Rice? Arsenic in Rice?

Wild Rice?

 

I think it's fair to say that most American households usually have some form of rice in their pantry. It's a staple around the world. It's usually white rice or brown rice, right?  Well actually they are the same rice, just processed differently.  White rice is stripped down brown rice.  The other forms of whole grain rice are black, red, and purple. There is also wild rice but we'll get to that later.

 

Seems to me, it's pretty universally accepted that arsenic is found in rice, any rice.  The question remains how much is acceptable to human health?  Similarly, the same questions are asked about organic or conventional. Or are GMOs an issue? I feel why take chances, especially with so many other great options. Due to the way rice grows from the ground, it's very efficient at absorbing arsenic from the soil.  Much of that arsenic is from chemicals and pesticides used for decades in cotton fields. White rice will often have less arsenic since the outer layers are stripped away where much of that arsenic will be.  However, white rice doesn't have all the nutrients that brown rice has, so where does that leave the consumer? Again, in a place of confusion. So what other options are there?

​

First you can avoid all rice and use other great, healthy whole grain options like quinoa, barley, sorghum, teff, millet, oats, spelt, etc. 

 

Second, just limit how often you eat rice and/or boil it in water with a higher water to rice ratio and you tend to take out much of the arsenic.  Also, keep in mind that rice from the US tends to be worse in levels than from other countries.  The southern US states tend to be the worst, CA tends to be better, and organic basmati tends to have the lowest levels.

 

The third option and what's become my favorite is to eat wild rice, which just so you know is not rice at all. It's not a grain either. It's an aquatic grass seed that was once a staple of native American cultures. So why am I so fond of it? First of all, it's delicious! It has lower chances of arsenic contamination.  The nutritional profile is great. It has double the protein and fiber as brown rice, along with many vitamins like B6, folate, magnesium, zinc, manganese, etc.  To top it all off, it's low in calories, and gluten free.  Seems to me like a win-win.

​

Before I wrap this up, there is a new-ish buzz term these days called resistant starch.  White rice is one of the suppliers of this type of healthy starch, along with plantains, green bananas, and some other whole grains. Similar to soluble fiber, it doesn't get digested in the small intestine and makes the journey to the large intestine.  Some studies have shown many health benefits to this type of starch. So we may hear more in the near future about white rice being potentially healthier than previously thought, due to this resistant starch. For me, for now, it's too new and I'm still limiting my intake.

​

Here are a couple links for more information on the arsenic issue in rice, and wild rice...

​

https://www.drfuhrman.com/elearning/eat-to-live-blog/59/arsenic-the-dark-side-of-rice

​

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arsenic-in-rice_n_589cc1ffe4b09bd304c0b04c

​

https://foodrevolution.org/blog/arsenic-in-rice/

​