Could Brown Rice Kill You?
Drop that brown rice sushi roll!
I never thought I’d be saying this, but brown rice may actually be detrimental to your health.
Longtime readers know that I would normally be the last person to criticize this popular grain — my blog logo used to be a piece of brown rice sushi for goodness sake — but I’ve recently stumbled upon some extremely disturbing news that has completely changed my outlook on this food that was once so dear to my heart.
Brown rice has the highest arsenic content of any food.
You’ve probably heard of arsenic — the odorless, colorless substance notoriously used as a silent poison. What you may not know is arsenic is a naturally occurring element found in things like soil and water. It’s a known carcinogen and while large amounts will cause acute poisoning, exposure to even very tiny amounts (100 parts per billion in water) has been linked to skin cancer, bladder cancer and a heightened susceptibility to disease.
The FDA limits the amount of arsenic in our drinking water to 10 ppb. However, there is no current limit for the amount of arsenic in food and there is no requirement for companies to label or disclose the arsenic content in their products.
Back to the brown rice…
Last week, my biology professor had us read a very eye-opening article. In 2012, a team of Dartmouth scientists released the results of a shocking study showing the arsenic content in brown rice and products containing brown rice derivatives like brown rice syrup. They found that most of the products had levels of arsenic significantly higher than the allowable 10 ppb for water, with brown rice syrup leading the pack at 400 ppb.
The scariest part was what brown rice syrup was frequently found in: organic baby food.
Arsenic damages chromosomes, causing mutations, which would explain it’s link to cancer. This is particularly dangerous for babies whose bodies and brains are still growing.
So why brown rice you ask?
According to the article, “Rice is particularly prone to accumulating arsenic because it confuses two forms of inorganic arsenic — arsenite and arsenate — with silicon and phosphorous compounds that are essential for the plant’s structural integrity and health.”
The arsenic accumulates in the outer layer of the grain, which is why brown rice has more arsenic than white rice. With white rice, this outer layer is stripped during processing.
After reading this article I was scared — and angry. I’ve been eating a surplus of brown rice products lately as a part of my Elimination Diet and I’ve regarded brown rice as a healthy, superior choice to other varieties for years. Why was I just hearing about this? Why isn’t the government doing anything about?
Apparently it takes a long time to get new regulations approved. Though this information came out in 2012, the FDA is still investigating the topic and reportedly working with scientists to determine possible limits for arsenic content in rice. In 2013, they implemented regulations for apple juice at 10 ppb, the same as for water.
The USA Rice Federation released this statement: “Studies show that including white or brown rice in the diet provides measurable health benefits that outweigh the potential risks associated with exposure to trace levels of arsenic.”
Consumer Reports disagrees. They’ve released a new 7-Point Scale to help people limit their exposure to arsenic.
It ranks products from 1-7 by their arsenic content and encourages people to keep their intake below 7 points a week. Children and adults are assigned different points per product. For a child, one serving of rice pasta would set them above this limit. For an adult, one serving of brown rice would take up half your week’s allotted intake.
So what should you do?
Personally, I’m going to avoid brown rice until I learn more. It’s unfortunate, as I love it, and it has so many other health benefits. However, some people claim these benefits are negated by rice’s content of “anti-nutrients” – but that’s an argument to investigate another day.
A less severe option is to avoid brown rice that is grown in southern states like Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, where arsenic content in the soil is high from years of its use in pesticides. You can also try other rice-like, wheat-free grains like quinoa or buckwheat.
Avoiding brown rice syrup is another good idea. It’s found in many “health foods” like CLIF Bars (which I’ve already told you are full of junk anyway), so be sure to read nutrition labels.
The good news – I no longer have to search out sushi restaurants that serve brown rice. White rice only ranks at 1 1/2 points per week. My friends who found my sushi demands insane will be so pleased.
Weigh In: Have you heard about arsenic in brown rice before? Are you concerned?
Try these rice-free recipes:
Cauliflower “Fried Rice” with Shrimp
Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers
Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment says:
I have heard about it, and while I should probably research it more my solution has to been to buy a quality brand of organic brown rice. Organic items are typically more regulated than regular ones.
Whitney English says:
Usually that would be a great option, but unfortunately arsenic isn’t monitored or regulated in any food products, organic or otherwise. That’s the scary part! And the research showed that the highest amounts were actually found in several organic brown rice products. Eek!
Giselle says:
I read about this when my son (now 3 1/2) was just a few months old and about to start solid foods. Everyone was pushing brown rice cereal and rice formula and at that time I remember reading it was the highest in infant formula! So scary! So we haven’t eaten it by itself since then. Too dangerous for me!
Whitney English says:
I agree! Glad you found out early and were able to protect your son!
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West says:
Well I had to click on this one. I’m always on the hunt for good brown-rice sushi, and eat brown rice with my meals at least once a week outside of that. I definitely will take this into account, and I hope you update us as you learn more. Thanks for sharing the research, Whit!
