Let’s get a reality check on the nutritional attributes of brown rice.
A listener worries that brown rice is “full of carcinogens.” What’s the truth about arsenic and brown rice and is it really a healthier option?
Nutrition Diva is hosted by Monica Reinagel. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
Mentioned in this episode:
Arsenic in Foods (Dartmouth University)
Nutrition Diva 612: Why you need more (not less) phytic acid
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I’m Monica Reinagel. Welcome to the Nutrition Diva podcast, where we take a closer look at nutrition trends and headlines, explain what the latest research means for you, and answer your dietary questions.
Alli wrote in this week:
“I was recently telling a friend, how much I preferred brown rice over white rice, both for its taste and nutritional value. She told me that she read somewhere that brown rice is full of carcinogens. Another friend told me he read that brown rice has arsenic in it. Is this true? Is white rice better for you now?”
Let’s all take a deep breath.
Yes, brown rice may contain arsenic. And yes, arsenic is classified as a carcinogen. That does not mean that eating brown rice once or twice a week will give you cancer. So if, like Alli, you much prefer brown rice, there’s no need to switch to white rice. On the other hand, if you actually prefer white rice, the nutritional differences may not be as big as you think.
Let’s start with the whole arsenic thing.
In larger amounts, of course, arsenic is a rather notorious poison. In fact, slipping a dose of arsenic into someone’s cup of mead or grog was a popular way of offing political rivals—back in the days of mead and grog. These days, we’re not as worried about an accidental or intentional overdose of arsenic. Rather, we worry about chronic exposure to levels that aren’t enough to make you feel sick right away but, over time, can cause serious health problems.
Almost all fruits and vegetables, meat, and fish contain trace amounts of arsenic—far too little to be of any concern. In fact, I was interested to learn that arsenic is actually an essential trace element—our bodies need these small amounts of arsenic in order to stay healthy and function properly.
Up until lately, contaminated well water was the primary concern and efforts have focused on rigorous testing of water supplies to ensure that arsenic levels did not exceed safe thresholds.
But certain plants—including rice—have a particular affinity for arsenic, absorbing and incorporating it more readily into their cells. If these crops are grown in soil or irrigated with water that is rich in arsenic—either because of natural deposits or human activities like farming, tanning, mining, or coal burning—they may contain significant amounts of arsenic, which can be further concentrated through processing.
Although some rice and rice-based foods have been found to be high in arsenic, we don’t know that much about how arsenic in foods might affect people over time and what safe thresholds might be. Simply evaluating foods by the standards set for drinking water may either over- or under-estimate the dangers.
Here’s why:
The safe threshold for arsenic in drinking water is 10 parts per billion. But that is calculated based on how much water you’re likely to drink, day in and day out. It wouldn’t make sense to apply the same threshold to a food that you eat once or twice a week.
On the other hand, the safe threshold for water assumes that drinking water is the only significant source of arsenic exposure. If we’re exposed to arsenic from a number of different sources, then we need to take our likely exposure from all sources into account when establishing safe thresholds for each individual source.
Scientists are scrambling to get a handle on all these issues so that they can put new guidelines and/or regulations into place. California—whose environmental safety standards are usually extremely conservative—considers a daily intake of up to 10 micrograms per day to pose little risk over a lifetime of exposure. The EPA’s recommendation is a bit higher. Either way, however, a daily serving of most rice products would not exceed those limits.
So I don’t think you need to eliminate brown rice from your diet. But here’s a few tips to minimize your risk of excessive arsenic exposure.
1. Rinsing rice thoroughly before you cook it can reduce arsenic levels by about third. I like to put the rice in a large bowl, fill it with water, and swish it around vigorously. The water usually gets cloudy. This is mostly starch that’s being released into the water—but that can also improve the texture of the cooked rice. After agitating it for 30 to 60 seconds, drain the rice in a sieve and rinse with more clear running water.
2. Cooking rice more like pasta can reduce levels by another third (assuming, of course, that the water you’re using to wash it isn’t high in arsenic). So instead of adding just enough water that all of it is absorbed during cooking, you can boil the rice in a larger pot of water until it’s tender and then drain it, as you would pasta.
3. The biggest concerns about arsenic in rice apply to cultures that eat rice with every meal. If rice is a big part of your diet, consider mixing it up a bit. Arsenic tends to concentrate in the outer hull (or bran) of the grain, which is polished away to make white rice. For that reason, white rice has significantly less arsenic than brown rice. But if you want to stick with whole grains, consider rotating in some alternates, such as amaranth, teff, farro, or quinoa. Likewise, if you avoid dairy products, you don’t have don’t rely exclusively on rice alternatives; try hemp, almond, soy, oat, or coconut milk.
