Nutritional Pearls: Should You Be Concerned About Arsenic in Rice?

Roseanne is a 35-year-old mother of 2 young children. During a routine check-up, she mentions that she has recently switched from cooking with white rice to brown rice, because of the health benefits.

She tells you that in her research before making the switch, she read several articles on the dangers of arsenic in brown rice, and asks if this is something she should be concerned about.

How do you advise your patient?

What is the correct answer?
(Answer and discussion on next page)

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Answer: While brown rice does contain more arsenic than white rice, the benefits of brown rice far outweigh the risks at the levels that most Americans consume it.

In May of last year I wrote an article entitled, "In Praise of Brown Rice," explaining that one of the few places I still use white rice is in risottos. A chef friend told me about brown arborio rice, and I tried it in one of my risotto dishes, finding that it does take a lot longer to cook, but you do still get the same creaminess of white arborio while getting the extra fiber and nutrients from brown rice.

Not long afterwards a reader asked, "Given that brown rice contains higher levels of arsenic than white, do you consider it safe?"
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The Research

A team of researchers at Harvard noted that chronic exposure to low levels of inorganic arsenic—the type readily absorbed from water by rice plants—has been linked to increased risk of vascular and cardiovascular diseases.¹ Through analyzing the data gathered through 3 long-term, large-scale studies that include both dietary information and health outcomes, they were able to assess the impact of arsenic intake from rice consumption on the risk of heart disease.

The 3 studies in question are well known: the Nurses' Health Study (including over 70,000 women), the Nurses' Healthy Study II (over 90,000 women), and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (over 40,000 men). Using the food frequency data gathered through all 3 studies, the researchers were able to assign scores for 9 increasing levels of white rice and brown rice intake, along with assessing the individual's overall diet (to estimate other dietary sources of arsenic). Further, they were able to use demographic data to link each participant with the amount of arsenic in the groundwater where they lived.

The researchers compared the rice consumption of study participants who experienced stroke, heart attack, or fatal coronary artery disease with that of those participants who did not, taking into account such variables as overall diet quality, sex, ethnicity, family history, body mass index, smoking status, and other risk factors.

The Results

They found that compared to those who ate less than 1 serving of brown rice per week, those who ate 5 or more servings of brown rice per week were only 1% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, 20% were more likely to develop coronary artery disease, and 39% more likely to have a stroke.

By contrast, those who ate 5 or more servings of any rice, white or brown, had their risks of any of the 3 illnesses, cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, or stroke, increase by no more than 4% and decrease by no more than 1%. None of these were considered statistically significant.

What’s the “Take Home”?

You can tell your patients not to panic and banish rice from their diet forever. Those increased numbers are for 5 or more servings of brown rice per week—an amount few Americans will match. Further, the amount of arsenic in a given plate of rice, brown or white, can vary considerably depending on where the rice was grown, how it was irrigated, and even how it is cooked.

Finally, the authors of this study noted after analyzing the overall diets of the participants that rice intake accounted for no more than 15% of the participants' total arsenic intake. In my opinion and that of the authors of this study, the benefits of brown rice far outweigh the risks at the levels that most Americans consume it. Your best bet, as with the risks associated with mercury in fish, is to consume a variety of grains and not limit yourself to just one.

Reference:

1. Muraki I, Wu H, Imamura F, et al. Rice consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: results from a pooled analysis of 3 U.S. cohorts. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;101:164-72.