Reduce Diabetes- Cut White Rice

By Dr Theodore | June 15, 2010

White rice is a daily staple here in Asia and anyone living here knows that it is probably the most common daily food for not only the locals, but increasingly for the expats that live here as well.

However, a recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health has found that eating 5 or more servings of white rice per week was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

In contrast, eating 2 or more servings of brown rice per week was associated with a lower risk of diabetes. The researchers commented that replacing even a small amount of white rice (50gms) with brown rice would lower the risk of type 2 diabetes by 16%. Replacement of the same amount with whole grains like wheat and barley was associated with a 36% reduced risk according to the researchers.

White rice is essentially almost a nutrition-less food devoid of any significant vitamins or minerals or enzymes. It is essentially a simple carbohydrate and hence is broken down into sugar very quickly, leading to a rapid and large spike in your blood sugar, and subsequently a large spike in insulin.

This is not good for your body – your body is not equipped to store too much sugar hence a rapid spike in blood sugar by eating foods such as white rice will lead to your body storing this excess sugar as fat.

This is why too many simple carbohydrate foods (white rice, white bread, sugary drinks, cakes etc) will lead to excess fat storage and an increased body fat percentage.

Also too many simple carbohydrates by causing a high spike in insulin, eventually leads to insulin resistance or diabetes.

What’s the solution? Replace the simple carbohydrates like white rice with whole grains such as brown rice, whole wheat, barley etc.

These whole grains do not get broken down into sugar anywhere near as fast hence they lead to a slow increase in blood sugar in your blood, which is much easier for your body to handle.

If you do want to have your white rice or other simple carbs, then remember to include some fat with these as the fat will act to slow the absorption of the simple carbs and will help stabilize your blood sugars.

Diabetes has also been linked to an accumulation of toxins and chemicals in our body, so I believe a complete whole body detoxification will also help treat and prevent this condition.

Topics: Diabetes | Comments Off

Comments are closed.