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Morning Grain Bowls Recipe

The AHA! Team — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 08:34:16 +0000

Recipe by: NutritionFacts – Morning Grain Bowls Recipe Leftover cooked grains are a great way to start the day—and quick, too! If you don’t have leftover grains, cook up a pot of your favorite grain the day before and you’ll have the start of something good in the morning. COURSE: Breakfast DIFFICULTY: Easy SERVINGS: 4 INGREDIENTS ▢3 cups cooked whole grains (ex: brown rice, quinoa, freekeh, oats) ▢¾ cup cannellini beans mashed ▢2 cups Almond Milk ▢3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds ▢1 1-inch piece turmeric (or 1 tsp ground) ▢1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated (optional) ▢1 cup berries fresh or frozen ▢1 ripe banana sliced ▢4 tablespoons Date Syrup (optional) INSTRUCTIONS In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the cooked grains, beans, Almond Milk, flaxseeds, turmeric, and ginger (if using). Mix well. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, or until warm but not too hot. Divide the grain mixture among four bowls. Top each serving with 1⁄4 cup (35 g) of the berries and one-quarter of the sliced banana. Drizzle each serving with 1 tablespoon (20 g) of Date Syrup, if desired. Video Link: https://youtu.be/UVH7S6xCKIE To read the original article click here.

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How Risky Is the Arsenic in Rice?

AHA Publisher — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 08:00:41 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via NutritionFacts – Getting rice down to the so-called safe water limit for arsenic would still allow for roughly 500 times greater cancer risk than is normally considered acceptable. Given the level of arsenic in rice, how could we figure out how much rice is too much? There are no U.S. standards for arsenic in rice, even though “food sources are the main source of exposure.” There are limits on arsenic in apple juice and tap water, though. To calculate those, experts must have sat down, determined out how much arsenic a day was too much—too risky—then figured people typically drink about four to eight cups of water a day, and set the limits that way, right? Okay, well, can’t we just use their how-much-arsenic-a-day-is-too-much-arsenic-a-day number, and, based on the average arsenic content in rice, figure out how-much-rice-a-day-is-too-much-rice? I discuss this in my video How Risky Is the Arsenic in Rice?. “The allowable level established by the FDA for arsenic in bottled water is 10 ppb,” assuming people might drink a liter a day. So, based on that daily 10 ppb limit, how much rice is that? “Each 1 g increase in rice intake was associated with a 1% increase in urinary total arsenic, such that eating 0.56 cups [a little over a half cup] of cooked rice was considered comparable with drinking 1 L/d,” one liter per day, of that maximally contaminated water. Well, if you can eat a half cup a day, why does Consumer Reports suggest eating just a few servings of rice a week? You could eat nearly a serving every day and still stay within the daily arsenic limits set for drinking water. Well, Consumer Reports felt the 10 ppb water standard was too lax, so, it went with the “most protective standard in the country,” at 5 ppb. Guess where it came from? New Jersey. Good for New Jersey! So, by using 5 ppb instead of 10 ppb in the calculation, you can see how Consumer Reports got to its only-a-few-servings-of-rice-a-week recommendation. Presumably, that’s based on average arsenic levels in rice. If you choose a lower-arsenic rice, one with only half the level of arsenic, can you have four servings a week instead of two? And, if you boil rice like pasta and drain off the excess water, doesn’t that also cut levels in half? If so, then you are up to about eight servings a week. Based on the water standard, apparently, you could still safely eat a serving of rice a day if you choose the right rice and cook it right. I assumed the water limit is ultra-conservative since people are expected to drink water every day of their lives, whereas most people don’t eat rice every day, seven days a week. I made that assumption, but I was wrong. It turns out the opposite is true. All this time, I had been assuming the current drinking guideline exposure would be safe, which in terms of carcinogens, is usually “1 in a million chances of getting cancer over a lifetime.” I’ve mentioned this before. It’s how cancer-causing substances are typically regulated. If a company wants to release some new chemical, it has to show that it doesn’t cause more than one in a million excess cancer cases. Of course, there are 300 million people in this country, so that one-in-a-million doesn’t make the 300 extra families who have to deal with cancer feel any better, but that’s just the kind of agreed upon “acceptable risk.” The problem, according to the National Research Council, is that with the current federal drinking water standard for arsenic of 10 μg/L, we are not talking about an excess cancer risk of 1 in a million people, but as high as 1 case in 300 people. Those 300 extra cases of cancer just turned into a million more cases? A million more families dealing with a cancer diagnosis? “This is 3000 times higher than a commonly accepted cancer risk for an environmental carcinogen of 1 case in 1 000 000 people.” If we were to use the normally accepted 1 in a million odds of cancer risk, the water standard would have to be 500 times lower, .02 instead of 10. Even the New Jersey standard is 250 times too high. “While this is a rather drastic difference… it underlines just how little precaution is instilled in the current guidelines.” Hold on. So why isn’t the water standard .02 instead of 10? Because that “would be nearly impossible to implement” as we just don’t have the technology to get arsenic levels in water that low. The technologically feasible level has been estimated at 3. Okay, so why is the limit 10 and not 3? The decision to use a threshold of 10 instead of 3 was “mainly a budgetary decision.” A threshold of three would cost a lot of money. So, the current water “safety” limit “is more motivated by politics than by technology.” Nobody wants to be told they have toxic tap water. If they did, they might demand better water treatment and that would be expensive. “As a result, many people drink water at levels very close to the current guideline… and may not be aware that they are exposed to an increased risk of cancer.” Even worse, millions of Americans drink water exceeding the legal limit, as you can see at 5:10 in my video. But, even the people living in areas that meet the legal limit “must understand that current arsenic guidelines are only marginally protective.” Perhaps we should tell people who drink water—i.e., everyone—“that current arsenic regulations are a cost-benefit compromise and that, based on usual health risk paradigms, the standards should be much lower… People must be made aware that regulatory targets for arsenic should be as close to zero as possible,” and, when it comes to water, we should aim for the reachable limit of 3. What does this mean for rice, though? Well, first of all, so much for just trying to get rice down to the so-called safe water limit, since that “already exceeds standard [carcinogen] risks and is based on feasibility and cost-benefit compromises,” which “allows for a roughly 500 times higher risk of cancer” than is normally considered acceptable. So, “while authorities ponder when and how they will regulate arsenic concentration in rice,” perhaps we should “curtail or strongly limit our consumption of rice.” To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Greger click here.

