arsenic in... RICE ?

donyellemoniquex3
donyellemoniquex3 Posts: 2,384 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I just heard on the news that rice has "worrisome" levels of arsenic in both brown AND white rice...

Kinda scary to me.
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Replies

  • lilmissymoo90
    lilmissymoo90 Posts: 324 Member
    all rice!? i dnt eat rice .. but my 18 month old baba does!
  • donyellemoniquex3
    donyellemoniquex3 Posts: 2,384 Member
    all rice!? i dnt eat rice .. but my 18 month old baba does!

    I believe so...
  • brianblinn
    brianblinn Posts: 70 Member
    FYI... :sad:

    http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/19/report-worrisome-levels-of-arsenic-in-rice/
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    Unfortunately both white and brown rice has traces of arsenic (brown rice in fact has more because it retains the husk).

    That is why it is recommended that you rinse rice before cooking and cook with a high volume of water to rice in order to lower the content. In addition, rice which hasn't been manufactured in the West has a less.

    There is no concrete evidence to suggest that eating rice is harmful despite this but there is certainly an argument that it needs to be monitored.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    I saw a similar article that stated the "high" levels found are one and a half times the drinking water standard (or 15 ppb)...

    It's usually assumed that someone consumes about 2 L from tapwater and the drinking water standard is 10 ppb.

    So it would take 1.5 L of rice would exceed what's allowable in your drinking water (and the standard dropped from 50 ppb not too long ago fwiw).

    1.5 L is a ****load of rice.

    There's arsenic in a lot of foods we eat...organic or not.

    If that's all they got, I ain't skeerd.
  • derekj222
    derekj222 Posts: 370 Member
    Everything has some bad chemical in it for us, I just don't care anymore. We've been eating these foods with pesticides for years and years and there is no linkage between that and any medical defects so far. Organic stuff is over hyped and people freak out too much. Don't each 10 cups of rice tonight!
  • _VoV
    _VoV Posts: 1,494 Member
    This is a little scary to me too. Fortunately, I don't use rice milk or cereals, so it's the straight on brown rice that's a problem for me. I'm going to look into varying the grains I eat: quinoa, barley, wheat berries. And I'm also following the recommendation to rinse the rice well before cooking it.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    freaked me out too.

    pesticides
    http://news.yahoo.com/does-arsenic-rice-221506437.html
  • peuglow
    peuglow Posts: 684 Member
    You guys know that arsenic is found naturally in foods, right? Right? And to have any negative effects would be next to impossible, right? Right?

    :grumble:
  • BlissfulYoga
    BlissfulYoga Posts: 88 Member
    Lundberg's CEO says they now do regular arsenic testing on their products and continuously researching this issue! Good to know :)
  • Sarahbara76
    Sarahbara76 Posts: 601 Member
    I can't eat wheat so I eat rice a couple times a week and corn pasta sometimes too..not stopping anytime soon..
  • Sarahbara76
    Sarahbara76 Posts: 601 Member
    You guys know that arsenic is found naturally in foods, right? Right? And to have any negative effects would be next to impossible, right? Right?

    :grumble:

    thank you!!
  • _VoV
    _VoV Posts: 1,494 Member
    You guys know that arsenic is found naturally in foods, right? Right? And to have any negative effects would be next to impossible, right? Right?

    :grumble:

    Yes, but the report I saw last night said these were not trace amounts. Apparently, it's 'moderate' to 'moderately high' amounts. The wording certainly got my attention.
  • BlissfulYoga
    BlissfulYoga Posts: 88 Member
    http://www.lundberg.com/info/Arsenic.aspx
  • Sarahbara76
    Sarahbara76 Posts: 601 Member
    I have been eating a lot more rice in the last few years and my health has improved..less pain and suffering so unless I am bypassing the 'moderately high' amounts then it must not be hurting me any...just saying
  • africaa
    africaa Posts: 228
    Yeah I saw that on the news yesterday....Rice is all my family eats so that's kind of scary.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Yes, that is true. Actually I read that brown rice is higher than white. Brown rice syrup apparently may have dangerous levels.
  • TexasTroy
    TexasTroy Posts: 477 Member
    I wouldnt worry about it....I have eaten so much rice in my time- in my bodybuilding days I would eat 8-10 cups of rice a day and did that for 20 plus years.
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
    EVEN WORSE it has AR$E in :laugh:
  • peuglow
    peuglow Posts: 684 Member
    You guys know that arsenic is found naturally in foods, right? Right? And to have any negative effects would be next to impossible, right? Right?

    :grumble:

    Yes, but the report I saw last night said these were not trace amounts. Apparently, it's 'moderate' to 'moderately high' amounts. The wording certainly got my attention.
    How is that graded? Relatively? If this was a danger, 98% of China would have dropped dead. Assuming you are new to fitness/learning about food, my best advice is DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

    Because 99% of the time it's misleading and/or incorrect.
  • TexasTroy
    TexasTroy Posts: 477 Member
    WOW, I just did that math on that...an average of 8 cups of rice a day for 20 years is 58, 400 cups of rice...damn, I kept the rice business , in business, lmao.
  • dwtouch4
    dwtouch4 Posts: 98
    Don't rely on the news for health information. The news media is not a scientific research outlet and they have no qualms about doing shoddy reporting in the name of making a story more interesting.

