The many virtues of Italian rice, which is good for health (even for diabetics)

It is one of the main Italian agricultural resources. In our country they are grown well over 140 varieties of riceincluding those with protected designation: PDO rice from Baraggia Biellese and Vercellese, PGI Vialone Nano Veronese rice and PGI Delta del Po rice.

Rice is a tasty, versatile food, rich in precious health benefits. Although its production has been linked for centuries to the history of popular cuisine and our culture, today it represents a precious opportunity for those who want to combine good food with a diet that looks to health and well-being.

Recent research has demonstrated the great benefits that this food can bring to well-being. In Japan it is considered a “functional food”, i.e. a food product designed to offer, compared to traditional foods, an extra benefit for health. In the Land of the Rising Sun there is also specific legislation concerning the development, production and marketing of “functional food”, so much so that it has become a world leader in the development of these production technologies.

In Italy, the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, in collaboration with the Institute of Services for the Agricultural and Food Market and theNational Rice Organization, has launched a promotion campaign in recent years with the aim of bringing the public closer to the Italian rice heritage, enhancing its cultural importance, the multiplicity of uses and the numerous nutritional properties. But attention, today, is increasingly focused on the sustainability of local rice. “Modern agronomic techniques make it possible to grow rice more and more with respect for the environment,” he says Paolo Carrà, President of National Rice Organization,. «The irrigation system of the rice fields, for example, does not lead to a waste of water but on the contrary the same, passing from one chamber of the rice fields to another, is reused about 2.5 times before reaching the rivers. Rice fields are like a large sponge that slowly releases water downstream». A guarantee also in terms of drought and floods, since the rice field can act as a natural hydrogeological regulator.

8 benefits related to the consumption of rice

For a long time, the beneficial properties linked to the consumption of rice were always recognized in medicine only on an empirical basis, but today they are also confirmed by rigorous scientific research. I am eight, in particular, the benefits linked to the consumption of rice.

1.It is naturally dietary
Rice can be eaten every day at all ages and is one of those foods which, if eaten regularly as part of a balanced diet, can be of great help in maintaining, promoting and/or recovering a good state of mental well-being. -physicist.

2.It is highly digestible
Rice has ahigh digestibilitysuperior to any other starchy product, including pasta: its glucidic fraction, made up of starch, is in fact in the form of very small granules (2-10 microns), and furthermore the ratio between the two starch components (the linear -amylose- and the branched -amylopectin-, which condition its digestibility and absorption) is in favor of amylopectin, which is more easily attacked by amylolytic enzymes and, therefore, more easily digestible.

3. Regulates the intestinal bacterial flora
The rice also plays a regulatory effect on the intestinal flora. A food diet in which this cereal prevails enhances fermentative bacteriaincreasing intestinal resistance to the attack of pathogenic viruses.

4.It is rich in essential fatty acids and low in sodium
Rice possesses a high potassium content it’s a low sodium. Furthermore, in its lipid component, essential fatty acids predominate (defined as essential because their presence in the human body depends exclusively on food intake).

5. Maintains stable cholesterol and triglyceride levels
Also present in rice hulls is ƴ-oryzanol, a compound that can present beneficial effects on total cholesterol levelsLDL cholesterol, Apolipoprotein B and triglycerides.

6.Fights hypertension
Numerous Japanese studies have demonstrated that a particular peptide fraction isolated from rice glutenin and rice prolamin (defined as bioactive peptides) would present a marked antihypertensive activity.

7.It is suitable for celiacs and intolerant people as it is gluten-free
Rice proteins do not contain those glianinic and gluteninic fractions which in many cases cause serious food intolerances. For this reason, it can also be taken by those who are intolerant or affected by celiac disease.

8. Its proteins are of superior quality
Thanks to the presence oflysine amino acid – defined as essential since the human body is not able to synthesize it autonomously and must be introduced through food – rice proteins have a better amino acid composition compared to other cereals.

But the benefits of rice don’t stop there. A brand new study has highlighted some beneficial properties for health, specifically of Italian rice, which had never been evaluated before this moment.

