ARLINGTON, VA – A new study published in the journal Nutrition highlights the importance of white rice as a culturally and emotionally significant food.  The study examined the associations and changes of adherence to a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) on binge eating and cravings.  

Researchers in Brazil gathered self-reported details from more than 300 Brazilian university students over a three-month period.  As expected, as the students began to follow the LCD, rice consumption declined, and the reported reduction in rice intake was linked to an increase in disordered eating behaviors.  

Rice is a cultural staple in traditional Brazilian diets, and so those students who closely followed the LCD reported a significant increase in cravings and binge eating behaviors.  The study showed that dietary cravings can lead to binge eating, especially for young adults, which can lead to feelings of depression, stress, lack of control, and ironically even weight gain.  

Binge eating increases body mass, and this study helps support the importance of avoiding restrictive diets like LCDs for the purpose of weight loss.  This style of eating may not help people be successful and may even work against their goals.

“Low-carb diets are continuously presented as a way for people to jumpstart their weight loss journey, while demonizing nutrient sense and culturally important carbohydrates like white rice,” said Cameron Jacobs, USA Rice vice president of domestic promotion.  “In reality, LCDs can be very restrictive, and trying to adhere too closely to this style of eating can trigger negative emotions such as the dietary cravings demonstrated in this study.”

The drive for diets to categorize certain foods as unhealthy or forbidden can lead to unnecessary avoidances of well-documented healthy foods and staple ingredients, such as white rice.  Not only is white rice a healthy, familiar, and appealing food, but it is almost always paired with other healthy foods as a vehicle to help people get essential nutrients, such as vegetables or proteins.  Brazil itself is known for its deliciously healthy rice meals such as galinhada, a rice and chicken stew, and feijoada, a hearty black bean stew with rice, pork, and beef.

“This research demonstrates that rice is more than just a carbohydrate and should not be categorized in a generalized, overly vague food category,” Jacobs explained.  “This study adds to decades of research demonstrating that staple foods like rice can help people continue their cultural eating patterns while still achieving a healthy diet.”

Published Date: November 5, 2025