diet and diabetes
The Wall Street Journal (6/15, D4, Hobson) reports that, according to a study published online June 14 in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, substituting white rice with brown rice may decrease the chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Substituting other whole grains in place of white rice may reduce the risk even further.
CNN /Health.com (6/15, Mann) reports that researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health estimate that if people "eat a little more than two servings of white rice (about 12 ounces) per week, switching to brown rice will lower" the "risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 16 percent." By replacing "those servings of white rice with whole grains in general, they estimate, your diabetes risk will decline...by 36 percent."
To reach those conclusions, researchers "mined data from three large, long-term trials -- the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses' Health Study I and II -- for a combined study population of 157,463 women and 39,765 men, ranging in age from 26 to 87," the Time (6/14, Song) "Wellness" blog reported. "The participants were followed for 14 to 22 years, and asked periodically to fill out comprehensive questionnaires about their eating habits."
According to HealthDay (6/14, Gordon), "the reason that brown rice may offer some protection...is that it still contains many of the nutrients and fiber that are stripped away in the production of white rice. During the refining and milling process necessary to make white rice, the rice loses a significant amount of its fiber and most of the vitamins and minerals."
The study authors also pointed out that "white rice has a higher glycemic index than brown rice," WebMD (6/14, Hendrick) reported. Brown rice, however, "the researchers say, often does not generate as fast an increase in blood sugar levels after a meal."
MedPage Today (6/14, Fiore), Medscape (6/14, Barclay), BBC News (6/15), AFP (6/15), the UK's Daily Mail (6/14), the UK's Press Association (6/15), and Reuters (6/15, Brooks) also covered the story.
CNN /Health.com (6/15, Mann) reports that researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health estimate that if people "eat a little more than two servings of white rice (about 12 ounces) per week, switching to brown rice will lower" the "risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 16 percent." By replacing "those servings of white rice with whole grains in general, they estimate, your diabetes risk will decline...by 36 percent."
To reach those conclusions, researchers "mined data from three large, long-term trials -- the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses' Health Study I and II -- for a combined study population of 157,463 women and 39,765 men, ranging in age from 26 to 87," the Time (6/14, Song) "Wellness" blog reported. "The participants were followed for 14 to 22 years, and asked periodically to fill out comprehensive questionnaires about their eating habits."
According to HealthDay (6/14, Gordon), "the reason that brown rice may offer some protection...is that it still contains many of the nutrients and fiber that are stripped away in the production of white rice. During the refining and milling process necessary to make white rice, the rice loses a significant amount of its fiber and most of the vitamins and minerals."
The study authors also pointed out that "white rice has a higher glycemic index than brown rice," WebMD (6/14, Hendrick) reported. Brown rice, however, "the researchers say, often does not generate as fast an increase in blood sugar levels after a meal."
MedPage Today (6/14, Fiore), Medscape (6/14, Barclay), BBC News (6/15), AFP (6/15), the UK's Daily Mail (6/14), the UK's Press Association (6/15), and Reuters (6/15, Brooks) also covered the story.