• Space/Science
  • GeekSpeak
  • Mysteries of
    the Multiverse
  • Science Fiction
  • The Comestible Zone
  • Off-Topic
  • Community
  • Flame
  • CurrentEvents

Recent posts

Lest we forget... ER August 17, 2022 6:44 am (CurrentEvents)

The Trump crime family - an overview ER August 17, 2022 5:46 am (Flame)

Movie kerfuffle RobVG August 15, 2022 2:40 pm (Off-Topic)

My Dark Materials ER August 15, 2022 12:12 pm (CurrentEvents)

The Empire Strikes Back. ER August 15, 2022 11:51 am (CurrentEvents)

Falling Water, Kauffmann House, Pennsylvania ER August 13, 2022 7:35 pm (Off-Topic)

Trump must be desperate, and abandoned by his lawyers... RL August 13, 2022 12:57 pm (CurrentEvents)

Brightside Crossing -- Alan Nourse ER August 13, 2022 9:10 am (Science Fiction)

Books Pebble August 12, 2022 8:16 pm (Off-Topic)

So, assuming Trump wasn't a Nuclear Physicist on the side as a hobby... RL August 12, 2022 2:53 pm (CurrentEvents)

Home » The Comestible Zone

5 Foods You Should Maybe Not Eat All the Time . . . December 16, 2013 12:35 pm DanS

5 Foods You Should Maybe Not Eat All the Time

Sometimes, the best way to avoid toxic contaminants in your food is just to eat less of the worst offenders.

Whether it’s the legacy of toxic arsenic-based pesticides used on apple orchards and cotton fields or the naturally occurring arsenic in irrigation water and soil, this heavy metal has become pervasive in our diets. And a new study from Dartmouth University researchers has concluded that foods that contain arsenic could easily be your primary exposure sources for this harmful metal.

After comparing arsenic levels found in about 850 people’s toenails (over time, arsenic concentrates in the keratin your body uses to create nails) with food questionnaires, Dartmouth researchers concluded that “diet can be an important contributor to total arsenic exposure in U.S. populations, regardless of arsenic concentrations in drinking water.” Although the Environmental Protection Agency has set limits for arsenic in municipal water supplies, the metal isn’t regulated in private wells used for drinking and irrigation. and its presence has always been an issue for people who survive off well water.

“After we accounted for exposures via water, we still saw high levels of exposure from food,” says lead author Kathryn Cottingham, PhD, professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth. However, she adds, “We can’t say much about the potential for harm because we don’t know the health risks yet for the levels we found.”

Although it’s fatal at high doses, the low levels of arsenic in food don’t cause immediate health problems for the average person, but with chronic exposures, their dangers can be serious. Long-term exposure to the metal is known to cause lung, kidney, skin, and bladder cancers, and it interferes with estrogen and testosterone, as well as with the hormones that regulate your metabolism and immune system. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been trying to decide how to cope with foods that contain arsenic ever since independent tests by Consumer Reports magazine and others revealed high levels of arsenic in rice, apple juice, and other processed foods. The agency has never set a limit on how much of the metal can be allowed in food.

“My advice,” says Cottingham, “if there are foods that are high in arsenic, just don’t eat them all the time.”

Here are 5 foods that shouldn’t make regular appearances in your daily diet

2009-2013 Copyright Rodale.

  • I quit eating anyway. by Jody 2013-12-16 16:20:40
    • Mm-m-m . . . by DanS 2013-12-16 19:10:57
    • I'd like to see the raw numbers. by TB 2013-12-16 14:11:11
      • Numbers . . . by DanS 2013-12-16 19:06:43
        • Raw numbers cause cancer. by Jody 2013-12-16 16:35:48

        Search

        The Control Panel

        • Log in
        • Register