Author: Victoria Aly
Time for reading: ~3
minutes
Last Updated:
February 12, 2026
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What a horrible irony for the fitness aware, who are trying to keep away from dairy, consume masses of whole foods, masses of brown rice—so much in order that they will now not handiest suffer some theoretical improved lifetime cancer chance, but clearly go through arsenic poisoning.
For instance, this negative woman. Bad enough she had celiac disease, so needed to keep away from wheat, barley, and rye, however became to a lot rice she ended up with sky-excessive arsenic stages, and a few ordinary signs:“diarrhea, headache, insomnia, loss of urge for food, abnormal flavor, and impaired quick-term reminiscence and attention.” So, we, as docs, have to maintain a watch out for it in people who consume masses of rice day within and day trip.
In their 2012 arsenic-in-rice exposé, Consumer Reports encouraged adults consume no more than an average of servings of rice a week, or three servings per week of rice cereal or rice pasta—although of their later analysis, it appeared like rice cereal and rice pasta had extra; so, they dropped their advice to like two servings every week.And, that’s if you’re no longer getting arsenic from different rice sources.
So, they got here up with this type of point machine, so human beings ought to upload up all their rice products for the week, and make sure they’re staying underneath seven factors a week, on common. So, if your only source of rice is just rice, then they propose no more than one or two servings, after which name it every week.But, I endorse 21 servings of entire grains every week in my Daily Dozen.
Well, get to realize quinoa, or buckwheat, or millet, or oatmeal, or barley, or any of the other dozen or so not unusual non-rice entire grains accessible. They tend to have “negligible degrees of [toxic arsenic].” Rice accumulates ten instances more arsenic than other grains, which allows explain why the arsenic stages in urine samples from individuals who consume rice have a tendency to continually be higher than folks who do no longer consume rice.The FDA currently tested a few dozen quinoa samples, and maximum had arsenic tiers beneath the extent of detection, or just trace quantities, inclusive of the red quinoas which can be my circle of relatives’s favored, which i was satisfied about—although there had been nonetheless a few that had been up round like half of that of rice.
But ordinary, quinoa averaged ten times much less arsenic than rice (the toxic arsenic). So, in place of servings every week, following the Consumer Reports recommendation, you may have 20.So, that’s strategy #1:
“Diversify the food plan” and “Consider alternatives to rice,” specially for infants. Then, we are able to “reduce publicity,…cook[ing] rice like pasta, with plenty of more water.” We discovered that ten-to-one water-to-rice seemed excellent, though the statistics advise the rinsing they recommend right here doesn’t seem to do tons.We can avoid “processed…foods sweetened with brown rice syrup.” Anything else we can do on the dining room desk even as expecting “[f]ederal agencies [to] establish [some] regulatory limits”?
What If You Eat A Lot Of Fiber-Containing Foods With Your Rice?
Might that assist bind some of the arsenic?Apparently, now not.
But the presence of fats did seem to have an impact—however within the wrong route, growing estimates of arsenic absorption, likely due to the extra bile we launch whilst we consume fatty meals. We recognise that the tannic acid in espresso, and mainly tea, can lessen iron absorption, which is why I advocate to no longer drink tea with meals.But hi there, may it additionally lower arsenic absorption?
Yes, by means of possibly 40 plus percentage. So, they endorse tannic acid might help.But, they used megadoses:
17 cups of tea worth, or that located within 34 cups of espresso; so, it isn’t actually practical.What do the experts recommend?
Well, whats up, “[a]rsenic ranges are lower in rice from sure areas, [like] California and elements of India.” So, why don’t we mixture some of that in with some of the better arsenic rice to even things out for each person? What?!Another wonky, wondering outdoor the ricebox, concept involves an algae found within the warm springs of Yellowstone National Park, with an enzyme which could volatize arsenic right into a gasoline.
Aha!