Brown Rice Reduces Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, White Rice Increases Risk

Rice can be a part of many healthy diets, but does it matter if you choose white rice or brown rice?  A new study by the Harvard School of Public Health has found that eating five or more servings of white rice per week is linked to a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes, while consuming two or more servings of brown rice every week is associated with a lower risk for the disease.

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.

Brown rice is superior to white rice when it comes to fibre content, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals, and it often does not generate as large an increase in blood sugar levels after a meal.

Milling and polishing brown rice removes most vitamins and minerals. In addition, milling strips away most of its fibre, which helps deter diabetes by slowing the rush of sugar (glucose) into the bloodstream.

Scientists, led by Qi Sun, M.D., Sc.D., of Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues examined white and brown rice consumption in relation to type 2 diabetes risk in 157,463 women and 39,765 men participating in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital-based Nurses’ Health Study I and II and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

They analysed responses to questionnaires about diet, lifestyle, and health conditions which participants completed every four years.

After adjusting for age and other lifestyle and dietary risk factors, they found that people who consumed five or more servings of white rice per week had a 17% increased risk of diabetes, compared with those who rarely ate white rice.

In contrast the researchers found that 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.

Based on the results, the researchers estimated that replacing 50 grams (equivalent to one-third of a serving) of white rice per day with the same amount of brown rice would be associated with a 16 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

In general, white rice has a higher glycemic index-a measure of how much a food raises blood glucose levels compared with the same amount of glucose or white bread-than brown rice, t

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, in which almost all the bran and some of the germ are removed.

It is impotant to replacing the white rice and other refined grains with brown rice to  facilitate the prevention of type 2 diabetes. So adding more whole grains, such as brown rice, is always a good thing.