Nutrients in Brown Rice
Brown rice is an excellent source of magnesium, iron, selenium, manganese, and the vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B6. Brown rice is a good source of dietary fiber, protein, and gamma-oryzanol. White rice is brown rice that has had essential nutrients removed when processed in order to make it easier and faster to cook, and to give it a longer shelf life. This is accomplished by removing the bran, and with it, minerals and vitamins that are necessary in our diet.

Lower Cholesterol
In the polishing process the rice bran oil is removed, which without the protective layer removed in the initial stages of processing, will quickly become rancid. The rice bran oil, which is present only in brown rice, contains gamma-oryzanol, a compound with the ability to lower cholesterol.

In a study to determine the ability of brown rice bran's fiber apart from its fatty acid composition to lower cholesterol, it was concluded that defatted rice bran did not lower lipid concentrations. Total cholesterol was significantly lower with consumption of a diet containing rice bran oil. The rice bran oil diet decreased LDL cholesterol by 7%, whereas HDL cholesterol was unchanged. The conclusion of this study was that rice bran oil, not the fiber in brown rice, lowers cholesterol.

Use of rice bran oil as the main cooking oil has been shown to significantly reduce serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. A study has shown that the use of rice bran oil significantly reduced plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels compared with sunflower oil.

Diabetes Type 2
The postprandial blood glucose response of ten healthy and nine diabetes type 2 volunteers to brown rice was compared to milled rice from the same batch and variety. The total sugar released in vitro was 23.7% lower in brown rice than in milled rice. In healthy volunteers, the glycemic area and glycemic index were, respectively, 19.8% and 12.1% lower (p < 0.05) in brown rice than milled rice, while in diabetes type 2 volunteers, the respective values were 35.2% and 35.6% lower. The effect was partly due to the higher amounts of phytic acid, polyphenols, dietary fiber and oil in brown compared to milled rice and the difference in some physicochemical properties of the rice samples such as minimum cooking time and degree of gelatinisation. The study concluded that brown rice is more beneficial for diabetes type 2 and hyperglycemic individuals than milled rice.

Pre-germinated brown rice is made by soaking brown rice kernels in water to germinate. Blood concentrations of fasting blood glucose, fructosamine, serum total cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels have been shown to favorably improve on a pre-germinated brown rice diet, suggesting that diets including pre-germinated brown rice may be useful to control blood glucose levels in diabetes type 2.

Cancer Prevention
Inositol hexaphosphate, a naturally occurring molecule found in high-fiber foods such as brown rice, is a compound that has been shown to demonstrate cancer prevention properties. Inositol hexaphosphate holds great promise in strategies for the prevention and treatment of cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is an extremely virulent form of cancer with few effective treatments.
An in vitro study has suggested that inositol hexaphosphate may be a therapy for treatment of pancreatic cancer.