Rice Protein

About Rice Protein

Rice protein powders are concentrated sources of plant-based amino acids. In fact, cooked long-grain brown rice contains only around 2.7% protein, compated to the 80% protein content found in rice protein powders. Gone are the days when rice proteins were gritty and unpalatable, with bland flavours. Today, rice protein powders are smooth and sometimes quite neutral in flavour, making them easy to transform into delicious protein shakes, smoothies or other recipes. Often, rice proteins are blended with other plant-based protein sources, such as pea protein, faba bean protein and chia seed protein.

Clinical research has indicated that rice protein is a medium-absorption protein, which means it takes a moderate amount of time to digest and absorb the amino acids, dipeptides and tripeptides. Examples of other absorption times are whey protein isolate and concentrates, which are fast absorption, and casein products, which are typically slow absorption. Based on this, rice protein powder may be used any time of the day, whether it's before bed with casein protein or post-workout to support recovery. The slower aborption rate of plant proteins in general may be due to their fibre content.

In terms of quality, it is important to compare the essential amino acid values to human requirements, not only in quantity but in their proportions to each other. The human body is sensitive to the amount and ratios of amino acids in food or drink. With regards to rice protein powder containing 80.5% protein, 41.3% of that figure is essential amino acids. Compare this to a whey protein concentrate and isolate blend with a protein percentage of 78.1%, which contains an essential amino acid content of 36.6%. This means that Rice Protein is certainly premium quality, at least in terms of its total essential amino acid values.