Quick and Easy Tips to Minimize Arsenic in Your Diet

Based from the reports of the Federal Food and Drug Administration and Consumer Reports magazine, there are certain rice-based foods that are contaminated with Arsenic which is a human carcinogen that is harmful to the health. To prevent the problem from growing, the Environmental Working Group now provides quick and easy tips on how to minimize your exposure to arsenic. Although arsenic is said to be found in food that comes from natural sources, people still shouldn’t consider them safe. The main problem with this carcinogen is that causes people to suffer from cancer. Because of this, FDA will do anything just to minimize people’s exposure to it.

Although this might be the case, FDA has failed to do this in the past 20 years that it had spent testing foods. Due to this reason, people must not wait for the FDA’s advice and start implementing these helpful tips on their own to reduce arsenic exposure. For consumers, what they can do to lower their exposure to this harmful carcinogen is to eat a diverse diet and include rice alternatives such as; quinoa, barley, grits/polenta, couscous or bulgur wheat in their diet. In addition, they must also boil brown rice in a lot of water because this process is known to reduce arsenic levels. However, white rice does not respond very well to this kind of cooking.

To minimize children’s exposure to arsenic, here’s what parents can do. For infants, parents must feed them with orange vegetables like; squash, sweet potatoes and fruits like avocados and bananas before letting them eat solid foods. In addition, they must also purchase oatmeal or mixed grains rather than rice baby cereals. Aside from that, parents must never use rice milk as a substitute for dairy. Lastly, they must also limit their fruit juices to at least ½ to 1 cup only per day. By following these preventative measures and precautions, high exposure to arsenic may be avoided. Apply these tips in your daily life and spread the word to your friends. It is very important to minimize consumption of arsenic to save people from suffering from cancer and other life-threatening diseases.