Many people prefer eating rice daily and for many people, rice is the ‘comfort food’. Tucking into the sofa after a long hectic day with a bowl of rice and gravy is something that everyone loves. But do you know that eating rice daily can cause heart complications, leading to death?
Researchers have warned people who consume rice daily for potential complications. Rice contains a small quantity of arsenic in them. Although this amount is considerably low still this exposure to arsenic for the long term can cause severe health damage.
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A research by two British Universities from Manchester have evaluated the low exposure to inorganic arsenic to human health. They found that arsenic can cause cardiovascular complications and some types of cancer too.
This research collaboration was between The University of Manchester and the University of Salford in Manchester. The complete findings of this study are published in a peer-review journal named Science of the Total Environment.
These results reveal that arsenic is a major factor behind cardiovascular diseases. They found a significant connection between high risk of cardiovascular diseases and associated deaths and the exposure to arsenic found in rice.
David Polya teaches at The University of Manchester comments that these types of studies are mainly ecological which have many limitations when we relate them to human health. Still, these are a good and inexpensive way to find out the possibilities of death caused by eating more rice every day.
Eating more rice daily increases the mortality risk by 6% which should not be ignored while evaluating dietary patterns while treating cardiovascular diseases. It is possible that most of the patients are consuming rice which is making their heart health worse. Still, more research is needed to dig deeper into this newly found connection.
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At least three billion people from the world take rice daily as their staple food. In Asian countries, people are likely to consume 5-6 rice meals per day. Although eating rice daily is not a very healthy thing since they are high in carbohydrates and may cause weight gain. Still, people prefer to eat rice over other healthier foods.
White rice is typically associated with obesity and weight gain but in countries where they are widely used i.e. Asian countries, the public obesity profile in low.
Not to forget, not all rice types contain the same amount of arsenic in them. Some rice variants i.e. basmati rice and polished rice have a low amount of inorganic arsenic which means they are less likely to cause long term health damages. Yet, there is a dire need to control the dietary portions especially rice.
It is not only healthy but also may put your life into danger after a few years. In any way, eating a balanced diet with all dietary sources i.e. proteins, carbohydrates, sugar, fats, etc is an ideal approach for a healthy life.
