Is Rice Healthy?

We generally think that rice is a healthy food but not all rice is the same. White rice is what’s left after brown rice has been stripped of most of its fibre, vitamins, and minerals. White rice has a higher glycaemic index than brown rice and may be associated with type 2 diabetes. A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that adults who ate white rice at least five times a week were 17% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes during 14-22 years of follow-up than adults who ate less than one serving a month. Eating brown rice seemed to be associated with a lower risk of diabetes (relative risk for high v low intake 0.89, 0.81 to 0.97). The authors estimate that replacing 50 g of white rice with the same amount of brown rice could reduce diabetes risk by 16% (9% to 21%). If brown rice is not to your taste then choose a white rice with a relatively low glycaemic index such as Basmati.