    A peer reviewed medical journal is the best source of information.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    You guys know that arsenic is found naturally in foods, right? Right? And to have any negative effects would be next to impossible, right? Right?

    :grumble:

    Yes, but the report I saw last night said these were not trace amounts. Apparently, it's 'moderate' to 'moderately high' amounts. The wording certainly got my attention.

    How is that graded? Relatively? If this was a danger, 98% of China would have dropped dead. Assuming you are new to fitness/learning about food, my best advice is DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

    Because 99% of the time it's misleading and/or incorrect.

    Apparently US rice carries "1.5-5x more arsenic than rice from Europe, India, and Bangladesh", because of 1) rice growing conditions (lots of water), 2) the persistence of arsenic from 80s cotton growing, and 3) large scale poultry farming (chicken poop)

    http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/waiter-theres-arsenic-my-rice

    It's true that sensationalism usually wins out over fact in news, but it's worth at least looking into the actual story before coming to a conclusion.
  • elenathegreat
    elenathegreat Posts: 3,988 Member
    Pretty much if Dr Oz says it's bad for you, it's bullcrap. If he says it's good for you, you can bet he's getting paid to do so...this is just the latest hype---remember apple juice?
  • Sarahbara76
    Sarahbara76 Posts: 601 Member
    You can build a tolerance to arsenic in small doses overtime (so now nobody can kill you with it ) by just eating rice now huh? :laugh: :noway: duly noted ***off to eat some rice***
  • Kikilicious84
    Kikilicious84 Posts: 312
    You guys know that arsenic is found naturally in foods, right? Right? And to have any negative effects would be next to impossible, right? Right?

    :grumble:

    Yes, but the report I saw last night said these were not trace amounts. Apparently, it's 'moderate' to 'moderately high' amounts. The wording certainly got my attention.
    How is that graded? Relatively? If this was a danger, 98% of China would have dropped dead. Assuming you are new to fitness/learning about food, my best advice is DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

    Because 99% of the time it's misleading and/or incorrect.


    LOL
  • Penfoldsplace
    Penfoldsplace Posts: 159
    You would have to eat an impossible amount of rice for this to effect you, sounds like media scaremongering.

    It's all about dosage. I think there are many things in most foods that are bad for us at very high amounts. I mean chocolate contains theobromine which can be poisonous but you would have to eat a shed load of it.
  • _VoV
    _VoV Posts: 1,494 Member
    You guys know that arsenic is found naturally in foods, right? Right? And to have any negative effects would be next to impossible, right? Right?

    :grumble:

    Yes, but the report I saw last night said these were not trace amounts. Apparently, it's 'moderate' to 'moderately high' amounts. The wording certainly got my attention.

    How is that graded? Relatively? If this was a danger, 98% of China would have dropped dead. Assuming you are new to fitness/learning about food, my best advice is DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

    Because 99% of the time it's misleading and/or incorrect.

    Apparently US rice carries "1.5-5x more arsenic than rice from Europe, India, and Bangladesh", because of 1) rice growing conditions (lots of water), 2) the persistence of arsenic from 80s cotton growing, and 3) large scale poultry farming (chicken poop)

    http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/waiter-theres-arsenic-my-rice

    It's true that sensationalism usually wins out over fact in news, but it's worth at least looking into the actual story before coming to a conclusion.

    Exactly. I plan to dig up the original research, but this story is the impetus for me digging deeper into it.

    I worked as a medical information specialist for over 20 years, so I am not inclined to 'believe the hype.' And as for being new to fitness, I've been an avid reader of primary research in health and fitness since the 1970's.
  • Jersey_Devil
    Jersey_Devil Posts: 4,142 Member
    i saw this on the news yesterday. it was a big headline and then the story was a lot to do about nothing.
  • peuglow
    peuglow Posts: 684 Member
    You guys know that arsenic is found naturally in foods, right? Right? And to have any negative effects would be next to impossible, right? Right?

    :grumble:

    Yes, but the report I saw last night said these were not trace amounts. Apparently, it's 'moderate' to 'moderately high' amounts. The wording certainly got my attention.

    How is that graded? Relatively? If this was a danger, 98% of China would have dropped dead. Assuming you are new to fitness/learning about food, my best advice is DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

    Because 99% of the time it's misleading and/or incorrect.

    Apparently US rice carries "1.5-5x more arsenic than rice from Europe, India, and Bangladesh", because of 1) rice growing conditions (lots of water), 2) the persistence of arsenic from 80s cotton growing, and 3) large scale poultry farming (chicken poop)

    http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/waiter-theres-arsenic-my-rice

    It's true that sensationalism usually wins out over fact in news, but it's worth at least looking into the actual story before coming to a conclusion.

    I did look into it. Just because I'm not citing an internet reference doesn't mean I didn't do some homework.

    I didn't see anything stating the levels are dangerous and/or deadly. Yes, aresenic is a carcinogen, but so is nearly everything we come in contact with. Levels are are elevated. I see no need to panic, although your link does say to limit your intake (not specifying dry/cooked btw)

    I'm just saying take everything you read with a grain of salt. (Not literally, because salt ... nevermind)

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