Brown rice presents more problems than white, but both should be consumed in moderation, experts say.
Rice seems relatively harmless as a food. It’s generally colorless, odorless, and provides a pleasant background or base for many meals. How could it possibly present any problems?
Well, apparently, with ease. While eating a bowl of rice is no doubt better for your system than loading up on French fries and chips, studies have shown that consuming it daily can lead to trouble.
Rice can significantly increase your risk of developing diabetes. Researchers from Harvard have found that people who eat the most rice in certain studies are 1.5 times more likely to have diabetes than those who consume little. For every 5.5 ounce-serving of white rice eaten daily, a person’s risk of developing diabetes raises by 10 percent.
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In this case, researchers were looking at four earlier studies involving over 352,000 participants who didn’t have diabetes from China, Japan, Australia and the United States.
It’s not just the carbs you need to watch out for. Brown rice can contain striking amounts of arsenic. It’s not a government plot to poison you- arsenic is naturally present in soil. Rice grows in water and the roots of the plant absorb it. Research has shown that brown rice contains more arsenic than white- in fact, sometimes twice as much.
The takeaway? Some experts recommend that infants and children only consume about 1 serving of rice per week. As an adult, if you have a few bowls each week, you’re probably just fine.
