Goa, July 11 -- Anezka Fonseca

Diabetes no longer seems to be a disease affecting the aged. It has become a silent epidemic claiming thousands of victims yearly, increasingly, the youth. A nationwide study by ICMR revealed an alarming statistic: over 26% of Goans over the age of 20 are diabetic, the highest in the country.

"When I first began my practice 40 years ago, we would usually see diabetes in people over 50," says Dr Rita Korgaonkar, a diabetologist based in Sangolda. "Now, I've had teens walk into my clinic with type 2 diabetes." Diabetes is essentially a disease related to how our body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose. It's high time we turned our attention to a carbohydrate-rich food no Goan can do without: rice.Underst...