Brown Rice Consumption and Changes in the Metabolic Risk Factors of Non-communicable Diseases in Selected Overweight and Obese Filipinos

Abstract

Human studies on the health benefits of brown rice (BR) are limited, especially in the Philippines, even though rice is the staple food. This is the first randomized controlled investigation on the effects of BR consumption on metabolic risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in selected overweight and obese Filipino adults. Out of 60 eligible male and female participants (30–59 yr old) randomly assigned to the BR and white rice (WR) groups, 52 completed the study. This was organized in a semi-free-living condition with 6-wk dietary intervention and 6-wk followup. Participants were assessed at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 wk for overweight/obesity parameters and blood pressure (BP), and at 0, 6, and 12 wk for fasting blood sugar (FBS) and lipid profile. More metabolic risk factors were significantly reduced at post-intervention in the BR group [body mass index (BMI), visceral fat (VF), systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), FBS, total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)] than in the WR group [SBP, DBP, TC, LDL, and triglycerides (TG)]. Most of the parameters in the BR group significantly improved at follow-up including the high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Therefore, the BR-based diet was more effective in improving the metabolic risk factors status than the WR-based diet. Although a statistically significant difference was not detected between the groups, the percent change had small clinical significance – particularly in BMI, DBP, FBS, TC, LDL, and HDL. Hence, in clinical practice, BR could help ameliorate the metabolic risk factors of NCDs among overweight and obese Filipinos. Further investigations are needed to elucidate the effects of BR on metabolic risk factors.