White Rice Can Be Worse Than Soda Pop For Developing Diabetes

It seems like every week there is another dire health warning about foods we shouldn't consume. We are told that cutting out refined sugar from our diet drastically reduces our risk of developing diabetes, an illness that runs in my family. Okay, so I cut out soda from my diet and try to stick to natural foods, avoiding heavily processed ones. The problem with certain foods goes beyond whether something is natural or not, though. Many "natural foods" are actually refined, one example being white rice. 

A new research study from Harvard is highlighting that white rice, an extremely common part of many people's diets, especially those brought up in traditional Asian households, can be far worse for you than drinking soda pop. At first, you may think that this is just impossible, but the science behind it makes sense.

Let me break it down for you.

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White rice is so versatile and delicious. 

What I thought was a healthy snack may, in fact, be worse for you than drinking multiple soda pops a day.

A research study claims that for every bowl of white rice you eat per day, your risk of developing diabetes increases by 11 percent.

A Harvard research group came to this conclusion after following roughly 350,000 people and their eating habits for years (sometimes as many as 20 years). 

But why? I thought white rice was okay. It's natural.....

The study found that eating one bowl of rice a day is equivalent to chugging down two full soda pops. This makes me feel pretty silly for ordering white rice and feeling good about the large pop I thought I could then afford to drink. 

As you can see from this graph, the spike in blood sugar levels is much higher for white rice compared to the jump you get from a typical can of pop. 

Over time, the pancreas becomes less efficient at producing insulin when it has to produce too much.

When there isn't enough insulin to deal with blood sugar, the chronic levels of sugar in the blood can eventually damage your kidneys. White rice leads to a significant spike in blood sugar, and therefore, puts pressure on the pancreas to produce insulin.

There are higher rates of Type 2 diabetes in Asians. 

This news is quite unfortunate given that white rice is commonly incorporated into their diet. More research will be needed to untangle whether the rice is causing the increased rates of diabetes. At present, only a correlation between being of Asian decent and risk of diabetes is present.

As you can see in the current graph, Asian men have the highest risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. 

Importantly, when you control for body mass index, this pattern remains. 

How is it possible to do away with rice completely?

Well, you don't have to. Health experts are suggesting that white rice can be replaced with brown rice and other whole grain alternatives.

Brown rice is associated with lower levels of Type 2 diabetes. 

It is thought that the slower rate of digestion and lower propensity to cause drastic spikes in blood sugar explain lower rates of Type 2 diabetes associated with brown rice.

SHARE this important article with your friends on Facebook. They need to hear about the dangers of eating white rice.

Main image via Wimp | Wpclipart

Collage image via Imgmob