A recent study at the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that eating brown rice instead of white may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. 197,000 US adults were followed for up to 22 years in the study. Researchers found that eating more refined white rice was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, while eating more brown rice was associated with a lower risk of the disease. Those who ate five or more 150g servings of white rice per week had a 17% increased risk of diabetes compared with people who consumed less than one serving – about a cup of rice – per month.
People who ate two or more servings of brown rice per week had an 11% reduced risk of developing the condition compared with those who ate less than one serving a month.
Like other wholegrain foods, brown rice is high in fibre and releases its energy slowly.
In contrast, white rice has had all the bran and some of the germ removed during milling.
This gives white rice a higher glycaemic index (GI) – a measure of how much a food raises blood sugar levels compared with the same amount of glucose or white bread.
This follows continuing evidence that foods high in fiber provide a wide range of health benefits to people of all ages.