A new study has found that consuming white rice appears to be associated with a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes in comparison with those who consume more brown rice, according to a EurekAlert report. A team of Harvard researchers assessed rice consumption and diabetes risk among 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.
The researchers found that those who consumed five or more servings of white rice per week had a 17 percent increased risk of diabetes compared with those who consumed less than one serving per month. In contrast, eating two or more servings of brown rice per week was associated with an 11 percent reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes than eating less than one serving 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. Replacing white rice with whole grains as a group could be associated with a risk reduction as great as 36 percent.
