼ cup (49 g) of unenriched medium-grain white rice has 176 calories, 3.2 g of protein and 38.7 g of carbohydrate, and it covers 23% of the daily value for manganese.
How rice is grown, processed and cooked changes what it does to blood sugar. One review found glycemic index values for rice varieties from 48 to 93, with parboiling, starch type and home cooking explaining most of the gap. In one small test, rice that was cooked, chilled for 24 hours and reheated held 1.65 g of resistant starch per 100 g, against 0.64 g when freshly cooked.
Rice also comes with two trade-offs. It takes up arsenic from flooded fields, and cooking it in extra water cut inorganic arsenic by 40% in an FDA lab study of long-grain white rice, though it also washed out 50 to 70% of the added iron and B vitamins. And cooked rice left warm can grow Bacillus cereus, which has caused outbreaks of vomiting linked to fried rice.
Health benefits of white rice
The top findings from 28 studies, strongest evidence first
What the stars mean
- Strong. Several randomized trials, pooled in a meta-analysis, point the same way, or regulators (FDA or EFSA) have approved the claim.
- Moderate. Good randomized trials support it, but there are fewer of them, or their results vary.
- Limited. Small, short or single trials, or mixed results. Promising, but it needs confirmation.
Population and lab studies get no stars: they show a link or a mechanism, not proof.
How we rate evidence →- ★★Blood sugar effect varies widely between rice typesRice varieties ranged from 48 to 93 on the glycemic index, a scale of how fast a food raises blood sugar. Parboiling and starch type explained much of the gap.
- ★★Rice-based drink cut stool output in choleraAcross 13 trials, a rice-based rehydration drink cut stool output by 36% in adults with cholera versus the standard glucose-based drink. It was a rice-powder drink for dehydration, not a plate of rice.
- ★Lower blood sugar response from chilled, reheated riceIn 15 healthy adults, rice chilled for 24 hours and reheated gave a lower blood sugar response than freshly cooked rice. In type 1 diabetes it also lowered the blood sugar rise, but low blood sugar was more common (38%, against 9% after fresh rice).
- ★Heavy parboiling may lower the blood sugar responseIn 9 people with type 2 diabetes, severe parboiling gave a glycemic index of 39 against 55 for plain rice; mild parboiling did not differ. In a pilot study, parboiled rice lowered the blood sugar response in healthy people but not significantly in type 2 diabetes.
- ★Brown instead of white rice changed littleIn 202 Chinese adults with or at high risk of diabetes, 16 weeks of brown rice instead of white did not substantially change risk factors. Only LDL cholesterol differed: it fell more with white rice, in the 47 people with diabetes.
All 28 studies, strongest evidence first
Glycemic index values for rice varieties ranged from 48 to 93, and parboiling and starch type explained much of the gap
Systematic review of studies of blood sugar and insulin responses to rice, without a pooled result. The insulin index ranged from 39 to 95. At equal cooking time brown rice gave a lower response than white, but at the longer times normally used for brown rice the differences were smaller and inconsistent. The authors work at Unilever R&D.
A rice-based rehydration drink cut stool output by 36% in adults with cholera compared with the standard glucose-based drink
Meta-analysis of 13 randomized trials with 1,367 patients. Output fell 32% in children with cholera, but only 18% in infants and children with acute diarrhea that was not cholera. This is a rice-powder drink for dehydration, not a plate of rice.
Cooked white rice that was chilled for 24 hours and reheated gave a lower blood sugar response than freshly cooked rice
Randomized single-blind crossover trial in 15 healthy adults. The blood sugar response was 125 against 152 mmol·min/L (p = 0.047). Resistant starch was 0.64 g per 100 g in fresh rice and 1.65 g per 100 g in rice chilled at 4°C and reheated. It was a small trial with a borderline result.
Rice chilled for 24 hours and reheated lowered the blood sugar rise in people with type 1 diabetes, but low blood sugar became more common
Crossover study in 32 people with type 1 diabetes who ate long-grain white rice, either fresh or chilled at 4°C and reheated, with glucose tracked by sensor for 3 hours. Low blood sugar occurred in 38% after chilled rice against 9% after fresh rice, using a standard insulin dose. People who use insulin may need to adjust their dose.
