Rice Bran Oil: Nutrients, What Research Shows and Safety

Rice bran oil is pressed from the bran, the outer layer of the rice grain (Oryza sativa, a grass in the family Poaceae). It is sold as a cooking oil and is mixed into some blends. People choose it mostly for heart health reasons and for its vitamin E. This page keeps the oil as a food apart from rice bran itself, from isolated compounds such as gamma-oryzanol, and from hype.

Read this first

• The best-supported finding is a modest drop in LDL ("bad") cholesterol. Pooled randomized trials found it, but the trials were small and short. It is a blood measure, not proof of fewer heart attacks. [2] [4]
• It is still a fat. USDA lists about 120 calories in 1 tablespoon (13.6 g), and about 2.7 g of saturated fat. [1] WHO advises keeping saturated fat to 10% or less of daily energy. [10]
• Rice bran oil reached a high peroxide value (an early rancidity marker) faster than the other oils in one laboratory storage test. Store it cool and tightly closed. [12]
• Allergy: rice is not on the list of major food allergens. We found no source about rice bran oil allergy either way. [11] If you ever have trouble breathing or swelling of the face or throat after any food, call 911 (or your local emergency number).
• Not enough is known about contaminants such as arsenic in this oil. We did not find a source we could read that measured it. See the safety section.

What is in it (USDA values)

The values below are for rice bran oil (USDA FoodData Central item 171013, SR Legacy). [1] The serving column is the USDA household portion of 1 tablespoon, 13.6 g. [1] Serving values are the per-100-g values multiplied by 0.136.

% Daily Value uses the FDA 2016 Daily Values; values vary with the rice, the refining and storage. USDA also lists vitamin D values for this item that look implausible for an oil, so we do not use them here. [1]

Plant compounds: rice bran oil contains plant sterols (USDA lists 1,190 mg per 100 g) [1] and gamma-oryzanol, a group of compounds found in rice bran. A 2025 review covers gamma-oryzanol's antioxidant and lipid-lowering activity, mostly from lab studies and a few clinical trials. [8] Here we separate what was tested in people (below) from lab findings.

What research says

The AHA's 2017 advisory says lowering saturated fat and replacing it with unsaturated fats lowers heart disease. [9] That supports unsaturated oils as a group. It is not a trial of rice bran oil itself.

Eaten as food vs taken as an extract or supplement. The cholesterol trials used the oil or whole rice bran as food. The oryzanol and sterol findings come from isolated or concentrated preparations. Some studies had links to food companies; we note this where the abstract does.

How much is a normal serving

The USDA household portion is 1 tablespoon (13.6 g), about 120 kcal and 2.7 g saturated fat. [1] That is information from USDA data, not a prescription. We did not read an official body that sets a serving size for rice bran oil specifically. WHO's general limits are total fat 30% or less of energy and saturated fat 10% or less. [10]

Safety, allergy and medicines

• Calories: all oils are energy dense: 884 kcal per 100 g. [1]
• Saturated fat: 19.7 g per 100 g, or 13% of the Daily Value per tablespoon. [1] WHO and the AHA both advise limiting it. [9] [10]
• Heating and storage: in a laboratory storage and heating test, rice bran oil reached a peroxide value of 10 faster than the other refined oils tested, and all oils lost about 30% of oxidative stability after 12 months. [12] Frying breaks oils down through oxidation and polymerization; one review covers rice bran oil among others and gives no rice-bran-specific verdict. [13] We did not read a source with a reliable smoke point, so we give none. See smoke points and cooking with oil.
• Contaminants: rice itself can carry arsenic, but we did not find a source we could read that measured arsenic in rice bran oil. We do not claim it is safe or unsafe on this point. See heavy metals and contaminants in foods.
• Allergy: rice is not among the nine major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, sesame). [11] We found no source on rice bran oil allergy. For trouble breathing or swelling of the face or throat, call 911 (or your local emergency number). [11]
• Vitamin E: a tablespoon gives 29% of the FDA Daily Value. [1] The NHS says needs are met from food and that 540 mg a day or less from supplements is unlikely to cause harm; that is about supplements, not oil. [15]
• Medicines, pregnancy, children, kidney disease, diabetes: we found no source that tests rice bran oil for any of these, so we make no claim. Ask a clinician or pharmacist if you take a cholesterol medicine and plan to change your fats a lot.

Choosing, storing and food safety

• Keep the bottle tightly closed, cool and away from light. A laboratory test found oils lose oxidative stability over a year. [12]
• Use fresh oil for frying and do not reuse it many times; heating breaks oils down. [13]
• Labels differ: some bottles are blends (for example with sesame oil). Read the ingredient list. [14]

Related pages

• Which cooking fat to choose: what health bodies say
• Smoke points and cooking with oil
• Saturated, unsaturated and trans fats explained
• Sesame oil
• Foods for cholesterol and heart health
• Seed oils and inflammation claims checked