While throwing rice at newly-wedded couples has gone out of fashion, eating rice has not and likely never will. As a staple of the human diet for thousands of years, rice provides fiber and other nutrients. There are many varieties of rice, however, and each contains a different level of nutritional value.
White Rice
Commonly served as a side dish or base to a variety of dishes, white rice provides a fat-free option for your meals. A 1/4-cup serving contains 123 calories. The nutrition in this food is limited; each serving contains no fiber, 5 percent of the daily value (DV) for iron and 1 percent of the DV for calcium, based on a 2,000 calorie diet. It contains little protein with 2.5 g of protein per serving, but it contains 27.8 g of carbohydrates.
Brown Rice
Brown rice is a nutritious option for rice, owing much of its vitamin and mineral content to the outer husk of the grain that remains intact. This type of rice has 54.5 calories per 1/4-cup serving. Even though brown rice has fewer calories, its nutrition content is higher. You'll get 5 percent of the DV for magnesium, as well as nearly 4 percent of the DV for phosphorus and vitamin B-6, approximately 3 percent of the DV for niacin and thiamin, and smaller amounts of calcium, zinc, pantothenic acid, iron, riboflavin and copper. Each serving has just over 1 g of protein, 11.45 g of carbohydrates and 0.8 g of fiber. The American Heart Association recommends replacing the white rice in your diet with higher fiber rice varieties like brown rice.
Wild Rice
Despite its name, wild rice is not actually rice; it's a grass. That said, it's still considered a rice by many people and makes a tasty side dish. A 1/4-cup serving of wild rice contributes 202 calories to your meal plan, making it much higher in calories than regular rice varieties. It contains 0.6 g of fat and contains quite a bit of fiber, with 3.5 g per portion. You also absorb 8.3 g of protein and 42.3 g of carbohydrates in a serving. The nutritional content of this rice is quite high -- you take in approximately 14 percent of the DV for vitamin C and calcium; each serving also provides roughly 1/4 to 1/2 the magnesium you need each day as well as high levels of zinc, phosphorus, niacin, copper, iron, riboflavin and pantothenic acid.
Black Rice
Rice comes in many colors, including the dramatic black rice known colloquially as "forbidden rice." This rice has 2 g of fiber per 1/4-cup serving and contains 160 calories. You'll get small amounts of B vitamins in black rice, but it does serve up 4 percent of the DV for iron. Black rice also provides small amounts of calcium, potassium and zinc, and it's a good source of magnesium. Its antioxidant content makes it a star among rice, though -- the 2010 National Meeting of the American Chemical Society highlighted research on the anthocyanin antioxidants in this rice variety. Researchers report that it has more antioxidants than blueberries, a fruit known for its antioxidant levels.
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