Rice that was severely pressure-parboiled had a glycemic index of 39 against 55 for non-parboiled rice, in people with type 2 diabetes
Nine people with type 2 diabetes ate 50 g of available carbohydrate as polished rice (not parboiled, mildly parboiled the traditional way, or severely pressure-parboiled) or white bread. The traditional process gave an index of 46 and did not differ significantly from plain rice. All three rice meals gave lower blood sugar than white bread. Only nine people took part.
Parboiled rice lowered the blood sugar response in healthy people compared with white rice, but not significantly in people with type 2 diabetes
Randomized crossover pilot study of 20 people, 10 healthy and 10 with type 2 diabetes. The diabetes group showed a similar trend that did not reach statistical significance. The authors call the findings preliminary and ask for larger studies.
Boiling rice longer raised the glycemic index of all four rice types tested
Ten healthy adults ate white round-grain, parboiled medium-grain, white long-grain and whole-grain long-grain rice cooked for a standard or an extended time. The index rose 15.8% for white round-grain rice and 25.4% for whole-grain rice, which still had the lowest index. Rice with more amylopectin gave faster, higher responses. The sample was small.
Two basmati rices cooked in a rice cooker had glycemic index values of 54 and 64, in the low and medium range
Crossover study in 10 healthy adults of an Indian and a Pakistani basmati bought in Sri Lanka. Microwave cooking gave 43 and 56. The Indian rice had more fiber and the lower index. It covers two products, so it says little about basmati as a whole.
Swapping white rice for brown rice for 16 weeks did not substantially change metabolic risk factors in Chinese adults with diabetes or a high risk of it
Randomized trial of 202 adults who ate either rice as much as they liked. Nothing differed between groups except LDL cholesterol, which fell more with white rice (p = 0.02) and only in the 47 people with diabetes. The authors ask for larger and longer studies.
A mixed meal with jasmine rice left people hungrier than the same meal with potato
Crossover trial in 14 people who ate meals with 45 g of carbohydrate from jasmine rice (142 g cooked), penne or potato, plus meat sauce and vegetables. Hunger scores over 3 hours were lower after potato (263) than after rice (374) or pasta (444). The authors link this to potato’s lower energy density.
Rice fortified with iron may lower the risk of iron deficiency, but the evidence is low certainty
Cochrane review of 17 studies (12 randomized, 10,483 people in all) of rice fortified with iron, alone or with other nutrients. The risk ratio for iron deficiency was 0.66 (8 studies). For anemia it was 0.72, which the authors say may make little or no difference. One study found slightly more hookworm infection.
People who ate the most white rice had an 18% higher risk of type 2 diabetes, with no clear link to heart disease or cancer
Meta-analysis of 28 prospective cohorts with 1,527,198 people. Each extra 150 g a day went with a 6% higher diabetes risk, and the gap was larger in women. Certainty was moderate for diabetes and low to very low for the other outcomes.
Each daily serving of white rice went with an 11% higher risk of type 2 diabetes, mostly in Asian populations
Meta-analysis of seven prospective cohort analyses with 13,284 cases among 352,384 people. The highest against the lowest intake gave a relative risk of 1.55 in Chinese and Japanese people, who ate three to four servings a day, and 1.12 (0.94 to 1.33) in Western populations, which was not significant.
Adults who ate 450 g or more of cooked white rice a day had a 20% higher risk of diabetes than those who ate under 150 g
PURE cohort of 132,373 people aged 35 to 70 in 21 countries, with 6,129 new cases over 9.5 years. The hazard ratio was 1.61 in South Asia, 1.41 in other regions and 1.04 in China, where the link was not significant.
US adults who ate white rice five or more times a week had a 17% higher risk of type 2 diabetes, while brown rice went with an 11% lower risk
Three cohorts with 39,765 men and 157,463 women. Brown rice was compared at 2 or more servings a week. Replacing 50 g a day of cooked white rice with brown rice went with a 16% lower risk, and replacing it with whole grains as a group with a 36% lower risk.
Japanese women in the top quarter of rice intake had 65% higher odds of type 2 diabetes
Study of 25,666 men and 33,622 women aged 45 to 75, with 1,103 new self-reported cases over 5 years. In men the link was unclear, with a hint of one in men who were not physically active. Diabetes was self-reported.
