Asians
are more prone to diabetes compared with Caucasians due to the high intake of
rice, studies have shown.
KUALA
LUMPUR: Quoting health authorities, the Singapore Straits Times reported that
consuming white rice is even more potent than sweet soda drinks in causing the
disease.
Singapore’s
Health Promotion Board chief executive Zee Yoong Kang told the daily that while
obesity and sugary drinks are the major causes of diabetes in the west, Asians
who are generally not obese yet run a higher risk of contracting the disease.
Quoting a
collection of four major studies carried out by the Harvard School of Public
Health, involving more than 350,000 people over four to 20 years, and published
in the British Medical Journal, Zee said a plate of white rice a day can raise
the risk of diabetes by 11% in the overall population.
The
Straits Times quoted Zee as saying that starchy white rice can result in an
overload in blood sugar, thus heightening the risk of diabetes.
He added
that it was still okay to eat rice but for healthier varieties to be added to
the daily diet.
He said
long grain white rice is better than the short grain variety, and suggested
that Asians should try adding at least 20% of brown rice to the daily rice
intake, as it could amount to a 16% reduction in the risk of diabetes.
“There is
no need to fully replace what they now eat. Just increase the quantity of whole
grain and brown rice,” he said, according to the Singapore daily.
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