CITY OF SAN FERNANDO Ricardo Valencia, 51, has been struggling with type 2 diabetes and doctors have warned him of the complications if he would not keep his blood sugar levels in check.
He needed a radical change in his lifestyle and diet. A few months ago, he almost needed to undergo expensive hemodialysis treatment for his kidneys after his sugar levels went spiraling out of the charts. But now he has managed to keep track of his weight and his sugar levels. With enough exercise and changes in food consumption, he is relatively healthy. To top it all he did not need to forgo his love of the national staple. But instead of white rice, he is now an ardent believer in the benefits of brown rice.
There has been recent drumbeating by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to convince people of the need to shift to a healthier consumption of brown rice instead of the usual staple of conventional white rice.
And in a nation on the brink of becoming the third country in the Western Pacific Region with the highest diabetes mellitus cases as well as being the 51st among 117 countries now facing serious levels of hunger, the argument to shift into brown rice consumption is even more compelling. Not to be confused with black rice and other pigmented varieties; brown rice or sometimes called unpolished rice is not a variety but a product of less processing during the milling procedure.
In fact, white rice is actually brown rice before undergoing the full milling process. All rice varieties can be converted into brown rice including black and red rice as well as other pigmented varieties. But there are certain varieties that are considered ideal.
Data from the DA said that conventional rice only undergoes dehulling and polishing to produce white rice while brown rice only undergoes the dehulling process and never undergoes polishing which enables the bran to remain intact in each grain giving brown rice its distinct color. And it is this bran that has been the reason why the DA and PhilRice are all out in supporting the promotion of brown rice consumption.
Health Benefits
In a 2011 paper by Dr. Marissa Romero titled “Nutritional and health aspects of brown rice”, it has been found that brown rice is “nationally superior to white rice in terms of protein, fat, dietary fiber, B viatamins, vitamin E, minerals and antioxidants.”
Director Hazel Antonio of Philrice’s Be RICEponsible Campaign, the lead promoter of the shift to brown rice campaign, said that these health benefits could greatly improve the undernourishment statistics in the country.
Rice is 60 to 65 percent of the calorie intake of an ordinary Filipino. A shift to brown rice consumption could greatly help in meeting nutrient requirements.
Antonio added that numerous clinical studies showed that consumption of whole grains, including brown rice, may help reduce the risk of cancers, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
School of Nutrition dean Dr. Leonora Panlasigui of the Philippine Women’s University and Lilian Thompson of the University of Toronto, in a 2006 journal article, said that brown rice is a more health-beneficial food for diabetics and hyperglycaemic individuals than white rice.
This is good news for a country that the World Health Organization predicts to have 8 million diabetics by 2030, third only to China and Japan, respectively.
Beneficial short-chain fatty acids are produced when brown rice is digested and the bran oil in brown rice is said to be rich in antioxidants.
Brown rice is also a promising alternative to weight management as it reduces cholesterol; serves as an effective laxative for regular bowel movements; decreases urinary calcium that prevents kidney stones; helps diminish the temptation for over-eating according to Philrice.
Brown vs. White
White rice is beautiful and has been the conventional standard of what rice should look like. But brown rice is far richer in nutrients compared to white rice. Philrice said that despite the lower energy cost and its high milling recovery, brown rice is more expensive than white rice.
This is due to the fact that varieties used to make brown rice are what the DA categorizes as premium varieties that already command high prices in the market. The shorter shelf-life of brown rice, three to six months, increases the price of brown rice because of the low demand and the need for special packaging.
Philrice and the DA are drumbeating efforts to increase popular demand for brown rice in the local markets to mitigate prices and promote a wider awareness of the benefits of brown rice consumption.