Rice

Changing Chinese Attitudes to Brown Rice

One in ten Chinese adults is estimated to have diabetes, with another 16% on the verge of developing it. With a rate of increase in diabetes faster than in Europe or the U.S., Chinese nutrition experts seeking to promote whole grain brown rice in China carried out a pilot study with 32 Shanghai residents, to learn about attitudes to brown rice. Only a quarter of the group had ever tried brown rice, and almost all (30 of 32) ate white rice daily. While most participants had an inferior view of brown rice before the project, after tasting it and learning of its health benefits, their views became more positive, and 27 of the 32 expressed a willingness to participate in a future long-term brown rice intervention study.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association. August 2010; 110(8): 1216-21.

Black Rice Bran High in Antioxidants

A team of researchers at Cornell University, including WGC Scientific Advisor Rui Hai Liu, analyzed the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of 12 diverse varieties of black rice, and found that antioxidants were about six times higher in black rice than in common brown/white rice. The black rice bran had higher content of phenolics, flavonoids and anthocyanins.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, July 14, 2010; 58 (13): 7580-7.

Switch to Brown Rice Reduces Diabetes Risk in Men and Women

Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health followed 39,765 men and 157,463 women as part of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study I and II. They found that those eating several servings of white rice per week had a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes and that those eating 2 or more servings of brown rice had a lower risk. They estimate that replacing about two servings a week of white rice with the same amount of brown rice would lower diabetes risk 16%.
Archives of Internal Medicine. June 14, 2010; 170 (11): 96-9.

Naturally Gluten-Free Grains May Be Cross-Contaminated

A Polish team from the Instytut Zywnosci in Warsaw analyzed 22 gluten-free products and 19 naturally gluten-free grains and flours, for gluten content. Gluten content in the products ranged from 5.19 to 57.16 mg/kg. In the inherently gluten-free grains and flours, no gluten was detected in rice and buckwheat samples, but was detected in rice flakes (7.05 mg/kg) in pearl millet (27.51 mg/kg) and in oats (>100 mg/kg). ?(Poland)
Rocz Panstw Zaki Hig. 2010; 61(1):51-5. ??

Meanwhile, in the U.S., Tricia Thompson, MS, RD, a nutrition consultant specializing in gluten-free diets, arranged for gluten-testing of 22 retail samples of inherently gluten-free grains, seeds, and flours. She found contamination of 20 to 2925 ppm in seven of 22 samples, putting them over the proposed FDA limit of 20 ppm, with lower levels in some others. Both articles point to the importance of gluten-free certification even on foods that are naturally gluten-free, such as millet.?(USA)
Journal of the American Dietetic Association. June 2010; 110(6):937-40.

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Brown Rice Cuts Diabetes Risk

For several years, researchers in Boston followed 39,765 men and 157,463 women with no history of type 2 diabetes. During a cumulative 3,318,196 person-years of follow-up, 10,507 people developed type 2 diabetes. After adjusting for age and other factors, the study found that those who ate two or more servings of brown rice per week had an 11 percent lower risk of diabetes compared to those who ate brown rice less than once a month. Conversely, those eating white rice five or more times per week increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 17 percent. Researchers recommended replacing white rice in the diet with brown rice – or, even better, with a variety of whole grains.
Presented at the American Heart Association’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism conference, March 3, 2010.

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Sorghum May Protect Against Diabetes and Insulin Resistance

Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) are increasingly implicated in the complications of diabetes. A study from the University of Georgia Neutraceutical Research Libraries showed that sorghum brans with a high phenolic content and high anti-oxidant properties inhibit protein glycation, whereas wheat, rice or oat bran, and low-phenolic sorghum bran did not. These results suggest that “certain varieties of  sorghum bran may affect critical biological processes that are important in diabetes and insulin resistance.”
Phytotherapy Research. 2008 Aug;22(8):1052-6

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