Per 100 calories, cooked brown rice has 3.6× the magnesium, 1.7× the zinc and 1.6× the fiber of cooked white rice. Enriched white rice has 4.1× the iron and 7.6× the calcium. Both rows are parboiled, which matters. Brown is USDA FoodData Central FDC 173263 (brown rice, parboiled, cooked, UNCLE BEN'S). White is FDC 169708 (white rice, long-grain, parboiled, enriched, cooked).
So brown rice is not better at everything. It wins on the minerals the grain keeps in its bran. White rice wins on the ones a factory adds back.
Is brown rice healthier than white rice?
On magnesium, zinc and fiber, yes: 100g of cooked brown rice has 39mg of magnesium against 9mg in cooked white rice, which is 4.3× as much. Zinc is 0.77mg against 0.37mg, and fiber is 1.7g against 0.9g. Those three live in the bran and germ, the outer layers that milling strips off to make white rice.
White rice fights back on two minerals. It has 1.81mg of iron per 100g against 0.53mg, and 19mg of calcium against 3mg. Iron is one of the nutrients added back when rice is enriched, so that lead is put there on purpose. The row does not say where the extra calcium comes from.
| Cooked, per 100g | Calories | Magnesium (mg) | Zinc (mg) | Fiber (g) | Iron (mg) | Calcium (mg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown rice | 147 | 39 | 0.77 | 1.7 | 0.53 | 3 |
| White rice | 123 | 9 | 0.37 | 0.9 | 1.81 | 19 |
Brown rice has more calories. Why count per 100 calories?
Cooked brown rice has 147 calories per 100g and cooked white rice has 123, so 100g of brown is a bigger serving of food. The gap most likely comes from cooking water: the brown row holds less of it. Our rows do not list water, so we can't prove that. What we can do is compare equal calories, which takes water out of the picture. 100 calories is 68g of cooked brown rice or 81g of cooked white rice.
That also matches how you eat. You swap one rice for the other at about the same portion, not at the same weight of grain.
| Cooked | Magnesium per 100 kcal (mg) | Zinc per 100 kcal (mg) | Fiber per 100 kcal (g) | Iron per 100 kcal (mg) | Calcium per 100 kcal (mg) | Potassium per 100 kcal (mg) | Protein per 100 kcal (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown rice | 26.53 | 0.52 | 1.16 | 0.36 | 2.04 | 41.5 | 2.10 |
| White rice | 7.32 | 0.30 | 0.73 | 1.47 | 15.45 | 45.53 | 2.37 |
The score flips from 5–2 to 3–4
Per 100g, brown rice wins 5 of these 7 nutrients. Per 100 calories it wins 3 and white rice wins 4. Two small leads change hands. Protein goes from brown (3.09g against 2.91g per 100g) to white (2.37g against 2.10g per 100 calories). Potassium does the same, from 61mg against 56mg per 100g to 45.53mg against 41.5mg per 100 calories.
Both flips are real, not rounding. We tested them the strict way: take each USDA figure at the edge of its rounding in the direction that helps the loser. White rice still leads on both per 100 calories. They are also small, 10% to 13%. The big gaps did not move. Magnesium stays with brown at 3.6×, and iron stays with white at 4.1×.
Carbohydrate is a draw per 100 calories, 21.29g against 21.14g, well inside rounding. Sugar and sodium are tiny in both, under 3mg of sodium and under 0.2g of sugar per 100 calories, so we don't score them. Fat is low in both, 0.58g for brown and 0.30g for white per 100 calories.
Is white rice healthier than brown rice?
Only if iron or calcium is what you need more of: per 100 calories, enriched white rice gives 1.47mg of iron against 0.36mg for brown. That is a real reason for some people. But it only holds for enriched rice. Plain white rice that is not enriched loses most of that iron lead, and we hold no row for it. Check the bag: "enriched" will be on the label.
On a normal plate the minerals add up like this. A 150g scoop of cooked brown rice is about 220 calories with 58.5mg of magnesium. The same scoop of white rice is about 185 calories with 13.5mg of magnesium, but 2.7mg of iron against 0.8mg.
What this data can't tell you
Four things are outside these rows. First, B vitamins: enrichment adds several back to white rice, and our rows don't carry them, so this post can't score them. Second, blood sugar: we hold no glycemic index, so we make no claim about it. Third, arsenic, which is often raised about brown rice. It is not in USDA nutrient rows. Fourth, both rows are parboiled. Regular brown rice and regular white rice are close, but not the same foods, and the brown row is one brand.
Related
See the side-by-side on brown rice vs white rice, and the full rows for brown rice and white rice. If you are weighing rice against a different side, rice vs potatoes runs the same per-calorie test. And our magnesium guide ranks the foods with the most magnesium, grains included.
Picking the rice is the easy part
The choice between brown and white is a few milligrams. The portion is where the calories are, and nobody wants to weigh rice at every dinner. With Sunn you text "a bowl of brown rice with salmon" on WhatsApp and it logs it. Ask at the end of the week how much magnesium or iron you actually got, and it answers from what you ate.
Written by Espen Opdahl
Founder of Sunn. Building AI-powered nutrition coaching to make healthy eating simple. Nutrition data sourced from the USDA FoodData Central database.
Medical disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet or exercise routine.