People are so enamored with brown rice; they often forget the health benefits of red rice. Not many people are even aware of red rice. You have to search for it. Usually you can find red rice in Indian stores. Sri Lanka Red Basmati Rice is one of the best you can find. You can often find Sri Lankan red rice in one corner of an Indian store.

What is Red Rice
Red Rice is a unhulled rice, meaning only the outer hard  husk has been removed, leaving the inner cover (bran) of the rice grain intact.. It has a slightly nutty flavor and feels course in your mouth. Because of the germ of the rice is left intact it has high nutritional value. Red rice is meaty and has volume. One  could say it’s heavy because just a little fills you up fast. Red Rice is mostly grown in Asia and tends to be fairly expensive because the yields tend to be low but of high quality. Even within Asia there are many varieties of Red Rice.

Benefits of Red Rice

Red rice has relatively high dietary fiber – Helps maintain bowel health, lowers cholesterol, control blood sugar levels and regulate weight as little will make you fuller.

Iron – With 11% iron, Red Rice helps the body develop red blood cells, because iron carries the life giving oxygen to human blood cells.

Anti-oxidant – One Sri Lankan study indicated that, brans of selected Sri Lankan traditional red rice possess marked antioxidant properties and consumption may play an important role in prevention of oxidative stress associated chronic diseases.

Allergies -  Red rice counters the allergy-inducing effect of histamine. Great for asthma and allergy sufferers.

How to cook Red Rice.
You typically soak red rice in water for 30 minutes before cooking it in order to make the rice softer. However because red rice is heavy and not as easy to chew as plain white rice, it is best to mix a cup of red rice with a cup white rice. This gives it the best of both worlds. Cooking times for red rice is little longer and you would need to add more water to cook red rice.

Where to Buy Red Rice
Indian Stores, Sri Lankan Stores, Chinese stores, Malaysian Stores

Red Rice vs Brown Rice
All indications are that both Red Rice and White Rice have the same nutritional benefits. The main difference is that Red Rice tastes better and is not genetically modified so far. Brown rice on the other hand is often genetically modified and is a little dull to eat with none of the richness or nutty flavor of red rice.

Rice Links
Countries producing genetically modified Rice
Red Rice Glosiary
How to Cook Sri Lankan Red Rice – eHow