Does Korean diet based on brown rice really have the effect on treating chronic diseases and on suspending drug use?

Abstract

Background and objective: According to several interventional studies, intake of vegetarian diets reduced blood pressure (BP) and has association with glycemic control. However, there were no studies verifying the improvement of diseases through diet alone under the supervision of medical staff after dietary prescriptions for patients who are hospitalized for a certain period of time. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of a thorough Korean diet intervention based on brown rice on BP and glycemic control for Korean patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes through hospitalizing patients. Methods: Changes in BP, blood glucose, and drug usage were investigated, and the dietary prescriptions were also analyzed by investigating the medical records of 160 patients diagnosed with hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Results: An average of about 3.5 treatments per day for hypertension and diabetes was given to a total of 160 patients when they were hospitalized, and the percentage of patients who were able to stop treatments for hypertension and diabetes after hospitalization was 86.2% (n = 138). It took an average of 12.9 ± 15.6 days to stop taking medications. BP in these patients was significantly reduced (p < 0.001), and the reduced levels remained stable even after the suspension of medications. Glycemic control after diets has decreased without increasing it again since the medication was stopped. The HbA1c level was significantly reduced from 7.6 ± 1.35% to 7.2 ± 1.02% (p < 0.001) when they were hospitalized compared with the time when they were discharged from the hospital. Conclusion: The BP and blood glucose levels along with blood lipids were reduced owing to the strict dietary interventions. In addition, the vegetarian dietary intervention was as powerful and effective as drug treatments in maintaining blood glucose and BP levels even when patients stopped taking the medication. Keywords: Blood glucose, Brown rice, Hypertension, Hypertensive, Korean diet, Type 2 diabetes