Warning for Parents: Toxic Lead Levels in Imported Rice

April 16, 2013

BoywithRiceCakeA new press release from the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians reveals that rice not manufactured in the US has high levels of lead that are causing toxic reactions in children.

US companies must maintain strict quality control measures when importing foods and herbs from other countries. The study cited was just presented at the American Chemical Society’s meeting and is extremely concerning, especially because of the gluten free trend in children’s foods. Manufacturers are turning to rice based products as an alternative for wheat.

There was concern over high arsenic levels in rice in late 2012. For now, to be on the safe side, I recommend avoiding rice-based infant and children products altogether.  There are other options for grains if desired, that promote balanced nutritional health, such as quinoa.

In health,

Dr. Gina

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TOXIC LEVELS OF LEAD COMMON IN IMPORTED RICE, RICE FLOUR: A new study has found that the rice imported into North America from Asia, Europe and South America contains very high levels of lead that represents serious health risks, particularly for infants and children, who are especially sensitive to its effects, and adults of Asian heritage who consume larger amounts of rice. (Rice and rice flour imports to the US have tripled since 1999 and rice is the staple food for 3 billion people worldwide. Lead interferes with a variety of body processes and is toxic to many organs and tissues including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys. It causes potentially permanent learning and behavior disorders in children.) The researchers found that for children, the daily exposure levels from eating the rice products imported from these countries would be 30 to 60 times higher than the FDA provisional total tolerable intake (PTTI) levels; for adults, the daily exposure levels were 20 to 40 times higher than the PTTI levels. This study was presented in New Orleans at the meeting of the American Chemical Society. The full report will be available when it is published in a journal at a later time.

2 Comments | Childhood Nutrition, Heavy Metals, Industry News, Latest Nutritional Research, Prevention | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dr. Gina Nick

The Gluten-Free Diet Fad?

August 19, 2008

There is a lot more talk out there these days about the dangers of gluten.  Some people have full blown celiac disease, where their body can be severely damaged by ingesting gluten. Others have a mild, moderate or severe intolerance to gluten and gliadin in their diet.  At LTP Natural Medical Center I test patients for gluten intolerance through an IgG blood test that looks for specific foods that the body mounts an immune response to.  When those foods are eliminated from the diet, patients feel better. And gluten is often on the list.  So while some skeptics will say that gluten-free is just a fad, I do not agree.  This is a very real condition, even for patients not diagnosed with celiac disease.  Going deeper, however, I find that if we focus on testing for, and repairing the integrity of the digestive tract, these food intolerance’s fall away.  So if we want to go to the root cause, I would say compromised digestion is the place to look.

-Dr. Gina

1 Comment | Childhood Nutrition, Diet and Disease, Latest Nutritional Research, Naturopathic Medicine | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dr. Gina Nick

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