Brown rice is a whole grain rice with the inedible outer hull removed. This kind of rice sheds its outer hull or husk but the bran and germ layer remain on, constituting the brown or tan colour of rice. White rice is the same grain without the hull, the bran layer, and the cereal germ.

Rice has been a staple of the human diet for thousands of years. Some rice farming tools from China date back 8,000 years, and some remains of ancient rice are up to 2,000 years older than that.

Today, rice is a staple in more than 100 cultures, and there are more than 40,000 varieties grown.  Of those varieties, many can be prepared and sold as brown rice. Brown rice means you’re eating the rice as a whole grain. That’s important because the less processed the grain, the more nutrients you get.

The bran and germ, the two outer layers of brown rice, contain most of the vitamins and minerals in the grain. Those layers get removed when manufacturers make white rice, and that’s why brown rice is the healthier choice.