Arsenic and Rice
Psalm 104:14-15
King James Version (KJV)
14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth.
The first thing my grandmother would do when she began to prepare either dinner or supper was to put on a pot of white rice. It didn't matter what else was on the menu, potatoes or macaroni and cheese, rice would still appear in a large bowl on the table. Daddy Mac, my grandfather, called it swamp seed and said Nanoo served it so much because she grew up in the Louisiana bayous.
My mom didn't prepare rice as often but it still served as a mainstay several times each week. And I remember, hog stirred in rice as one of her best dishes.
My life as a wife and mother began in the early 1970's and I felt so superior to my Nanoo and mom because I didn't cook white rice; I would only serve organic brown rice to my family. Jenny Wren, Miss Molly, and Willie all ate brown rice as their first solid food. Brown rice was the only rice I wanted to serve my family because it was so nutritious and I looked down on those who didn't agree with me. (I don't think my grandmother ever ate brown rice but I converted my mom and lentils and rice became one of her new best dishes.)
Brown rice still provides excellent nutrition and is full of vitamins and minerals not found in white rice but these vitamins and minerals also include arsenic in a higher amount. The vitamins and minerals are found in the bran of the rice seed.
Also found in the bran, is the highest concentration of arsenic and when the bran is removed to make white rice the arsenic amount is reduced as well as the amount of vitamins and minerals. Rice is grown in watery fields, a fact that concerned me as I observed the miles of rice fields found throughout Arkansas. These fields are flooded in order to grow the GMO rice they produce and the water loving rice plants absorb chemicals from the groundwater. Could it be the arsenic containing pesticides used until the 1980's are still within the soil? It's also been determined that white rice produced in the south-central U.S. -- in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas -- has higher levels of arsenic than similar products from California, Thailand and India. Except for southern Louisiana, I again wonder if rice is meant to grow in these areas or if GMO and excessive water usage is producing the crop. I discovered in researching this question that some investigators have suggested that arsenic in rice from the cotton belt region is attributable to past use of arsenic-containing pesticides to control boll weevils.
Organic brown rice may not be the best choice but I still plan on having it on my table in a large bowl but I also plan on changing the rice I purchase and the way I prepare it.
The first thing my grandmother would do when she began to prepare either dinner or supper was to put on a pot of white rice. It didn't matter what else was on the menu, potatoes or macaroni and cheese, rice would still appear in a large bowl on the table. Daddy Mac, my grandfather, called it swamp seed and said Nanoo served it so much because she grew up in the Louisiana bayous.
My mom didn't prepare rice as often but it still served as a mainstay several times each week. And I remember, hog stirred in rice as one of her best dishes.
My life as a wife and mother began in the early 1970's and I felt so superior to my Nanoo and mom because I didn't cook white rice; I would only serve organic brown rice to my family. Jenny Wren, Miss Molly, and Willie all ate brown rice as their first solid food. Brown rice was the only rice I wanted to serve my family because it was so nutritious and I looked down on those who didn't agree with me. (I don't think my grandmother ever ate brown rice but I converted my mom and lentils and rice became one of her new best dishes.)
Brown rice still provides excellent nutrition and is full of vitamins and minerals not found in white rice but these vitamins and minerals also include arsenic in a higher amount. The vitamins and minerals are found in the bran of the rice seed.
Also found in the bran, is the highest concentration of arsenic and when the bran is removed to make white rice the arsenic amount is reduced as well as the amount of vitamins and minerals. Rice is grown in watery fields, a fact that concerned me as I observed the miles of rice fields found throughout Arkansas. These fields are flooded in order to grow the GMO rice they produce and the water loving rice plants absorb chemicals from the groundwater. Could it be the arsenic containing pesticides used until the 1980's are still within the soil? It's also been determined that white rice produced in the south-central U.S. -- in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas -- has higher levels of arsenic than similar products from California, Thailand and India. Except for southern Louisiana, I again wonder if rice is meant to grow in these areas or if GMO and excessive water usage is producing the crop. I discovered in researching this question that some investigators have suggested that arsenic in rice from the cotton belt region is attributable to past use of arsenic-containing pesticides to control boll weevils.
Organic brown rice may not be the best choice but I still plan on having it on my table in a large bowl but I also plan on changing the rice I purchase and the way I prepare it.
- Choose California. Of the domestic rices tested by Consumer Reports, California rices had lower levels of arsenic than those in other states.
- Rinse your rice thoroughly. The FDA cites several studies indicating that "thoroughly rinsing rice until the water is clear (four to six changes of water) reduced the total arsenic content by up to approximately 25-30 percent."
- Germinate your brown rice. This involves soaking washed brown rice for 20 hours in warm water (34 °C or 93 °F) prior to cooking it. This process stimulates germination, which activates various enzymes in the rice. By this method, it is possible to obtain a more complete amino acid profile, including GABA. Rinse germinated rice again.
- Cook and drain your rice. "We say to use about 6 parts water to 1 part rice," says Michael Hansen, a senior staff scientist at Consumer Reports. "And then drain off the water after it's done." The FDA says that studies show rinsing and cooking in excess water can reduce total arsenic levels by 50 to 60 percent. Use your rice cooker for other grains. Rice prepared in these cookers absorb the water and have a higher arsenic concentration.
- Limit brown rice consumption. From a nutritional and fiber standpoint, brown rice is tops, but because its bran remains intact it can also hold on to higher levels of arsenic.
- Choose aromatic rices. According to the hundreds of recently released test results, aromatic rice varieties show the lowest levels of inorganic arsenic. Imported basmati and jasmine rices showed about half to one-eighth the level of arsenic as regular rices grown in the Southern U.S.
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