Selenium and Argos, the rice also suitable for diabetics

An extensive and complete research on Italian rice, commissioned by Ente Nazionale Risi and carried out by the University of Pavia in collaboration with the Polytechnic of Turin, has shown that some varieties already on the market have a low glycemic index (GI).which makes them adapted to the diet of those suffering from diabetes. With an average GI of 66.8, Italian rice is on the same line as other cereals, but some varieties already in cultivation, i.e. Selenium And Argonhave a glycemic index of 49.2 and 50.5 respectively, extraordinary values ​​when compared to 70 for white bread and 100 for sugar, a parameter used as a reference.
This unexpected discovery makes it possible to review the food program for those suffering from obesity, metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes and in general for those who want to follow a healthy diet.
«Rice is a healthy product, suitable for everyone and for the first time we have scientific work available that proves it», he underlined Paolo CarràPresident of National Rice Organization, on the occasion of the press presentation of this unique research. «Milled rice has always been considered a food with a high glycemic index and therefore to be consumed rarely and with caution by diabetics. This research debunks this negative myth. It also highlights how even some varieties of rice can be fully included in a diet with a glycemic load suitable for those with hyperglycemic pathology”.
Selenium and Argon represent in practice one more strategy for early dietary treatment, in order to stop or at least slow down the disease when it is not yet full-blown, and for the prevention of hypoglycemia in those who already have diabetes, a situation which increases the risk of complications.

What is the Glycemic Index and how is it measured?

The glycemic index (GI) is a rating system used only for foods that contain carbohydrates, such as rice. Those with a high glycemic index contain carbohydrates which have the ability to make the food metabolizable faster with an increase in blood sugar.
In clinical practice, the GI expresses the ability of carbohydrates contained in foods to raise blood sugar and allows the quality of carbohydrates to be defined.
The procedure for its measurement it has been standardized in order to allow consistent results between different research centres; it provides for the intake, by ten subjects, of a portion of the food being evaluated that contains 50g of carbohydrates and the measurement of blood sugar through various capillary or venous blood samples taken every 30 minutes over the following three hours.
The incremental glycemic response curve is then integrated and compared to the curve corresponding, in the same subject, to the assumption of the same amount of glucose, whose GI is set as a reference at 100.

Wholemeal or non-wholemeal products with a high amylose content present lower glycemic index. The glycemic index of Italian rice varieties can oscillate between 48 and 93. The new study has shown that 2 low glycemic index rice varieties (Selenium and Argo) are suitable for a healthy diet and also for diabetic subjects and for subjects with impaired fasting blood sugar.

How the study on Italian rice was conducted

It is the first time that scientific research has evaluated the glycemic index of such a large variety of Italian rices, so much so that the study has obtained publication in the important scientific journal Starch of the Wiley group.
Our aim was to evaluate theGlycemic index and theAmylose of 25 varieties of Japonica rice,” he explained Mariangela Rondanelli of the University of Pavia. «We therefore involved ten healthy, non-smoking volunteers, who between June 2021 and March 2022 underwent regular measurements to evaluate the glycemic response, both with reference foods and with rice qualities. The results showed that as the amylose content increases, the glycemic index decreases. Hence, the classification of the 25 Japonica rice cultivars based on low, medium and high glycemic response, with conclusions that pave the way for new nutritional approaches. The two varieties, Selenio and Argo, which have fallen into the lower range, are suitable for subjects with both full-blown diabetesand with impaired fasting blood sugar, a condition that predisposes to diabetic disease. The Carnaroli Classico variant, widely available, has a medium glycemic index».

The importance of the morphology of local rice

An analysis performed by the team of Francesco Savorani, professor of the Department of Applied Science and Technology of the Polytechnic of Turin, with the electron microscopy (that is, through the use of electrons as a source of illuminating electromagnetic radiation in order to be able to observe details of dimensions smaller than those of the wavelength of visible radiation), has made it possible for the first time to observe the internal structure of rice grains of many Italian and foreign varieties. “This analysis made it possible to highlight an interconnection between the morphological characteristics and the food properties, in particular with respect to the glycemic index”, explained Savorani. “As hypothesized, ahigh porosity in the internal arrangement of the starch granules, typical of Italian risotto varietiesa parameter has been confirmed essential for obtaining high quality culinary preparations and rich in aromas and flavors».

A result that represents not so much an arrival point as a starting point. “These studies are part of a more ambitious project that the Organization has been developing for some years in the field of genetic research and have allowed us to take a leap forward in the complex work of genetic selection, the objective of which is creation of rice varieties suitable for sustainable rice cultivation and capable of satisfying the needs of farmers and industry. In this way we can offer consumers sustainable, tasty and very healthy food,” he points out Filip Haxhari, Breeder of Ente Nazionale Risi. «Our rice is a product of excellence, unique and identifying, thanks also to the extraordinary quality of the grain. Now, the goal is to get the perfect grain».

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