4. Watch out for brown rice syrup. It takes a lot of brown rice to make a little bit of brown rice syrup. As a result, while the amount of arsenic in a serving of brown rice isn’t a big deal, the amount in a tablespoon of brown rice syrup may be enough to cause concern.
Ironically, brown rice is used in a lot of processed products aimed at the health-conscious consumer—everything from nondairy milk, yogurt, and cheese, to wheat-free bread, pasta, and cereal, to energy bars and drinks. If you eat a lot of these, take a look at the ingredient list—just to make that you’re not eating twelve different things a day that all have rice as the main ingredient. In particular, keep an eye on how much brown rice syrup you’re consuming.
5. I think the place we need to exercise the most caution is with what we’re feeding our kids. Children tend to be more sensitive to chemical exposure because they are still developing and have much smaller bodies. In addition, they often have less varied diets than adults so any given food may represent a fairly large proportion of their diet.
Perhaps the most alarming recent finding was high levels of arsenic in baby formulas sweetened with organic brown rice syrup. Babies usually consume formula as their primary or only food.
In 2020, the FDA issued a guidance stating that the level of arsenic in infant rice cereal should not exceed 100 parts per billion, in order to protect this vulnerable population. According to FDA testing, the majority of infant rice cereal currently on the market either meets, or is close to, those limits.
Obviously, this is a story that’s still unfolding. For those who want to learn more and stay up-to-date as more information comes to light, there are great resources available through Dartmouth University—and I’ll include a link to those in the show notes.
So much for the toxicity concerns relating to brown rice. But now, let’s get a reality check on the nutritional attributes.
Whole grains like brown rice are generally higher in fiber and certain other nutrients than their refined counterparts. But the nutritional differences between brown rice and white rice are not as dramatic as many people think.
Both have about the same number of calories—around 200 calories for 1 cup of cooked rice. Both brown and white rice are decent sources of thiamin and niacin. White rice is often enriched with iron and folate, although brown rice rarely is. Brown rice, on the other hand, has more magnesium and selenium. Perhaps the biggest difference is that brown rice has more fiber, with 4 grams per cup vs. just 1 gram for white rice.
That said, neither white nor brown rice is a very nutrient-dense food. (Nutrient density refers to how much nutritional value is provided per calorie.)
And although the added fiber means that the starches in brown rice are more slowly converted to blood sugar, both white and brown rice have a moderate glycemic impact. In terms of the effect on your blood sugar, the portion size plays a far bigger role than whether you choose white or brown rice.
But here's another comparison that may surprise you. A medium baked potato with the skin has just as much fiber, more vitamin C, B6, folate, and iron as a cup of brown rice. It also has fewer calories and carbohydrates, and a significantly lower glycemic impact. Make it a sweet potato and now you're really talking superfood: loaded with Vitamin A and C, plus fiber, minerals, and just half the calories and carbohydrates of brown rice!
I’m not saying you should stop eating rice. It's awfully hard to make a sushi roll with a baked potato! But with starchy foods like pasta, potatoes, and grains (even whole grains), it’s important to watch those portion sizes, and leave plenty of room on the plate for other nutritious foods, like colorful vegetables!
And one final concern from a listener, who writes:
“For years I've diligently chosen brown rice over white, believing it to be better because of its higher fiber and nutrient content. But lately, I've been hearing a lot about the ‘anti-nutrient’ qualities of brown rice… something about the phytic acid in it interfering with nutrient uptake. What’s your take?”
It is true that brown rice contains phytic acid, which can interfere with the absorption of certain minerals. As I talked about in my episode on phytic acid in grains, this is unlikely to lead to nutrient deficiencies unless you are eating large amounts of brown rice at every meal. (And given the concerns with arsenic, this is probably not a great idea anyway.) Furthermore, cooking deactivates much of the phytic acid. So, my take is that this is not something that you need to worry about.
This is Monica Reinagel, the Nutrition Diva. If you have a nutrition question you'd like me to answer, you can email me at nutrition@quickanddirtytips.com. You can also leave me a message at 443-961-6206.
If your question is more on the subject of habits and behavior change, please check out my other podcast, the Change Academy, where we talk about how to convert our good intentions into sustainable healthy habits. You’ll find it wherever you listen.
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Thanks for listening!
Arsenic in Foods (Dartmouth University)