Arsenic in rice? That is all that is on the news TV today. Do people listen to this information and believe it? I sure hope not. Yesterday it was arsenic in apple juice. Now to get the attention off of other subjects (like obesity from junk foods) lets find another healthy food and confuse the public even more. Please, please do not feed into the fear. Do not fall into this misdirecting of our attention trap. We live in a culture where we tell a story before we have all the facts. We live in a fear based culture where some of us have lost our common sense.

First let’s look at history. Brown rice has been eaten for thousands of years. It is the stable food for more than half the population on the planet. If these "supposed" high levels of arsenic were in rice, why have we not had a problem way, way, before this. They have reported high levels of arsenic can be a cause of some cancers (again feeding on our fears). Why then has our cancer epidemic only been happening in the last 50 to 60 years after the introduction of refined, processed, and chemically sprayed foods? Also genetically engineered foods (Maybe this hoopla has all come out to scare people to accepting some genetically engineered form of ‘arsenic resistant’ rice the big chemical companies are trying to get into our food chain.*) And to imply that rice consumption has anything to do with cancer is absurd! Brown rice is one of the most nutritional foods on the planet.

In Paul Pitchford’s book Healing With Whole Foods, there is a four page section that lists all the health benefits of brown rice from B vitamins to multiple antioxidant properties. Here is a direct quote from the book:

“Additional healing values of brown rice extracts for immune strengthening are being tested. One of the most potent compounds for stimulating NK (natural killer) cells in the body is polysaccharide composed of the hemicellulose-B extract from rice bran, which has been modified by enzymes of the shiitake mushroom. One NK cell can destroy up to 27 cancer cells, taking just a few minutes for each eradication. NK cells are also noted for overcoming dangerous viruses such as hepatitis C and HIV. This shiitake enzyme-modified rice bran extract (known as ‘MGN-3’ can increase NK cell activity from 100 to 500%. Such as increase in immune response has led to some remarkable effects on nearly all pathology indicators, including tumor reduction as well as remission of disease.”

If we are looking for a culprit for our cancer epidemic maybe we should look to chicken. The FDA admits that 98% of chicken consumed have cancer. If the flesh you are consuming has cancer, your flesh will develop cancer. And if you are looking for where we are getting high levels of arsenic, 75% of the chickens consumed have high levels of arsenic in them. The arsenic is in their food. Why is that not being discussed on the TV?

I have been eating a whole foods, healthy macrobiotic diet for 17 years. My diet is based around brown rice and brown rice products. I do have a wide variety of other whole grains in my diet. I use brown rice syrup as my main sweetener in my desserts. I drink rice milk because I prefer the taste to the other dairy free milks. You would think someone like me would be the person who would have the high levels of arsenic they are warning people about. I have no arsenic in my system. For the last 15 years I have done hair analysis to keep track of my health. The hair analysis tests for toxic substances such as arsenic. I have never and do not now, have arsenic in my system.

And did you know there are different types of arsenic? There is the organic type that is found in nature, and inorganic type that is from manmade chemicals. These chemicals are in the pesticides that have been sprayed on our crops. The chemical residue is now in the soil. Which is why the apple juices that had the highest levels of arsenic in them were from other countries that sprayed their crops more than we do. And the organic arsenic is found in some mineral supplements in small quantities because it occurs
naturally in soil.

I was glad to see Dr. Oz on ‘The View’ talking about this subject. He basically
said do not stop eating brown rice and that it is a important part of a healthy diet. He did say that you should include other grains as well, quinoa, millet, amaranth. And I was so happy to hear him correct the reporting that the white rice would be better because the arsenic was found in the outer hull of the brown rice. When asked if the white variety would be better, he said (to paraphrase), please, please do not think white rice is better than brown rice.
Please use our common sense. A nutrient dense food source that has been eaten for thousands of years with no problem can not be the cause of our epidemic of chronic diseases we are plagued with now.

“ The truth is observable.” Conversations With God, Neal Donald Walsch

These are my thoughts on..................... Val

*I have read the report in the November issue of Consumer Report magazine. As I suspected in my Thoughts On article, written before I read this article, there is only one sentence in the article that tells the whole story: "Meharg, a leading researcher in the field, noted the Department of Agriculture has invested in research to breed types of rice that can withstand arsenic."