Each serving of polished  rice a day increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 1 percent, according to a study being published in the British Medical Journal.

Polished rice is commonly called white rice and one serving refers to nearly 160 grams. “Higher consumption of white rice is associated with a significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes, especially in Asian (china and Japan) populations,” wrote the authors from the Harvard school of public health, Boston.

The conclusion was based on a meta-analysis of 3, 52,384 people who were followed up for 4 to 22 years. The participants were from China, Japan, the United States and Australia.

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Correlation Found Only in the Case of Two Asian Countries

A positive association between white rice intake and increased risk of diabetes was found only in the case of the two Asian countries where rice is a staple food. This association seems to be stronger for Asians than for western populations, the authors said.  Despite the not so strong association in western countries, the researchers estimated that about 167 new cases of diabetes per 1, 00,000 people would occur every year for every additional serving of white rice a day.”

White rice primarily contains starch, as the polishing removes most of the nutrients found in the bran such as insoluble fiber, magnesium, vitamins, and lignans (a group of chemical compounds acting as antioxidants). Insoluble fiber and magnesium, for instance, have been found to lower the risk of Type II diabetics.

Unlike brown rice, polished rice has a high glycemic index (an indicating of glucose rising effect of a food) and is a major contributor of dietary glycemic load. Higher dietary glycemic load is generally associated with increased risk of diabetes. Hence, the harmful effects of polishing are two pronged-It removes the nutrients that would cut the risk of diabetes and at the same time pushes up the glycemic index, thus increasing the risk of the disease.

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