White rice can increase risk of diabetes

Tue, 15 Jun 2010
The health benefits of brown rice as compared to white rice have been shown in a new study by the Harvard School of Public Health . They found that that eating white rice could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while the brown variety can actually lower the risk of getting the condition.

The research, on the white and brown rice consumption of 157,463 women and 39,765 men in relation to type 2 diabetes, analysed their health, diet and lifestyle, and adjusted for factors that could influence the results, such as age, body mass index, alcohol intake, smoking status and family history of diabetes .

Published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, this was the first investigation of the difference between white and brown rice in relation to diabetes, and it revealed that consuming five or more servings of white rice per week is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes ; eating two or more servings of brown rice every week, on the other hand, could lower the risk substantially.

Brown rice is unrefined, making it better than white rice in terms of levels of vitamins and minerals, fibre content and phytochemicals, and because it doesn’t usually raise blood sugar levels so much after a meal. With the consumption of rice increasing dramatically in the US over recent years, it is apparent that whole grains, including brown rice, helps to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.

Join us