Whitney English says:
I knew that headline would get people’s attention! I usually don’t use scare tactics to attract readers but in this case I truly felt the topic warranted it. I was shocked that I only learned about this recently despite the fact that the info has been out for two years. Glad to bring it to your attention!
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner says:
Wow that’s disturbing to say the least. I also eat a lot of brown rice. I had heard of this a few years back but I thought it was discredited. Something to think about for sure. Thanks for sharing
Whitney English says:
I know! I was very troubled to learn about it. Unfortunately it hasn’t been discredited but hopefully with ongoing research efforts between scientists and the FDA we’ll get to a place where the problem can be remedied through awareness and regulation.
Suzanne Gibson says:
I had never heard this, Whitney, so thanks for the heads up. I have always mixed white and brown rice together before cooking. Guess that will change.
Whitney English says:
At least mixing the two takes down your exposure a little!
Bethann Wagner says:
I’ve never heard this! I, like you, am (slash was?) a HUGE brown rice fan until reading this. I seriously thought brown rice was a perfect grain. Thanks for sharing. Quinoa for me going forward.
Whitney English says:
I know, so upsetting. I thought it was perfect too!
I was floored when I heard this – especially when I found out that there is a ton of info about it, but for some reason it’s not really being talked about in the healthy living community. So bizarre. Hopefully we can get the word out and get things changed. We’ve managed to clone animals, you’d think we could come up with arsenic-free rice!
Briana Sullivan says:
Thank you for sharing this Whitney. Very informative and scary! I use a brown rice based protein powder frequently so I’m glad I came across this. Do you use any sort of protein powder and if so can you provide any recommendations on a type/brand I could switch to?
Whitney English says:
I noticed that many vegan protein powders use brown rice and that’s unfortunate. Are you vegan? If not, I would recommend trying a Whey or Egg Protein like Jay Robb’s Egg White Protein Powder or Reserveage Grass-Fed Whey Protein. Hope this helps!
Krissy @ Pretty Wee Things says:
This is so terrifying, particularly because rice-based products are a staple in my diet. I eat rice crackers, cakes and rice-based cereals like they are the only food on earth. Here I am even buying rice cakes from the health food section thinking they are the healthiest option. Wow, what an eye opener, and even more scary that this is not public knowledge.
Thanks so much for sharing, sure is making a plant-based minimally processed diet all the more appealing!
Whitney English says:
I know – it’s crazy how many products have rice or rice-based components. So glad you found this article enlightening. Good luck on working toward a more plant-based minimally processed diet. I know how hard it can be!
Erica says:
Man, this is very good to know, i can’t help but be super disappointed though… I have eradicated all wheat and most grains, I’m not quite sure where to get my carbs now if not from brown rice, I suppose i could ONLY eat quinoa, any suggsetions?
Herman Suhirman says:
Hi Whitney,
Without wanting to sound too much like an infomercial…
We have a family rice farm on the island of Mauritius, growing a low glycemic index rice (http://goo.gl/d8YGwO) we call ‘Mighty Rice’.
Mighty Rice is Non-GMO Project Verified (http://goo.gl/MtM7uL) and having come across news in the US of Consumer Reports finding high levels of arsenic in rice, we sent samples of rice to Dartmouth who are leading the studies in the US on the issue. Mighty Rice tested as having undetectable arsenic, below the reporting limit (< 2 pbb). To put this is context, the legal limit of arsenic in drinking water in the US is 10 ppb. Our result can be seen here: http://goo.gl/DccYgY.
We grow Mighty Rice on land that has never undergone intensive cultivation in the past, sparing it from any arsenate chemical usage in the past. Flood irrigation, as most of the world’s rice is grown, encourages the release of arsenic from the soil which is then readily available for absorption by the rice plant. For this reason Mighty Rice is grown on dry land depending solely on rainfall to irrigate the crop.
Many people do not realise that to produce 1 lb. of rice on traditional flood irrigated fields consumes approximately 300 gallons of water. By growing on dry land and not tapping our ground water source, we currently save over 750 million gallons of water per year (enough water to fill 1,200 Olympic swimming pools).
Whitney English says:
Very interesting Herman! Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve been missing my brown rice! Will have to go pick up a bag of Mighty Rice.
Jodie says:
WOW gob smacked!! So pleased I found this link (shared it to my facebook too) I am sick to death of all the coverups in our food, it’s any wonder we’re dropping like flies from cancer & other digestive ailments…purely from all the poisons we’re eating & even those people that try their upmost best to eating heathly “good” food are having the wool pulled over their eyes. Disgraceful :(
thank you Whitney for enlightening me.
Whitney English says:
You’re welcome Jodi! Happy to help shed light on overlooked issues like this one.
Kelli says:
Hi Whitney! Do you recommend a rice brand? Thank you!