Arsenic in Your Rice?! Here’s Help

WELLNESS--Rice has been found to be high in arsenic. Arsenic is a chemical element comes in organic and inorganic, and the highly toxic inorganic is the type that is found in rice.  The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) ranks it as one of more than 100 substances that are Group 1 carcinogens. It is known to cause prostate, kidney, liver, skin, bladder and lung cancer in humans. Arsenic is a metalloid and it is not water soluble meaning your body does not quickly flush it out.  

While the FDA has reported that the arsenic levels are too low to cause immediate or short-term concern, they are still deciding on how to assess long term risk. We know that while the FDA was created to protect us from harmful food and drugs there have been times in the past when they fell short. Drugs like Accutane that was legal for 27 years before finally being removed from the shelves did much damage to peoples livers.  

Then of course we had darvocet legal for over 50 years that reportedly killed over 2000 people.  The list of dangerous drugs approved goes on and on and is a reminder that the protection we hope to get from our government is not always there. It is best to do our own research.  

Regarding arsenic we may be better off going with the consumer Reports and other non-government studies to get our information.   

Part of the reason there is Arsenic in rice is because there are higher levels of arsenic in the flood like climate that rice thrives in. Another reason is the pesticides that were used to feed livestock and keep insects off of contained arsenic as well. These arsenic containing compounds have been greatly reduced, but in the 20’s and 30’s over 30 million pounds of arsenic was used as pesticides for produce.  

It was not until the 1980’s that these pesticides and herbicides were finally banned in the US for produce and food; but arsenic containing pesticides are still used for cotton today. The problem with this is the earth is an echo-system. You can’t spray poison on a part of it, in this case cotton fields, without affecting the whole. 

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There are a few ways to avoid getting too much Arsenic in your rice.  For starters, it’s helpful to know where the rice is coming from and what type of rice it is. Brown rice holds about 80% more arsenic than white rice because the outer layer of bran on each brown rice grain. 

The least amount of arsenic is held in white sushi rice and basmati rice. Rice coming from Texas has been shown to have the highest levels of arsenic, and California rice has the least due to less flooding. Finally, how one prepares the rice will also have an effect on the arsenic levels. 

It is best to rinse thoroughly before cooking the rice, and studies show that if you use more water than necessary to cook the rice and then near the end of the cooking process pour that extra water off the top, you will be pouring off some extra arsenic that is pulled from the grain and into the water when preparing the rice.  

Happy eating!  Stay well!

 

(Christian Cristiano is an acupuncturist in LA, TV host of Wellness for Realists and writes on wellness regularly for CityWatch. Christian can be reached at 323.935.3420. twitter: @CristianoWFR)

-cw 

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 71

Pub: Aug 31, 2015