Think brown rice tastes weird and off? Maybe you're not cooking it right

You've heard it before: Brown rice is better than white.

A study by the Harvard School of Public Health has found that eating brown rice instead of white rice can lower the risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 16 percent.

Brown rice is a whole grain considered to be a low glycemic food, meaning it has less sugar.

Even better, brown rice is also higher in fiber than white rice.

One cup of brown rice is said to contain 4 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein while white rice is said to contain only 1 gram of fiber and 4 grams of protein. This makes brown rice easier to digest and more filling than white rice.

And because it is more filling, you eat less — and eating less can mean spending less (no need to shell out more money for order another cup of rice) and perhaps, losing weight.

Many say brown rice tastes icky, but on a recent Pinoy MD episode, Chef Chona Garcia Laureta says perhaps it's not being cooked right.

According to Chef Chona, brown rice shouldn't have a hard texture and neither should it have a mushy one. The secret to achieving the perfect texture, Chef Chona continues, is to leave the lid on while it cooks.

She recommends:

Boil two cups of water before adding one cup of brown rice. Let it simmer at a low fire for 40 minutes with the lid on. Afterwards, turn off the stove and allow the brown rice to cook with the remaining heat for another 10 minutes with the lid still on.

Still a bit hesitant to make the switch to brown rice? Watch the episode below for recipes that could convince you to try it out at least.

— LA, GMA News