Rice, refined carbohydrates raise risk of liver disease

Higher intakes of total refined carbohydrate and rice appear to increase the risk of developing metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), but consumption of wheat, coarse grains, and yams may mitigate such threat, suggests a study.

A total of 12,134 participants were included in the analysis, with 4,447 incident MASLD cases over a median follow-up period of 4.32 years.

Total refined carbohydrate intake positively correlated with MASLD incidence (11+ vs 0 to <4 servings per day: hazard ratio [HR], 1.51, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.20‒1.89; HR per serving per day increase, 1.04, 95 percent CI, 1.01‒1.06). Rice intake also contributed to MASLD development (10+ vs 0 to <4 servings per day: HR, 1.43, 95 percent CI, 1.18‒1.74).

By contrast, wheat (HR, 0.78, 95 percent CI, 0.70‒0.86), coarse grains (HR, 0.86, 95 percent CI, 0.78‒0.94), and yams (HR, 0.78, 95 percent CI, 0.67‒0.90) inversely correlated with MASLD incidence. When stratified by sex, these associations remained significant in women but not in men.

Notably, replacing 1 serving of rice per day with wheat (HR, 0.92, 95 percent CI, 0.88‒0.97) or coarse grain (HR, 0.94, 95 percent CI, 0.91‒0.97) mitigated the risk of MASLD. Furthermore, low rice pattern score showed a negative association with MASLD (Q4 vs Q1: HR, 0.78, 95 percent CI, 0.71‒0.86).

“These results underscored the significance of dietary patterns in preventing MASLD,” the authors said.

This prospective cohort study was conducted among Chinese adults from Shanghai Suburban Adul Cohort and Biobank. The authors explored the relationships between different carbohydrate foods and MASLD risk and assessed dietary intake using a validated food frequency questionnaire. MASLD in participants was diagnosed using B-mode ultrasound with evaluation of cardiometabolic risk factors.