In three US cohorts, eating white rice was not linked to cardiovascular disease
Analysis of 207,556 people with 12,391 cases over more than 4 million person-years. Five or more servings a week against under one gave a hazard ratio of 0.98 (0.84 to 1.14). The authors say this applies to current US intake and ask for studies in other populations.
Across 21 countries, white rice intake was not linked to deaths or major heart events, while a high refined grain intake was
PURE cohort analysis of 137,130 people, followed for a median of 9.5 years. Refined grains at 350 g a day or more went with higher total mortality (hazard ratio 1.27) and cardiovascular events (1.33). No significant link appeared for white rice or whole grains.
By age 12 months, infants who ate rice cereal had urine arsenic of 9.53 µg/L against 2.85 µg/L in infants who ate no rice
New Hampshire Birth Cohort with diet data on 759 infants. The comparison covers infants who did not eat fish or seafood. Infants who ate rice snacks had 4.97 µg/L, and the snacks held 5 to 201 ng/g of inorganic arsenic.
Nearly three quarters of rice products made for infants and young children had inorganic arsenic above the EU limit of 0.1 mg/kg
Study of 79 infants’ urine and of rice-based foods. Urine arsenic metabolites rose after weaning onto rice products, and were higher in formula-fed than in breastfed infants. Little changed in the foods after the EU limit began in 2016.
In pregnant women, 0.56 cup of cooked rice a day matched the arsenic from 1 L of water at 10 µg/L, the US limit
Study of 229 pregnant women in New Hampshire with a 3-day diet record and a urine test. The 73 who ate rice had a median of 28.3 g a day, about half a cup cooked. Rice and tap water arsenic each predicted urine arsenic.
After a public gathering in Assam, 202 people fell ill with vomiting and stomach pain linked to leftover fried rice
Outbreak report from February 2021. Leftover fried rice grew Bacillus cereus, and two of five isolates carried the gene for the emetic toxin. The authors suggest one strain, ST-1051, caused the illness, which was mainly the vomiting type.
Cooking rice in extra water cut inorganic arsenic by 40% in long-grain white rice, but also removed 50 to 70% of added iron, folate, thiamin and niacin
Laboratory study by FDA scientists of rice rinsed or not and cooked in different amounts of water. Excess water cut inorganic arsenic 60% in parboiled rice and 50% in brown rice. Rinsing had a minimal effect on arsenic but washed enriched nutrients out of polished and parboiled rice. These are measurements of cooked rice, not a study in people.
Cooking rice in 6 parts of water to 1 removed 45% of the inorganic arsenic from long-grain and basmati rice
Laboratory study of basmati, long-grain, polished and whole-grain rice. Total arsenic fell 35%. Cooking in 2.5 parts of water did not remove arsenic, and rinsing removed only about 10% from basmati and less from other types. Steaming was inconsistent.
Parboiling rice first and then cooking it by absorption removed 73% of the inorganic arsenic from white rice
Laboratory study of three white and three brown rices cooked four ways. The same method removed 54% from brown rice, and the other methods worked on white rice only. In general the methods kept more of the nutrients measured (phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, zinc, manganese) in brown rice than in white.
UK baby rice had a median inorganic arsenic content of 0.11 mg/kg, and 35% of samples would have been illegal to sell in China
Laboratory analysis of 17 samples. China’s limit was 0.15 mg/kg, and the EU and US had no limit at the time. Baby rice gave a higher daily intake per kilogram of body weight than the drinking water exposure predicted for adults.
Some Bacillus cereus spores survived cooking and grew in rice within 6 hours at 30°C
Laboratory study of rice inoculated with eight strains, cooked and stored at 4°C, 25°C and 30°C. Four strains grew at 30°C and three at 25°C. The authors say great care is needed with ready-to-eat foods.
A USDA model predicted Bacillus cereus growth in cooked rice while it cools
Laboratory model built from rice inoculated with spores and held at 10 to 49°C. Predictions fell within the accepted range for 23 of 24 single-rate cooling runs and 26 of 28 two-stage runs. The authors name large batches left warm too long as a main cause of outbreaks.
Who should be careful with white rice
Most people can eat white rice freely. Take a little care if one of these applies:
- Babies and toddlers. Rice takes up arsenic from flooded fields, and infants who ate rice cereal had higher urine arsenic in one cohort. The FDA set an action level of 100 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic for infant rice cereal in 2020, and in its data white rice cereal averaged 103.9 ppb against 119.0 for brown. Give young children a mix of grains, not rice alone.
