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Marius Market, Paris (Photo:RLW)

Brown Rice versus White Rice?


A just-released Harvard study came to the stunning conclusion that eating brown rice instead of white rice decreases the chances of developing Type 2 diabetes by about 10 percent compared to people who eat it less than once a month. And those who eat white rice on a regular basis — five or more times a week — are almost 20 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who eat it less than once a month.

This is of course patently clear to anyone with any knowledge of whole foods, versus highly refined foods - as their perishable nutrients have been removed to make them shelf-stable. Hence The New York Times headline today is a sad commentary on the apparent fact that many think this is new information.

What is more interesting in my opinion is that this study reinforces the erroneous “single ingredient” fallacy of our approach to healthy eating. Year after year studies highlight one ingredient or another and make claims regarding their healthy benefits. Highly engineered foods clog our grocery shelves with absurd marketing claims regarding the few nutrients that have been added back into cheap highly refined food commodities such as high-fructose corn syrup, white rice, refined white flour, and de-oiled soy flakes.

In the holistic approach to healthy eating it is preciously the great diversity of whole foods availability that delivers everything the healthy body needs to function. Isolating down to a single ingredient such as brown rice misses the point and misleads people into thinking there is a “sliver bullet” out there that bestows good health.

One of my cooking heroes, Julia Child, said it best, “Moderation. Small helpings. Sample a little bit of everything. These are the secrets of happiness and good health.”

Richard Wottrch