Eating Brown Rice and Whole Grains May Be Best for Your Health

A new study published in the June issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine in which researchers looked at "White Rice, Brown Rice, and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in US Men and Women" is supporting the role of whole grains in the diet. This study showed that substituting whole grains, including brown rice, for white rice may lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

In their findings researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Department of Nutrition found that those who ate two or more servings of brown rice per week had a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, where as those who ate more than five servings of white rice per week had an increased risk.

The research group went on to recommend that most carbohydrate intake should come from whole grains rather than refined grains to help prevent type 2 diabetes.

The MyPyramid.gov Food Pyramid recommends to make 1/2 of your grains whole. It appears that focusing on eating whole grains, like brown rice, may be the best for your health.

Sources:
Hendrick B. 2010. Brown Rice vs. White Rice: Which Is Better? Replacing White Rice With Brown Rice Reduces Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Study Finds. WebMD.com

Qi Sun, MD, ScD; Donna Spiegelman, ScD; Rob M. van Dam, PhD; Michelle D. Holmes, MD, DrPH; Vasanti S. Malik, MSc; Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH; Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD
White Rice, Brown Rice, and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in US Men and Women. Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(11):961-969.

Image: Rob Qld. Brown Rice. Creative Commons License.