June 24, 2010 – Eating 5 or more servings of white rice per week would increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Conversely, including 2 or more servings of brown rice in your weekly diet would decrease it. This is revealed by a team of researchers from the School of Public Health at Harvard University.
Researchers monitored the diets of 157,463 women and 39,765 men over a period of 12 to 16 years. Participants also answered questions about their lifestyle and state of health.
Heavy consumers of white rice (5 or more servings per week) were 17% more likely to have type 2 diabetes during the study period than those who ate white rice less than once a month. On the other hand, heavy consumers of brown rice (2 or more servings per week) saw their risk decrease by 11% when compared to individuals who ate little or no brown rice.
According to the results of the study, it would be enough to replace 50 g of white rice per day (one third of a serving) with an equivalent amount of brown rice to reduce your risk of suffering from type 2 diabetes by 16%. for wheat or barley would be even more advantageous, reducing the risks by 36%.
The refining process that turns brown rice into white rice destroys most of the grain’s fiber. That is the whole problem. According to some studies, fiber increases insulin sensitivity and therefore decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Processing of the grain also depletes rice of essential vitamins and minerals, including magnesium. However, some research has shown that taking magnesium would help prevent the disease.
Dominique Forget – PasseportSanté.net
1. Sun Q, Spiegelman D, White rice, brown rice, and risk of type 2 diabetes in US men and women, Arch Intern Med. 2010 Jun 14; 170 (11): 961-9.
