cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/21516601

YSK rice commonly contains arsenic, but most of it can be removed by boiling in water (4:1 ratio) for 5 minutes, and discarding that water before starting the regular cook cycle.

Why you should know:

Arsenic is a carcinogen and has various other negative health effects; enough to warrant exposure limits in various jurisdictions. A five minute boil-and-discard step before cooking is a simple way to reduce your exposure, especially if you eat a lot of rice.

Details are in the study, linked in the title of this post. Here’s a diagram from the abstract:

  • nepali@lemmy.mlOPM
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    2 months ago

    Since we eat a lot of rice, this is probably a good thing to keep in mind.

    Some more recent research in the context of Nepal:

    Human Dietary Exposure to Heavy Metals via Rice in Nepal - PubMed

    Yuxiao Shao et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36901157/