Posted on 06/14/2010 5:40:04 PM PDT by Willie Green
Replacing White Rice With Brown Rice Reduces Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Study Finds
June 14, 2010 -- Replacing white rice in your diet with brown rice may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
The finding is important because the consumption of white rice in the United States has increased dramatically in the past few decades, and about 18 million Americans have type 2 diabetes.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say eating two or more servings of brown rice weekly seems to be associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, they report, eating five or more servings of white rice per week is associated with an increased risk.
Qi Sun, MD, now an instructor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues at Harvard estimate that replacing 50 grams daily of white rice (uncooked, equivalent to a one-third serving) with the same amount of brown rice would lower the risk of type 2 diabetes by 16%.
Replacing the same amount of white rice with other whole grains, such as barley and wheat, is associated with a 36% reduced risk.
The study is published in the online journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
The researchers say the study is the first to specifically examine white rice vs. brown rice in relation to development of type2 diabetes among Americans.
“Rice consumption in the U.S. has dramatically increased in recent decades,” Sun says in a news release. “We believe replacing white rice and other refined grains with whole grains, including brown rice, would lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.”
White rice is created by removing the bran and germ portions of brown rice. The authors say that more than 70% of rice eaten in the U.S. is white. Brown Rice Reduces Diabetes Risk
The scientists examined rice consumption and diabetes risk in 39,765 men and 157,463 women in three large studies -- the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study I and II.
They analyzed responses to questionnaires completed every four years about diet, lifestyle, and health conditions.
After adjusting for age and other lifestyle and dietary risk factors, people who consumed five or more servings of white rice per week had a 17% increased risk of diabetes, compared to people who ate less than one serving per month.
But eating two or more servings of brown rice per week was associated with an 11% reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to eating less than one serving of brown rice per month.
White rice has a higher glycemic index than brown rice, the researchers say. That index is a measure of how fast a particular food raises blood glucose levels, compared with the same amount of glucose.
“The high glycemic index of white rice consumption is likely the consequence of disrupting the physical and botanical structure of rice grains during the refining process,” the authors write. “The other consequence of the refining process includes loss of fiber, vitamins, magnesium and other minerals, lignans, phytoestrogens, and phytic acid, many of which may be protective factors for diabetes risk.”
They recommend replacing white rice and other refined grains with brown rice to try to prevent type 2 diabetes.
Brown rice, the researchers say, often does not generate as fast an increase in blood sugar levels after a meal.
Whole Grains Recommended
The study also reports that:
* The biggest eaters of white rice were less likely to have European ancestry or to smoke, and more likely to have a family history of diabetes.
* Eating brown rice was not associated with ethnicity, but with a more health-conscious diet and lifestyle.
* Brown rice consumption was low in the study population.
The U.S. government’s release of the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans identifies grains, including rice, as one of the primary sources of carbohydrates and recommends that at least half of grain servings come from whole grains.
“From a public health point of view, whole grains, rather than refined carbohydrates such as white rice, should be recommended as the primary source of carbohydrates” for people in the United States, Frank Hu, MD, PhD, of Harvard, says in a news release.
Samantha Heller, MS, RD, former head of the New York University Langone Medical Center’s Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention Program and a spokeswoman for Diabetes Restaurant Month, an educational program sponsored by Merck, says in a news release that refined grains “can wreak havoc with blood sugar levels and energy” and increase the risk not only for type 2 diabetes but for obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and other health problems.
Only because brown rice tastes nasty and you'll eat less of it.
Great. More affirmative action.
I already knew this but try getting brown rice at a Chinese restaurant. It would likely be white rice with soy sauce poured over it.
I’ll stick with my coffee and toast with real butter...
So it directly follow the Glycemic Index, with barley being quite a bit lower than brown rice, which is lower than white rice, which is lower than sugar.
Look up Chana Dal. That has a very small Glycemic Index value. It’s a little yellow pea/bean grown in India. My only concerns about it are its taste and the fact it has those phytoestrogens that aren’t always good for people.
Condoleezza
Maybe I’m showing my ignorance here, but don’t Asians eat A LOT of white rice?
Do they show the same health problems?
Might something else be at work here? Or did I miss something?
Anyone who prefers white rice is obviously a racist.
Brown rice, duh.
And it has a better flavor - sort of a nutty flavor.
It has to be the water in Asia.
“Replacing white rice in your diet with brown rice may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
Only because brown rice tastes nasty and you’ll eat less of it.”
But Brown Rice takes Twice the Energy to cook.
When the Middleeast goes to war again and America has refused to use it’s own resources, Many will be shivering in the Dark. Because they can’t afford the energy to Heat or Light their Homes. Then the Beauty of White Rice will surface. We will need the extra Energy Bump to Fight the Cold and the reduced cooking time will be a Bonus.
To me you can’t beat white Basmati (tastes kinda like popcorn).
I agree, I just can not swallow brown rice, it sticks and won’t go down - lol
Smaller portions, more veggies, lower body weight overall in Asia. That’s my guess.
Anyone who prefers white rice is obviously a racist
I always put some dehydrated milk and brown sugar into my white rice to avoid racism.
I mix equal parts of white and brown and it makes the brown taste better.
White rice vs. brown rice,
white salt vs. celtic sea salt,
white bread vs. whole wheat bread,
or
white sugar vs. sucanat.
Maybe it is only known in the south but I prefer yellow rice which is made with Saffron.
I like brown rice.
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