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How to Cook Rice to Lower Arsenic Levels

AHA Publisher — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 08:00:06 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – Boiling rice like pasta reduces arsenic levels, but how much nutrition is lost? Cooking rice in a high water-to-rice ratio reduces toxic arsenic content, which I discuss in my video How to Cook Rice to Lower Arsenic Levels. What exactly does that mean? Well, as you can see at 0:16 in my video, if you boil rice like pasta and then drain off the water at the end, you can drop arsenic levels in half—50 to 60 percent of the arsenic gets poured down the drain—whereas the typical way we make rice, boiling off the water in a rice cooker or pot, for example, doesn’t help. In fact, it may even make things worse if the water you’re using to cook the rice has arsenic in it, too, which is a problem that exists for about three million Americans, as about 8 percent of public water supplies exceed the current legal arsenic limits. “Cooking rice in excess water”—and then discarding the excess water—“efficiently reduces the amount of inorganic As [that is, toxic arsenic] in the cooked rice,” but how much nutrition are you pouring down the drain when you do pour off the excess water? “Unpolished brown rice naturally contains vitamins and minerals that are lost when the bran layer and germ are removed to make white rice. To compensate, since the 1940s polished white and parboiled rice sold in the United States is often enriched”—that is, white rice has had vitamins and minerals sprayed on it to so it’s “enriched” and “fortified.” That’s why cooking instructions for enriched white rice specifically say you shouldn’t rinse it and you should cook it in a minimal amount of water. In other words, you should do the opposite of what you’d do to get rid of some of the arsenic. But brown rice has the nutrients inside, not just sprayed on. “Rinsing [white] rice,” by putting it in a colander under running water, for example, “removes much of the enriched vitamins sprayed onto the rice grain surface during manufacture,” removing most of the B-vitamins. But, “rinsing had almost no effect on vitamins in whole grain brown rice”—because brown rice has got the nutrition inside. It’s the same with iron: Rinsing white rice reduces iron levels by about three-fourths, but the iron in brown rice is actually in it, so rinsing only reduces the iron concentration in brown rice by about 10 percent. Rinsing didn’t seem to affect the arsenic levels, so why bother? Well, if you really wash the rice, for example, agitating the uncooked rice in water, rinsing, and repeating for three minutes, you may be able to remove about 10 percent of the arsenic. So, one research team recommends washing rice as well as boiling it in excess water, but I don’t know if the 10 percent is worth the extra time it takes to wash the rice. However, as we discussed, boiling rice like pasta and then draining off the excess water does really cut way down on the arsenic, and, while that cooking method also takes a whack at the nutrition in white rice, the nutrient loss in brown rice is “significantly less,” as it is not so much enriched as it is rich in nutrition in the first place. “Cooking brown rice in large amounts of excess water reduces the toxic arsenic by almost 60% and only reduces the iron content by 5%. It reduces the vitamin content of brown rice by about half,” however. You can see a graph of what I’m talking about at 3:18 in my video. A quick rinse of brown rice before you cook it doesn’t lower arsenic levels, but boiling it and draining off the excess water, instead of cooking to dry, drops arsenic levels by 40 percent. That was using about a ratio of 6 parts water to 1 part rice. What if you use even more water, boiling at 10-to-1 water-to-rice ratio? You get a 60 percent drop in arsenic levels. With white rice, you can rinse off a little arsenic, but after cooking, you end up with similar final drops in arsenic content, but the iron gets wiped out in white rice by rinsing and cooking, whereas the iron in brown rice stays strong. There are similar decrements in the B vitamins with cooking for brown and unrinsed white rice, but once you rinse white rice, the B vitamins are mostly gone before they even make it into the pot. What about percolating rice? Well, we know that regular rice cooking doesn’t help reduce arsenic levels, but boiling then draining rice like pasta does, while steaming doesn’t do much. What about percolating rice as a radical rethink to optimize arsenic removal? Researchers tried two types of percolating technology: One was a mad scientist-type lab set-up, and the other was just a regular off-the-shelf coffee percolator. Instead of putting in coffee, they put rice and percolated 20 minutes for white and 30 for brown. The result? As you can see at 4:39 in my video, they got about a 60 percent drop in arsenic levels using a 12-to-1 water-to-rice ratio. Raw brown rice started out at about double the arsenic levels of raw white rice, but, after cooking with enough excess water and draining, they end up much closer. Though, a 60 percent drop in arsenic levels by percolating at a 12-to-1 ratio was about what we got boiling at just 10-to-1. So, I don’t see a reason to buy a percolator. But, what does that 60 percent drop really mean? By boiling and draining a daily serving of rice, we could cut excess cancer risk more than half from about 165 times the acceptable cancer risk to only about…66 times the acceptable risk. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Greger click here.