- Type 2 diabetes or blood sugar goals. Large daily servings go with a higher diabetes risk in cohorts, and the effect on blood sugar depends on the variety and how it is cooked. The link was clearest at 450 g or more of cooked rice a day. Keep portions moderate and ask your care team how rice fits your plan.
- Leftover rice. Bacillus cereus spores survive cooking, and reheating does not destroy the toxin they can make. Anyone can get sick from rice left out warm, so chill it quickly (see below).
How to choose, store and eat white rice
- Cooking water: cooking in extra water cut inorganic arsenic by 40% in long-grain white rice and by 45% at 6 parts water to 1 in another lab study, but it also removed 50 to 70% of added iron, folate, thiamin and niacin. Rinsing alone had little effect.
- Parboiled rice: severe pressure parboiling gave a glycemic index of 39 against 55 for ordinary rice in 9 people with type 2 diabetes, though a milder traditional process did not differ significantly.
- Cooked, chilled and reheated: resistant starch rose from 0.64 to 1.65 g per 100 g and the blood sugar response fell in 15 healthy adults. In type 1 diabetes the same trick led to more low blood sugar.
If rice is a daily staple, look for enriched rice, since the numbers on this page are for unenriched rice. To keep leftovers safe, chill cooked rice within an hour, keep it covered in the fridge, eat it within 24 hours and reheat it only once, until steaming hot.
Sources
- FDA issues final guidance for industry on action level for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereals. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 2020.
- Supporting document for action level for inorganic arsenic in rice cereals for infants. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- Arsenic in food. European Commission, Food Safety.
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/465 on maximum levels of arsenic in certain foods. European Union. 2023.
- Safe method: rice. Food Standards Agency, Safer Food Better Business.
- Storing and reheating baby food. NHS.
- Karagas MR, Punshon T, Sayarath V, et al. Association of rice and rice-product consumption with arsenic exposure early in life. JAMA Pediatr. 2016.
- Gray PJ, Conklin SD, Todorov TI, Kasko SM. Cooking rice in excess water reduces both arsenic and enriched vitamins in the cooked grain. Food Addit Contam Part A. 2016.
- Raab A, Baskaran C, Feldmann J, Meharg AA. Cooking rice in a high water to rice ratio reduces inorganic arsenic content. J Environ Monit. 2009.
- Larsen HN, Rasmussen OW, Rasmussen PH, et al. Glycaemic index of parboiled rice depends on the severity of processing: study in type 2 diabetic subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2000.
- Sonia S, Witjaksono F, Ridwan R. Effect of cooling of cooked white rice on resistant starch content and glycemic response. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2015.
- Strozyk S, Rogowicz-Frontczak A, Pilacinski S, et al. Influence of resistant starch resulting from the cooling of rice on postprandial glycemia in type 1 diabetes. Nutr Diabetes. 2022.
- Lai H, Sun M, Liu Y, et al. White rice consumption and risk of cardiometabolic and cancer outcomes: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2023.
History of white rice
Asian rice, Oryza sativa, was domesticated in China, and scientists still debate exactly where and when. A 2012 genome study of 1,083 cultivated and 446 wild rice accessions placed the first domestication of the japonica type in southern China, around the middle Pearl River, with indica rice developing later as farmers crossed it with local wild rice. A 2020 study dated the start to about 9,000 years ago in the Yangtze Valley. African rice, Oryza glaberrima, was domesticated separately in West Africa about 3,000 years ago.
White rice began as hard work. Early milling meant pounding grain by hand with a mortar and pestle, and in some societies white rice marked high status. Machine milling took off after 1870, including the Engelberg mill of 1890, and traders favored white rice because stripping the bran and germ helped it keep on long journeys.
The cost showed up first in Japan. During the Edo period, polished white rice spread from the upper classes to lower-ranking samurai and city people, and beriberi, the disease of thiamin deficiency, rose in cities such as Edo and Osaka by the late 17th century. Farmers who ate less refined rice and mixed grains were largely spared.
A naval doctor, Takaki Kanehiro, tested the diet at sea. In 1883, on a nine-month training voyage from Japan to Hawaii and South America, 169 of 376 men developed beriberi and 25 died. In 1884 a similar voyage carried more barley, meat, milk, bread and vegetables, and only 16 of 333 men fell ill. Takaki was later nicknamed the Barley Baron.
