Chennai: A city-based research foundation has applied for a patent for its high-fibre rice that slows down the rise of blood sugar levels after a meal.
When tested for fibre, this rice variety (oryza sativa) has five times higher dietary fibre even in its polished form compared to regular white rice, said well-known diabetologist and chairman of Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre Dr V. Mohan.
‘Dr Mohan’s High Fibre Rice’ was developed by a conventional plant breeding method, called mutation breeding, and launched in 2013. Out of 2,250 varieties released globally, 305 were developed in India.
Sudha Vasudevan, senior scientist and head of Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, said, “We conducted a pilot study, comparing the glycemic profile of a newly-developed high fibre rice and normal white rice in Asian Indians and concluded that replacing normal white rice with high fibre rice may help to reduce the glycemic response among overweight Asian Indians who are at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes.” Diabetologists in the city say that the more you polish, less the fibre content.
“There are many varieties available in the market and any rice that has high fibre content will lower blood sugar level,” said Dr P. Dharmarajan, director of Institute of Diabetology at Rajiv Gandhi government general hospital. Hand-milled rice has all the fibre and retains important ingredients, says diabetologist, Dr R. Sundararaman of SRM Institute of Medical Science (SIMS).
