The extract from the middle layer lying between the brown outer skin of the rice grain and its white center may protect against the development of cardiovascular disease, according to scientists from Japan in the American Journal of Hypertension.
Brown rice has a beneficial effect on the health of the heart and circulatory system. Unfortunately, most of the healthy nutrients contained in the so-called the subaleuronic layer of the rice grain (just below its outer shell) is lost during the routine milling process, which transforms brown rice into white rice.
White rice is much more popular than brown rice – it has a longer shelf life, shorter cooking times and is a staple dietary ingredient in many countries. The method of obtaining white rice without losing the subaleuronic layer would therefore enable large-scale protection of people against heart and circulatory diseases – hypertension, heart attacks and diabetes, the researchers believe.
The Hirotoshi Utsunomiya group of Temple University School of Medicine used a new grinding method that maintains a subaleuronic layer around the white grain of Japanese rice. The authors observed that this layer influences the action of angiotensin II – a hormone that regulates muscle contraction in blood vessels and blood pressure.
Scientists have found that the middle layer of rice grains protects rat smooth muscle cells from abnormal vascular cell growth and guarantees the proper functioning of blood vessels in rodents. The next step will be to thoroughly study this mechanism in humans (PAP).