A recent study discovered a brown
and white rice cooking method that removes arsenic.
It's challenging to beat rice when it comes to everyday meal
staples: With around 486.62 million metric tons consumed from 2018 to 2019, the
versatile grain has become a fixture on dinner tables all across the world.
While rice is an essential food source for billions, it also contains arsenic,
a water-soluble toxin classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Because rice is grown in flooded paddy fields, it collects ten
times the arsenic found in other grains. Because the toxin accumulates
primarily in the outer bran layer, unpolished brown rice, with 75 to 90 percent
more nutrients, is especially dangerous. Arsenic poisoning is particularly
deadly for babies and toddlers who consume excessive amounts.
However, there is some good news: according to a new study, a
simple cooking process can remove most of the arsenic in rice without removing
the nutrients that make it nutritious.
Researchers from the University of Sheffield in the U.k. found
that the "parboiling with absorption method" (PBA) may remove 50% of
naturally existing arsenic in brown rice and 74% of naturally occurring arsenic
in white rice.
In a statement, Manoj Menon, an environmental soil scientist in
the department of geography at the University of Sheffield and the study's lead
author, said, "Our goal was to optimize the method to remove arsenic while
keeping maximum nutrients in the cooked rice." "Our newly developed
approach, PBA, is simple and straightforward to apply at home so that everyone
may utilize it."
The primary cooking method involves boiling water in a four-to-one
ratio with rice, adding the grains once the water has started to boil, and
cooking the rice for five minutes before discarding the water. Refill the
cooking vessel with fresh water in a two-to-one ratio, cover, and cook until
all of the water has been absorbed.
Determining the quality of rice you buy can be challenging that
even rice labeled "Parboiled" is processed differently than the
method tested in this research. Moreover, "even though brown rice is
nutritionally superior to white rice, our data shows that it contains higher
arsenic," Menon explains. "With our new method, we can drastically
reduce arsenic exposure while preserving important nutrient levels."
According to Menon, other rice cooking methods, such as rinsing
and soaking, were also tried but "are not as successful as PBA in removing
arsenic," according to Menon.
That's why, especially if you're cooking for your family, the PBA method is so helpful. "Arsenic exposure is more dangerous to children and infants than it is to adults," Menon explains. "Cooked rice is utilized for breastfeeding in certain cultures, so this practice is appropriate and recommended.