Many cultures depend on rice as the primary dietary mainstay, which might make us think it is perfectly fine for us to eat in large quantities– especially, for instance, if it is brown. Is it?
All rice contains arsenic to some degree – and arsenic is toxic. There are some steps you can take to mitigate your exposure to arsenic.
What is arsenic? It’s both a naturally occurring element found in soil, water and air and also the result of manmade choices from pesticides and chicken fertilizer and some forms of mining. There are also two types: organic and inorganic; the most dangerous for our health is inorganic arsenic – a carcinogen. It is absorbed by plants as they grow and rice plants generally absorb a lot more than any other food crop (because the rice fields are flooded with water).
In a 2015 article, Consumer Reports noted that one serving of rice pasta, rice cereal, rice milk or rice cakes could put a child at (or over) his maximum recommended intake for a week. So too much rice isn’t very good for anyone. According to a 2017 article in Healthline.org, “the toxic symptoms of dietary arsenic usually take a long time to develop. Long-term ingestion may increase the risk of various health problems, including cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and decreased intelligence.”
As frightening as that might sound, there are workarounds and options: Choose the type of rice and its source carefully and then cook it, like pasta, to minimize the arsenic and then refrigerate or freeze it for maximum nutritional benefit. And then expand your repertoire of grains to include safer ones.
Types of Rice:
According to CR, brown rice has 85% more inorganic arsenic than white rice – but far more nutrients because the bran is still intact. White Basmati or Jasmine rice from California, India, and Pakistan (and US sushi rice) are the lowest in arsenic and all types of rice from Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana are among the highest. California white rices have 38% less arsenic than rices from other parts of the US. (BTW: Organic rice absorbs arsenic the same way conventional rice does so that is not helpful in this situation. However, the nutrients in white rice are literally sprayed on, but the nutrients in brown rice are still safely inside the grain – so washing or soaking white rice will remove whatever had been added. But the majority of the nutrients in brown rice will stay intact though rinsing, washing soaking and boiling.)
So, bottom line, perhaps brown Basmati rice from California, India or Pakistan, with a third less arsenic than other brown rices, might be the best place to start. That is what we eat. Along with many other grains with lower levels or arsenic: gluten-free amaranth, buckwheat, millet, polenta/grits, as well as bulgur, barley, and farro (which contain gluten) all have very little arsenic.
What is the solution?
How can we prepare rice to reduce its arsenic content while maintaining as much nutrition as possible – and not eliminate it totally from our diet? Our compromise has been to continue to occasionally eat California or Indian Basmati or Jasmine brown rice but to cook it as one would pasta in large batches and freeze it. Note: We make this a project every month or so. We start with three cups of rice, rinse it thoroughly and then soak it over night – changing the water a few more times. Then we cook it like pasta in a large pot with (10:1) 6-7 quarts of boiling water. Unlike the leave-it-and-forget-it rice cookers, this requires watching. The rice will cook much more quickly because it’s been soaked but the amount of time is variable depending on the length of soak and the type of rice. Start checking at 15 minutes, and then every few minutes thereafter. Once the grains are tender (check about 5 to be sure), drain the rice in a colander and then dump it out onto a couple large sheet pans and spread it out. This will let it cool much more quickly (so it doesn’t overcook) and minimize the time it is unrefrigerated (rice should probably not sit out for more than two hours or bacteria will begin to multiply). Then we pack the cooled rice in one and two cup portions (I use plastic BPA-free freezer bags – not ideal but easy), flatten them, freeze them and then stack them like file folders in the freezer.
Reheating is quick and simple. Just break up the frozen block a little bit and then microwave until heated through.
Various resources say washing/soaking will remove 10-28% of the arsenic and cooking in large quantities of very clean water will remove 30-57% of the arsenic. Also a small added bennie. By freezing or refrigerating the rice, you increase its resistant starch – so it acts like fiber, becoming a prebiotic that provides good food for the good bacteria in your intestines.
UPDATE: Here’s a quote from a 12/15/20 article on NutritionFacts.org: “Cooking brown rice in large amounts of excess water reduces the [toxic arsenic] by almost 60% and only reduces the [iron] content by 5%,” but does reduce “the vitamin content of brown rice by about half.” A quick rinse of brown rice before you cook it doesn’t lower arsenic levels, but boiling it instead of cooking to dry, and draining off the excess water drops arsenic levels 40%. That was using like six parts water to one part rice. What if you use even more water, boiling at 10:1 water to rice? A 60% drop in arsenic levels.”