Health and Economic Impacts of Increased Brown Rice Consumption on Type 2 Diabetes in Japan: A Simulation Study, 2019–2029

By:
Nobuo Nishi,Miwa Yamaguchi, Nayu Ikeda
Date:
2025
Resource type:
Peer review
Link:

This simulation study modeled the effects of increasing brown rice consumption (as a substitute for white rice) on type 2 diabetes (T2D) incidence and healthcare costs in Japanese adults aged 40–79 over 10 years. Replacing 30–80% of white rice with brown rice could prevent up to 3.4% of new T2D cases and save USD 80.5 million in healthcare costs. Though the projected reductions are modest, the findings underscore brown rice’s potential as part of public health strategies to mitigate the T2D burden in aging populations.

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