Rice Consumption and Hypertension

Wong Kv

doi:10.16966/2471-8211.105

Abstract

Arsenic in the drinking water is the cause of hypertension, as demonstrated in the studies performed and reported in references [1-4]. These studies included peoples in Bangladesh, Inner Mongolia, China and Taiwan. Reference [5] is a review article regarding arsenic and hypertension. In this review of 2011, it was concluded that “a positive association between elevated arsenic exposure and the prevalence of hypertension” [5] was found, but the repercussions of this link from a causal point-of-view needs more study. Arsenic occurs naturally in the crust of our planet Earth [6]. It is present in two hundred or more different compounds, arsenopyrite being the most common mineral. Rice consumption commonly include arsenic from the environment, whether grown in different nations in Asia or in the United States of America (USA). A study in Bangladesh re-affirmed this fact, because groundwater contaminated with environmental arsenic is used extensively for the agriculture of rice, the principal grain [7]. In [1], it was found that the greater the aggregate arsenic intake, the greater the occurrence of hypertension.

Highlights

Arsenic in the drinking water is the cause of hypertension, as demonstrated in the studies performed and reported in references [1,2,3,4]
Rice consumption commonly include arsenic from the environment, whether grown in different nations in Asia or in the United States of America (USA)
USFDA has set up acceptable levels of arsenic in apple juice in 2013, to be the same as that as acceptable levels in drinking water set by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, i.e. ten parts per billion

Summary

Introduction

Arsenic in the drinking water is the cause of hypertension, as demonstrated in the studies performed and reported in references [1,2,3,4]. Rice consumption commonly include arsenic from the environment, whether grown in different nations in Asia or in the United States of America (USA). A study in Bangladesh re-affirmed this fact, because groundwater contaminated with environmental arsenic is used extensively for the agriculture of rice, the principal grain [7].

Results

Conclusion