Regular Consumption Of White Rice Can Cause Diabetes, Really?

Nasi Putih (Pille-Riin Priske / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - White rice is the staple food of most Indonesians. Indonesians are accustomed to eating white rice three times a day, in large quantities too.

Coupled with the consumption of various sweet foods such as cookies, biscuits, candy, sweet tea, and others without compensating for the consumption of vegetables and fruit.

These bad diets and habits have caused many Indonesians to develop diabetes.

Diabetes itself can have a very big effect on the body, namely the emergence of various types of other diseases as complications for sufferers. For this reason, diabetes is a disease of great concern.

Seeing the bad effects caused, many people are often consumed by myths or information about diabetes. One of them is the myth about white rice. Many people think, white rice has the potential to cause diabetes compared to other sweet foods or drinks.

Actually, rice itself is not the main cause of diabetes. However, the habit of consuming excess rice and routinely every day also supports the development of diabetes. In fact, in a cup of white rice, containing 44.5 grams of carbohydrates can trigger fat accumulation in the body.

A study from the Harvard School of Public Health revealed that eating too much rice has an impact on the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (diabetes).

The results showed that participants who ate the most rice, 3-4 times per day, had a 1.5 times more risk of developing diabetes than those who ate the least amount of rice.

This is because white rice is included in foods with a high glycemic index and contains starch which can burden the body with blood sugar, thereby increasing the risk of developing diabetes.

Most of the consumption of carbohydrates such as rice, noodles or pasta, which have higher sugar content are refined carbohydrates or carbohydrates that have a single or simple glucose structure and have undergone repeated food processing or factory processes. Like rice which loses a lot of fiber when processed.

However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat rice to avoid diabetes. Yes, as long as you pay attention to the process. Even diabetics can still eat carbohydrates such as rice, it's just that it requires precise calculations when consuming them.

That is, the assumption of most people who say they should not eat rice for diabetics is a myth. There are many other factors that cause diabetes, for example heredity.

To avoid increasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be done by reducing excess carbohydrate intake on a large meal menu. For example, reducing the portion of rice, bread, or noodles that are commonly eaten and increasing the intake of protein, vegetables and more fruits.