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This Common Food May Be as Deadly as Sugar

AHA Publisher — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 08:00:01 +0000

Dr. Don Colbert – A worldwide food staple may be deadly. It may be on your dinner plate. Have you ever walked into your favorite restaurant, ordered beef and broccoli, with a side of a mound of sugar? Or, a sugar roll when indulging in sushi? How about chicken and sugar soup? If you’re eating white rice with your meal, you’re essentially doing just that. In fact, new studies and evidence show that white rice specifically, even compared to other high carb foods, elicits a strong rise in blood sugar response soon after eating it. It’s similar to eating sugar and maybe as deadly. Here’s what researchers are finding and how you can avoid eating a mound of sugar at dinner. White Rice Is a Mound of Sugar? White rice is eaten as a staple around the world. In fact, together with wheat and corn, rice provides approximately 42% of the calories consumed by the human population worldwide (1). Unfortunately, it is a highly processed food. It is used mostly because it is inexpensive, and has a long shelf-life. Compared to brown rice, which is also very high in carbohydrates, white rice is void of many nutrients. During processing, the bran (fiber) and germ (vitamin and minerals) are removed from the grain of rice. This is similar to the processing of many “white grains,” such as refined wheat vs. whole-grain wheat. Removing the germ and bran significantly increases the shelf-life of rice. Once removed, the white rice has far less protein, fiber, magnesium, B Vitamins, and phosphorus than its brown rice counterpart. White Rice Vs. Human Health However, the real problem with white rice is not just a lack of fiber or vitamins and minerals. It’s how your body processes it. When you eat white rice, your body actually begins digesting and breaking it down in your mouth. This occurs mechanically with all foods as you chew. But, with refined carbohydrates like white rice, the enzyme amylase begins breaking it down from the start as well. Why? Your body thinks you’re eating it because you need quick energy, right now. After it’s broken down in the mouth, it goes down the esophagus, to the stomach, where more enzymes, stomach acid, and mechanical stomach-churning break it down further. From there, it’s delivered to the small intestines for further breakdown, and complete absorption (there’s not much fiber residual left to slow it down or reduce absorption). This all occurs very, very fast. Fast, complete, carbohydrate digestion is not great for your health. In fact, once absorbed, the rice is transported to the liver, turned into blood sugar, and poured into the bloodstream in a glucose bolus. Now, the body must deal with it. There are two options: Store it as triglycerides and fat by sending out an unhealthy insulin bolus. Allow blood sugars to rise dangerously high. A food’s digestion, absorption, and blood sugar effect are quantified as its glycemic index. Glycemic Index and Current Studies The glycemic index of white rice tells some of the story: 73 +/- 4. For reference, sugar is 100, and white spaghetti noodles are 49 +/-2 (2). But, this is not the whole story. Recent studies show that it is far worse than many other carbohydrate foods in terms of blood sugar reactions, and may even play a part in the development of chronic blood sugar issues. For example, one small study of 12 adults with elevated blood sugars aimed to determine the post-meal blood sugar reactions of a high protein pasta, regular pasta, and white rice. The grams of carbohydrates were exactly the same for each meal. researchers found that peak blood glucose was significantly lower for the pasta and high-protein pasta meals, despite identical carbohydrate amounts (3). Another study with 15 overweight adults with normal blood sugars tested meals with rice vs. brown rice vs. brown rice and legumes. The results? Again, white rice had a negative effect on blood sugars. After 5 days of these meals, “white rice participants’” baseline insulin and glucose reactions were significantly elevated compared to brown rice or brown rice with