Can Eating Rice Affect My Diabetes?
If you have diabetes, you must watch what you eat and how much you exercise. To prevent your blood sugar from increasing to a dangerous level, you must keep an eye on what you consume every day.
Controlling your diabetes can be facilitated by keeping track of the number of carbohydrates and glycemic index (GI) rating of the meals you consume. Based on how a food may impact your blood sugar, the GI rates it.
Learn how to include rice in your diabetic diet by reading on.
What the research says
Overconsumption of rice in your diet has dangers. According to a research published in the British Medical Journal, eating a lot of white rice may raise a person's risk of type 2 diabetes. This suggests that you should be extremely careful about your rice intake if you have prediabetes.
You may normally eat rice in moderation if you've already been diagnosed with diabetes. Make sure you are familiar with the GI score and carbohydrate content of the type of rice you want to eat. Ideally, you should have 45 to 60 grammes of carbs at each meal. Different types of rice have different GI ratings.
Your meals should be properly portioned if you follow the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Create Your Plate technique. You should eat 25% protein, 25% grains and starchy meals, and 50% non-starchy veggies on your dinner plate. Additionally, if you're tracking carbs, you should put a portion of fruit or dairy on the side as well.
What types of rice are OK to eat?
When choosing what to eat, the type of rice matters. Consuming rice with plenty of nutrients is preferable. Short-grain white rice has less fibre, vitamins, and minerals than brown rice, wild rice, and long-grain white rice. Additionally, you have to look for your preferred GI score.
If at all possible, stay away from short-grain white rice since it has a high GI, which is defined as 70 or above. Compared to other types of rice and starches, it has a low nutritional value.
Rice varieties including basmati, brown, and wild have GI ratings in the average range. Their GI ranges from 56 to 69. In general, you may consume them in moderation. Being careful not to overcook your rice can help you avoid changing the GI score.
You may balance your diet with low-GI items like non-starchy veggies and lean protein. Additionally, be careful to limit your consumption of rice to a moderate amount. Rice has 15 grammes of carbs in just 1/2 cup.
What alternative grains can I try?
Try other grains as a substitute for rice if you normally only eat it for meals. They can assist you in controlling your diabetes and maintaining a balanced diet. Most also include additional nutritional value. They could keep you fuller longer than highly refined starches.
The GI rating of these grains is low:
steel-cut and rolled oats barley,bulgur,quinoa, millet and buckwheat.