Takaki worked about ten years before Christiaan Eijkman, who studied beriberi in Batavia, now Jakarta, between 1890 and 1900. Eijkman found that chickens fed polished rice developed a nerve disease like beriberi, and that adding the silverskin removed in polishing prevented it. His successors traced the missing factor to thiamin, and Eijkman won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the work. Today, enrichment with thiamin, niacin and iron is required by law in the US for white rice sent through government programs.
Sources
- Gutaker RM, Groen SC, Bellis ES, et al. Genomic history and ecology of the geographic spread of rice. Nat Plants. 2020.
- Huang X, Kurata N, Wei X, et al. A map of rice genome variation reveals the origin of cultivated rice. Nature. 2012.
- Carpenter KJ, Sutherland B. Eijkman’s contribution to the discovery of vitamins. J Nutr. 1995.
- Rice. Wikipedia.
- White rice. Wikipedia.
- Kanehiro Takaki. Wikipedia.
Frequently asked questions about white rice
Is white rice bad for you?
Not for most people, but high intake goes with a higher diabetes risk. In a meta-analysis of 28 cohorts, the most white rice went with an 18% higher risk of type 2 diabetes and no clear link to heart disease or cancer, and a link is not proof. In three US cohorts and the 21-country PURE study, white rice was not linked to heart disease or deaths. A dry ¼ cup (49 g) has 176 calories and 3.2 g of protein.
Is brown rice healthier than white rice?
Brown rice does better in some studies, but not in every trial. In US cohorts, swapping 50 g a day of cooked white rice for brown went with a 16% lower diabetes risk, yet a 16-week trial in 202 Chinese adults found no substantial change in metabolic risk factors. In FDA data on infant rice cereal, brown rice averaged 119.0 ppb of inorganic arsenic and white 103.9 ppb.
Is white rice OK for people with diabetes?
It can fit, but rice varies a lot and the evidence is mixed. This site estimates a glycemic index of 73, while a review found values from 48 to 93 across varieties. Severely parboiled rice gave an index of 39 against 55 for plain rice in 9 people with type 2 diabetes, and boiling rice longer raised the index in all four types tested. Check portions and choices with your care team.
Is basmati rice healthier than jasmine or other white rice?
No study here compares white basmati and white jasmine head to head. Two basmati rices had glycemic index values of 54 and 64 in a rice cooker, and the review of rice varieties put starch type and cultivar among the main causes of the 48 to 93 range. Rice with more amylopectin gave faster, higher responses in one small trial, so starch type and cooking time matter as much as the name on the bag.
Does cooling cooked rice make it healthier?
It may lower the blood sugar response a little, but the evidence is small. Rice chilled for 24 hours at 4°C and reheated had 1.65 g of resistant starch per 100 g against 0.64 g fresh, and the blood sugar response was 125 against 152 in 15 healthy adults. In 32 people with type 1 diabetes, low blood sugar was more common after chilled rice, so people who use insulin should ask their care team.
Is it safe to eat leftover rice?
Yes, if you chill it fast and store it well. Bacillus cereus spores survive cooking, and in lab tests some grew within 6 hours at 30°C. The Food Standards Agency says to chill rice within one hour, keep it covered in the fridge and use it within 24 hours, and the NHS says never to reheat it more than once. Reheating does not destroy the toxin, so cooling speed matters most.
Does white rice contain arsenic, and should you rinse it?
Yes, rice takes up arsenic because it grows in flooded fields. Rinsing had little effect in lab tests, but cooking in extra water cut inorganic arsenic by 40% in long-grain white rice, and by 45% at 6 parts water to 1. It also removed 50 to 70% of added iron, folate, thiamin and niacin. For babies, give a mix of grains, since the FDA action level for infant rice cereal is 100 ppb.
How many calories and how much protein are in white rice?
A dry ¼ cup (49 g) of white rice has 176 calories, 3.2 g of protein, 38.7 g of carbohydrate and 0.3 g of fat. Per 100 g dry it has 360 calories, and one ¼ cup gives 23% of the daily value for manganese. These numbers are for dry, unenriched rice, and cooked rice holds a lot of water, so a spoonful of cooked rice has fewer calories than the same weight dry.