legumes (4). Does White Rice Cause Chronic Abnormal Blood Sugars? Why then, do many populations who historically eat a lot of white rice have lower incidences of unhealthy blood sugars than those in the United States? Long-term abnormal and unhealthy blood sugars are part of a progression of illness, often associated with being overweight. What’s more, if other parts of the diet are healthy, they may not see as many health issues compared to populations who eat more processed and ultra-processed foods. Bottom Line: Are You Eating a Mound of Sugar at Dinner? For many people, it’s surprising to learn that white rice is similar to a mound of sugar in the body. Instead, choose low-carb, whole-foods like healthy fats, fibers, vegetables, and protein for optimal health. What’s more, achieving and maintaining healthy body weight is key to reducing your risk of unhealthy blood sugars. Choose your foods, and your lifestyle habits, wisely. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Colbert click here.

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Increased Global Mortality Linked to Arsenic Exposure in Rice-Based Diets

AHA Publisher — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 07:00:39 +0000

University of Manchester via EurekAlert – Rice is the most widely consumed staple food source for a large part of the world’s population. It has now been confirmed that rice can contribute to prolonged low-level arsenic exposure leading to thousands of avoidable premature deaths per year. Arsenic is well known acute poison, but it can also contribute to health problems, including cancers and cardiovascular diseases, if consumed at even relatively low concentrations over an extended period of time. Compared to other staple foods, rice tends to concentrate inorganic arsenic. Across the globe, over three billion people consume rice as their major staple and the inorganic arsenic in that rice has been estimated by some to give rise to over 50,000 avoidable premature deaths per year. A collaborating group of cross-Manchester researchers from The University of Manchester and The University of Salford have published new research exploring the relationship, in England and Wales, between the consumption of rice and cardiovascular diseases caused by arsenic exposure. Their findings, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, shows that – once corrected for the major factors known to contribute to cardiovascular disease (for example obesity, smoking, age, lack of income, lack of education) there is a significant association between elevated cardiovascular mortality, recorded at a local authority level, and the consumption of inorganic arsenic bearing rice. Professor David Polya from The University of Manchester said: “The type of study undertaken, an ecological study, has many limitations, but is a relatively inexpensive way of determining if there is plausible link between increased consumption of inorganic arsenic bearing rice and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Professor Polya from The University of Manchester said “The study suggests that the highest 25 % of rice consumers in England and Wales may plausibly be at greater risks of cardiovascular mortality due to inorganic arsenic exposure compared to the lowest 25 % of rice consumers. “The modelled increased risk is around 6 % (with a confidence interval for this figure of 2 % to 11 %). The increased risk modelled might also reflect in part a combination of the susceptibility, behaviours and treatment of those communities in England and Wales with relatively high rice diets.” While more robust types of study are required to confirm the result, given many of the beneficial effects otherwise of eating rice due to its high fibre content, the research team suggest that rather than avoid eating rice, people could consume rice varieties, such as basmati, and different types like polished rice (rather whole grain rice) which are known to typically have lower inorganic arsenic contents. Other positive behaviours would be to eat a balanced variety of staples, not just predominately rice. To read the original article click here.

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