QUOTE from Dr Fung (emphasis mine):
“Carbohydrates should be enjoyed in their natural, whole, unprocessed form. Many traditional diets built around carbohydrates cause neither poor health nor obesity. Remember: the toxicity in much Western food lies in the processing, rather than in the food itself. The carbohydrates in Western diets are heavily skewed toward refined grains, and are thus highly obesogenic. Eggplant, kale, spinach, carrots, broccoli, peas, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, asparagus, bell peppers, zucchini, cauliflower, avocados, lettuce, beets, cucumbers, watercress, cabbage, among others, are all extremely healthy carbohydrate-containing foods.” [1]
QUOTE: “Rates of Type 2 diabetes in China have exploded in the last couple of decades. In 1980, less than 5% of Chinese men had diabetes. Now, more than 10% do…. Even more startling is the fact that almost half of all adults in China – close to 500 million people – have prediabetes…. more than half (53%) of people with diabetes in China may be undiagnosed, and according to a survey in 2010 only one-quarter (25.8%) of all people with diabetes were receiving treatment for their condition. [2]
QUOTE: Dr. Michael Greger reviews the research linking white rice consumption with the rise in type 2 diabetes, largely in Asian populations. The rate at which people in China and Japan are getting diabetes has skyrocketed in the past decade and is now very similar to the incidence in the United States. However, China has seven times less obesity and Japan has eight times less obesity than the United States. So what’s going on?
China’s Diabetes Rate Has More Than Tripled, But Their Obesity Rate Has Not
Looking at the data, Dr. Greger found that the rate of new type 2 diabetes diagnoses has sharply increased, while rice consumption has actually decreased by 30 percent. Pork, oil, and other meat consumption has sharply increased in the past 16 years…. Dr. Greger theorizes that it’s the addition of animal protein. When ingested, carbohydrates cause a spike in blood glucose, triggering the pancreas to secrete insulin. Studies show that when animal protein is added to refined carbs, the blood sugar spike is much higher.
NOTE (my commentary)
China is known as a country where rice is the staple of the diet. Not brown rice, but processed white rice. But the increase in prosperity has made it possible for the Chinese to eat more processed foods, and the explosion in diabetes follows this change to a more processed, Western-style diet, not simply a diet high in carbohydrates. In 1980, the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes was 1% of the population. Now it is more than ten times that, with a concern that more than half the population is prediabetes and that 75% of those with the disease are undiagnosed.
So, rice consumption is down 30%. Obesity remains low. Diabetes is skyrocketing. Higher blood sugar levels due to the western diet are fueling insulin resistance, which causes type 2 diabetes. Dr. Fung suggests that processing removes factors which protect us, causing previously healthy foods to become food that is unhealthy for human consumption.
Remember: the toxicity in much Western food lies in the processing, rather than in the food itself.
Is there such a thing in reality as “whole grain”? Commercial “Whole Wheat Bread” in the USA is largely white bread made with processed flour and colored brown by the addition of molasses. It causes a blood sugar spike.
Brown rice is unprocessed.
Oatmeal is rolled oats, pressed flat.
China’s Diabetes Rate Has More Than Tripled, But Their Obesity Rate Has Not
STRATEGY: I need to remove processed foods from my diet as much as possible. Oatmeal is acceptable, but it is a carb.
DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
What gets my attention?
Do I understand the need or problem?
Do I understand the potential solution?
Do I understand how to apply that strategy?
What questions do I have for the experts? What might be the answers?
Who needs to hear this?
What do I do next?
SOURCE – Footnotes:
[1] “The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss” by Dr. Jason Fung, Timothy Noakes. Page 229.
[2] Rate of diabetes in China “explosive,” 6 April 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) News release Beijing https://www.who.int/china/news/detail/06-04-2016-rate-of-diabetes-in-china-explosive-
[3] Is White Rice to Blame for Skyrocketing Type 2 Diabetes in China? By Julia Helms, March 28, 2016, https://www.forksoverknives.com/type-2-diabetes-tripled-china-obesity-not/#gs.yx1skq
RESOURCES
As China puts on weight, type-2 diabetes is soaring, https://www.economist.com/china/2019/12/12/as-china-puts-on-weight-type-2-diabetes-is-soaring
Diabetes in China: Epidemiology and Genetic Risk Factors and Their Clinical Utility in Personalized Medication by Cheng Hu and Weiping Jia, https://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/67/1/3
” High prevalence of diabetes, prediabetes in China,” Science Daily, June 27, 2017, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170627134326.htm
White Rice Consumption Not Associated With Higher Risk Of Type-2 Diabetes: Study
A new study published in the European Journal of Nutrition has said that high consumption of rice is not associated with higher risks of Type-2 diabetes.
FoodNDTV Food DeskUpdated: December 14, 2018 02:41 pm IST, https://www.ndtv.com/food/white-rice-consumption-not-associated-with-higher-risk-of-type-2-diabetes-study-1962630
Quote: “Rice intake was not associated with higher T2D risk… although the precise risk estimate depended greatly on the substitute food.” The study also concluded that replacing one daily serving of rice with noodles, red meat and poultry was associated with high Type-2 diabetes risk. Whereas, replacement of rice with portion of white bread or wholemeal bread was linked to lower risk of Type-2 diabetes.
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