Why Brown Rice?

It might sound weird to produce protein from brown rice as we usually think of it as a source of carbohydrate. However, if we examine how much protein rice and milk have (the latter traditionally referred to as the main source of protein), we see that brown rice contains 8% protein while milk contains only 3%.

What do you need to know about rice?

“Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice).” (wikipedia)

Advantages of brown rice:

• Your body can utilize it very well, it’s a complete source of protein and one of the healthiest, all-worth types of food.

• Its high level of fibre content provides healthy intestines, sometimes it’s even called “the sponge of the intestines” for absorbing roughage. Its regular consumption helps in cases of constipation and IBS and prevents the appearance of gallstones.

• It’s ideal for detoxication, it contains high levels of selenium, fibres, manganese, magnesium, iron, B1, B3 and B6 vitamins. Its high level of selenium can prevent different types of cancers like bowel cancer, breast cancer and others.

• It contains E and K vitamins together with a lot of essential amino acids and other trace elements.

• It decreases the level of cholesterol through the fat in the bran thus preventing heart and circulatory diseases.

• Its carbohydrates have a low glycemic index, thus stabilizing the level of blood sugar, so brown rice is highly recommendable for the diabetic.

• Being free of gluten, people allergic to flour or being on a gluten-free diet can eat brown rice.

All the above confirms that brown rice is an outstanding base to produce protein from and to cover our need for proteins.

Protein has been used as a nutritional supplement by sportspeople, body builders and anybody who wants to stay fit. Protein has been proved to increase the efficiency of training, it helps building muscles and shaping your body. There are several protein products on the market, most of them however contain ingredients which are absolutely inconsistent with healthy lifestyle, vegetarian or gluten-free diets.

This is why vegetable proteins step forward, especially brown rice protein, which is one of the best and fullest sources of protein due to its hypoallergenic nature and complete amino acid profile.

Naturize ® brown rice powder has low levels of carbohydrates and fats and it’s free of cholesterol.

Its protein content has been tested to be min. 80% so it’s an easy match for animal proteins, too. Its amino acid profile is complete being in 95% the same as that of breast milk.

How is Naturize ® brown rice protein made?

Naturize ® brown rice protein is extracted from whole brown rice grains through an exclusively natural enzymatic process, which is free of chemicals (including hexan), it only uses organic enzymes, which “digest” the carbohydrate content of rice. Protein is extracted at low temperature thus preventing denaturization, namely any change in the spatial structure of the protein.

It’s a unique technique that through a patented process the brown rice grain is first sprouted, which makes it possible to use the whole grain with the endosperm, the germ and the bran. As it is sprouting, the natural processes within the grain beneficially modify the amino acid profile, the level of lysine grows and a complete amino acid profile comes into being, which is a significant factor in stimulating protein synthesis and decreasing protein catabolism.

Brown rice versus white rice

Just as in cases of shopping for brown or white rice we make a difference between brown and the more usual white rice protein powders too. It’s an important difference that we eat rice first of all because of its carbohydrate content so both types of rice (brown and white) have a role in our diet, brown rice being slowly absorbed with higher biological value and white rice being quickly absorbed by our digestive system.

However, protein extracted from brown rice highly surpasses lower level and cheaper white rice proteins although it’s good news that “simple” white rice proteins are also hypoallergenic.

During the production of white rice they remove the husk, the silver membrane rich in vitamin B as well as the germ, thus decreasing its nutritional value. Most rice proteins are made of white rice, which has two main reasons. On the one hand, the price of its production is about half of that of brown rice, on the other hand, most companies lack the technology to extract the protein from all three parts of the brown rice grain thus producing genuine brown rice protein.

That’s why it is only brown rice that has a complete amino acid profile and that’s also why white rice proteins are mixed with other vegetable proteins (mostly with pea or hemp proteins).

white rice        =         endosperm

brown rice      =         endosperm       +      germ           +         bran

• • •       protein               –      protein        –        protein

    •      carbohydrates    –  anti-oxidants  –   nutritional fibers

    •         starch            – mineral substances – gamma oryzanol

    •                                      fyto nutrients  –   mineral substances

    •                                         B1 and B3 vitamins

    •                                            iron

    •                                       magnesium

We want vegetable proteins to be complete, hypoallergenic, 100% vegan and gluten-free, especially if we wish to use them instead of whey protein. It is also very important that they mustn’t contain chemicals. In cases of vegetables with a higher level of oil, like for example hemp or soy, they often use hexan to extract the protein. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t require any control of the hexan level in food, nor does it set an upper limit on hexan level in soy, hexan is still a chemical made from the refining of petroleum and it is also a known atmospherical pollutant. So we can easily say that it’s better to avoid it in our food.

The above can point out to you that it’s only the complete brown rice protein that meets the expected requirements. Even independent researches have shown that the effect of brown rice protein is equivalent to that of whey protein in building muscles.

Why Naturize ® brown rice protein?

• Because not all vegetable proteins are the same, there can be great differences even among brown rice proteins just like among any food products. Naturize contains protein extracted from all three parts of the whole rice grain, thanks to which this protein is absolutely complete and contains valuable fibers, mineral substances and vitamins besides the essential amino acids.

• Because even independent researches have proved the muscle building efficiency of Naturize products, which efficiency equals to that of whey protein. If you use Naturize instead of whey or other animal proteins, you don’t have to be afraid of any negative difference in building muscles, quite the contrary!

• Because it’s guaranteed that Naturize is made without using chemicals and from non-GMO vegetables so you can use it safely. You don’t have to worry about the ingredients, either because Naturize contains brown rice protein alone.

• Because there are no side effects like in case of using animal proteins (e.g. acidification, kidney or joint problems). If you are allergic to animal proteins or have only decided to go on a vegetarian diet, you can still supplement your protein intake by using Naturize.

• Because now there are thousands of people (including amateur and professional sportspeople, runners, CrossFit competitors, body builders and personal trainers) who use and enjoy the natural and complete amino acid profile of Naturize products.

What to examine when choosing protein?

• It must be hexan-free and made through a natural process – this is more and more usual now in case of brown rice products but it’s more trustworthy if you can see on the cover that the given product is natural and chemical-free.

• It must be made from whole brown rice grains, otherwise the amino acid profile isn’t complete. White rice contains protein from the endosperm only without the valuable nutrients and proteins of the bran and the germ (if you can’t see “brown rice protein” written on the cover or you just see “rice protein”, then it’s only white rice protein).

• It mustn’t contain any other proteins added to it (which are usually needed because of the lower level of protein of the lower quality base).

• It mustn’t contain artificial materials, nature-identical flavoring or additives. You can easily recognize high quality brown rice protein from the fact that it mixes well in liquids, there is no black grainy material left in the bottom of the cup after drinking it and you can store it for a long time (just as an average packet of rice) so there is no need for upgrading it with different materials.