The truth about the "miracle drug" brown rice in curing diabetes and cancer

Currently, on social networks, countless ways to cure cancer are being spread by word of mouth. There are many cases of cancer patients leaving the hospital and going home to practice macrobiotics, eating only brown rice, salt, sesame, and no meat, sugar, or milk… to “starve the cancer cells” in the hope of curing cancer.

Many children with cancer are also used by their gullible parents to apply the above method. Knowing that their child had cancer, Nguyen Thi Nhuan and her husband (in Nam Dinh) read online that if they only fed their child brown rice with salt and sesame, and completely eliminated animal-derived foods from their meals, their child would be cured, so they applied it.

According to the couple, eating meat will feed the cancer cells and make the disease worse(?). However, after a few months, the child's health condition worsened. The pain became more and more frequent. When the couple had to take the child to the hospital, the doctors were helpless.

Regarding this issue, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Van Thuan, Director of K Hospital, said that the concept of curing cancer by eating brown rice with salt and sesame, being vegetarian without eating meat, fish, sugar, milk, etc. to not feed cancer cells with necessary nutrients, has absolutely no scientific basis. Diet has never been studied to be considered a specific treatment for cancer. Designating it as a specific treatment for cancer is wrong.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Van Thuan, Director of K Hospital, said that the idea of ​​curing cancer by eating brown rice with salt and sesame, or being a vegetarian without eating meat, fish, sugar, milk, etc., to not feed cancer cells with necessary nutrients, has absolutely no scientific basis. Illustrative photo

According to scientific documents, brown rice has high nutritional content, especially a large amount of anthocyanin with high antioxidant capacity, which has the effect of reducing and preventing atherosclerosis... Brown rice also has a very good shell and bran, providing fiber. However, there is no scientific work in the world that confirms that brown rice has the ability to prevent cancer. Overusing brown rice every day without adding other nutrients, in the long term, is not good for the body because it lacks substances that brown rice does not have.

People should not think that “starving cancer will kill it”. Whether cancer cells can develop or not depends on the body’s resistance. People with good resistance, good immune system… will inhibit the development of cancer cells.

Cancer cells will grow faster when the body is mentally and physically exhausted. In fact, many patients have died of exhaustion before dying of the disease because the body is not strong enough to fight the disease and does not respond to cancer treatment methods such as surgery, radiotherapy, etc.

According to agricultural experts, because it contains a lot of fat (good) in the bran layer, brown rice is easily oxidized, producing free radicals, substances that are not beneficial to the body if eaten. Illustrative photo

Recently, a product has become popular: germinated brown rice powder, which is ground from roasted germinated brown rice. According to the seller’s advertisement and the information on the product, germinated brown rice powder contains a lot of vitamins, antioxidants, beneficial fats, calcium, iron, zinc, etc.

The powder helps nourish the body, act as a laxative, prevent osteoporosis, arthritis, and diseases related to the digestive tract; reduce cholesterol, prevent blood clots, and cardiovascular diseases.

Even germinated brown rice powder can be used to replace breast milk and baby food.

With the advertised effects, many consumers consider germinated brown rice powder as a product that completely replaces daily nutritional needs.

The technology to create germinated brown rice originated from Japan. The standard process to create germinated brown rice is: after harvesting, the rice is transported to the factory, dried at moderate temperature and the husk is removed so that the germ and the silk layer are still retained.

Then, let the rice absorb moisture in a clean, hygienic, temperature-controlled environment to germinate.

Many new substances that are beneficial to human health, such as gamma amino butyric acid, will be produced during the germination process. Therefore, in essence, sprouted brown rice is very good for health. "However, Vietnam has a hot and humid climate, so the process, technology of harvesting and post-harvest preservation are not as good as in Japan.

In particular, mothers should note, "brown rice powder and germinated brown rice cannot replace breast milk. The calcium and vitamin D content in brown rice and germinated brown rice is very low, so it cannot prevent osteoporosis; it also has no effect in preventing heart disease or arthritis," Dr. Dao Thi Yen Thuy, Ho Chi Minh City Nutrition Center, warned further.

According to agricultural experts, because it contains a lot of fat (good) in the bran layer, brown rice is easily oxidized, producing free radicals, substances that are not beneficial to the body if eaten.