Multi-Grain Rice Diet Decreases Risk of Breast Cancer in Korean Women: Results from the Health Examinees Study.

Although a number of studies explain the association between dietary patterns, which take into account that foods are eaten in combination, and breast cancer risk, the findings are inconsistent. We examined the association between dietary patterns and multi-grain rice intake, and the risk of breast cancer in a large-scale prospective cohort study in Korean women. A total of 93,306 women aged 40-69 years from the Health Examinees-Gem (HEXA-G) study (2004 and 2013) were included. We obtained Information on cancer diagnosis via linkage to the Korea Central Cancer Registry. Factor analysis was conducted to obtain dietary patterns, and Cox proportional models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for breast cancer risk. For 494,490 person-years, 359 new cases of breast cancer occurred. We identified three major dietary patterns, that explained 23.9% of the total variance based on daily total food intake (g/day) from 37 food groups: the meat dietary pattern (higher intake of bread and red meat), the white rice dietary pattern (higher intake of white rice and lower intake of multi-grain rice), and the other pattern. Women who had higher white rice dietary pattern scores had a 35% higher risk of breast cancer, than did women with lower white rice dietary pattern scores (multivariable HR 1.35; 95% CI 1.00-1.84 for the highest vs. lowest quartile of the white rice dietary pattern scores, p for trend = 0.0384). We found that women who consumed three or more servings of multi-grain rice per day had 33% lower risk of breast cancer than did those who consumed one or less multi-grain rice serving per day among women under 50 years of age (multivariable HR 0.67; 95% CI 0.45-0.99, p for trend = 0.0204). Our study suggests that a multi-grain rice diet may be associated with lower risk of breast cancer in Korean women.

Rapid and non-destructive analysis for the identification of multi-grain rice seeds with near-infrared spectroscopy.

The rapid and non-destructive discriminant analysis of rice seeds has great significance for large-scale agriculture. Using near-infrared (NIR) diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy with partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), a variety identification method of multi-grain rice seeds was developed. The equidistant combination method was adopted for large-range wavelength screening. A step-by-step phase-out method was proposed to eliminate interference wavelengths and improve the predicted effect. The optimal wavelength model was a combination of 54 wavelengths within 808-974 nm of the short-NIR region. One type of pure rice variety (Y Liangyou 900) was used for identification (negative). Positive samples included the other four pure varieties and contamination of Y Liangyou 900 by the above four varieties. The recognition-accuracy rates for positive, negative and total validation samples reached 93.1%, 95.1%, and 94.3%, respectively. In the long-NIR region, the local optimal wavelength model was a combination of 49 wavelengths within 1188-1650 nm, and the recognition-accuracy rates for positive, negative and total validation samples were 90.3%, 94.1%, and 92.5%, respectively. Results confirmed the feasibility of NIR spectroscopy for variety identification of multi-grain rice seeds. The proposed two discrete-wavelength models located in the short- and long-NIR regions can provide valuable reference to a dedicated spectrometer.

Relationship between rice consumption and body weight gain in Japanese workers: white versus brown rice/multigrain rice.

Increasing obesity rates have driven research into dietary support for body weight control, but previous studies have only assessed changes in body weight of ±3 kg. We investigated the relationships between white or brown/multi-grain rice consumption and 1-year body weight gain ≥3 kg in Japanese factory workers (n = 437). Routine medical check-up data from a 1-year nutrition and lifestyle cohort study were analysed. Participants were divided into white rice and brown/multi-grain rice consumption groups and further classified by tertile of rice consumption. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed by tertile. At 1 year, high white rice consumption was significantly associated with increased risk of body weight gain ≥3 kg compared with low white rice consumption, maintained after adjustment for age, sex, and consumption of other obesogenic foods (p = 0.034). In the brown/multi-grain rice consumption group, however, there was no significant difference in risk between high and low consumption, even after multi-variate adjustment (p = 0.387). The consumption of white rice, but not brown rice/multi-grain rice, was positively correlated with the risk of a 1-year body weight gain of 3 kg or more. This suggests that brown rice/multi-grain rice consumption is useful for body weight control among Japanese workers.

Evaluation of the Menus of Senior Welfare Centers for Home-bound Elderly

This study examined the characteristics of the foodservice menu items offered at senior welfare centers to provide information on Korean senior menu development. A total of 514 lunch menu items were collected from 27 senior welfare centers in April, July, October and January. The most frequently served staple foods, soups, and side dishes were multi-grain rice, seaweed soup, Bulgogi, Kimchi, and liquid yogurt. The proportions of carbohydrate, protein, and lipids of total energy serving of senior welfare centers were 59.8%: 16.7%: and 22.8%, respectively. The nutrients served at less than 40% of the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) and Adequate Intake (AI) of Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs) were chloride (1.0%), vitamin D (1.3%), biotin (1.7%), magnessium (4.5%), Iodine (7.5%), pantothenic acid (8.0%), vitamin E (12.5%), vitamin B6 (20.0~21.4%), vitamin K (21.1~24.3%), and water (35.7~39.7%). The nutrients served in excess of the daily intake goal and RNI were iron (98.9~127.1%), sodium (104.9%), and copper (1,100.0%).