Brown Rice

• Overview
• Uses
• Side Effects
• Precautions
• Dosing

Brown rice is “unpolished” white rice. Brown rice retains unsaturated fatty acids, protein, minerals, vitamins, and starch that are usually removed during polishing. It is eaten as food and taken as medicine.

Brown rice is used for diarrhea, upset stomach and other stomach problems, fluid retention, intestinal worms, yellowed skin (jaundice), thiamine deficiency (beriberi), burns, nosebleed, fever, vomiting blood, swelling (inflammation), paralysis, hemorrhoids, and psoriasis and other skin ailments. It is also used as an appetite stimulant, drying agent (astringent), soothing agent (demulcent), and tonic.

How does it work?

It is not known how brown rice might work for medical conditions. Developing research suggests brown rice might help prevent some of the heart-related complications of diabetes. There is also some evidence that it might keep some kinds of cancer cells from multiplying.

Insufficient Evidence to Rate Effectiveness for...

• Diarrhea.
• Upset stomach.
• Nausea.
• Jaundice.
• Swelling (inflammation).
• Paralysis.
• Hemorrhoids.
• Psoriasis and other skin ailments.
• Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of brown rice for these uses.

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate (detailed description of each of the ratings).

Brown rice is safe for most people when consumed in amounts commonly found in foods.

But, there isn’t enough information to know whether brown rice in medicinal amounts is safe.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Brown rice is safe in amounts found in food, but there’s not enough information to know if it’s safe in the larger amounts that are used as medicine.

The appropriate dose of brown rice depends on several factors such as the user’s age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for brown rice. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.