HEALTH: Study says white rice leads to Type 2 diabetes

White rice is a source for sugar.

RICE is perhaps one of the few things that almost all Asian ethnicities and nationalities have in common. Rice is the one food that you will find in the majority of  ethnic cuisines of Asia. From basmati to jasmine to the sushi rice to the California-grown staple.

There's nothing like a heaping bowl of steaming hot white rice to evoke memories of home and mom's cooking.

The other thing Asian peoples share is the high risk for Type 2 diabetes.

White rice - as it turns out - may be a major culprit in giving diabetes to Asians, according to a new analysis out of Singapore. 

White rice is worse for diabetics than sugary soft drinks, says numerous medical studies.

Singapore Health Promotion Board chief executive Zee Yoong Kang said in the British Medical Journal that while obesity and sugary drinks are the major causes of diabetes in the West, for Asians, who are more predisposed to diabetes than Caucasians, starchy white rice can heighten the risk of the disease by overloading their bodies with blood sugar.

White rice is found in almost all Asian cuisines.

Zee based his analysis on four major studies that involved more than 350,000 people who were monitored for four to 20 years by the Harvard School of Health and lived in four countries - China, Japan, U.S. and Australia.

Zee’s findings showed that each plate of white rice eaten in a day raises the risk of diabetes by 11 percent in the overall population.

Long grain white rice, such as jasmine or basmati, is also better than short grain, such as sushi or CalRose, when it comes to how it spikes blood sugar – a rise in sugar levels causes the pancreas to produce more insulin, and frequent spikes can lead to diabetes, according to Zee.

“White rice also lacks nutrients like fiber and magnesium,” says Qi Sun, a professor of medicine at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. “People with high white rice consumption lack these beneficial nutrients and Asian populations consume a lot of white rice. If you consume brown rice instead, you will get these nutrients. There are alternatives.”

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Zee isn't recommending to stop eating white rice but suggests that people try adding 20 percent of brown rice to their white rice. This amount is enough to reduce their risk of diabetes by 16 percent.

“There is no need to fully replace what they eat now. Just increase the quantity of whole grain and brown rice,” he says.

Experts caution blaming white rice for the primary cause of Type 2 diabetes. For any healthful diet, moderation is key. “I’d tell [patients] what we know for sure,” Keith Ayoob, an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, also told ABC News. “Take steps to keep from becoming overweight, make physical activity a real priority, include some protein and fiber in each meal and snack, and spread your calories throughout the day.”

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