Sep
14
2019

Beware Of Arsenic In US Wines

By | alcohol, blood test, toxins

A former wine industry employee warns to beware of arsenic in US wines. Recently wine testers detected that many California wines contain high amounts of arsenic. Here is a full list of wines where arsenic was found. Often it is the cheaper wines that have the highest arsenic content.

Trader Joe’s has a problem with three wines. The 2 dollar Zinfandel (“Two Buck Chuck)”, their “Menage a Trois Moscato” and “Franzia White Grenache” were too high in arsenic. They had 3-5 times the allowable amount of arsenic than the limit that is acceptable for drinking water.

The lawyers of a lawsuit against the wine industry think that the norm for arsenic content in wine should be the same as the one established for drinking water. However, the wine industry is defending itself saying that people drink more water than wine.

Arsenic in rice

In the past there were high arsenic levels in rice.  An investigation found the high levels of arsenic in rice linked to high levels of arsenic in soil. By and large high arsenic levels in rice come from inadvertent human poisoning. As explained in the Consumers Report high arsenic values were found in rice grown in these states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas. These are the same states, where farmers grew cotton in the past. The U.S. has been the world’s leading user of arsenic at that time. Since 1910 about 1.6 million tons of arsenic been in use for agricultural/industrial purposes. Half of this occurred since the mid-1960s. Although arsenic is banned as an insecticide since the 1980’s, residues from the decades of use still linger on in agricultural soil today. For decades arsenic compounds were used for decades in an attempt to combat the boll weevil beetle.

Arsenic in grape juice, apple juice and chicken meat

Arsenic containing insecticides are also in use in the fruit growing industry. This explains the presence of arsenic in grape juice and apple juice. Another source of contamination with arsenic compounds comes from chicken feed that the chicken farmer uses to promote growth. As a result arsenic will be in chicken meat. For this reason alone it is recommendable to eat organic chicken that is free of arsenic.

Keep in mind that brown rice has persistently tested higher in arsenic than white rice.

Beware of arsenic in US wines and in your food

We know for some time now that chicken raised in farms have arsenic in their meat because of the practice to feed arsenic compounds to promote growth. Arsenic is a carcinogen, and is causing many cancers. As the last link said, there is a great need to regulate the food industry and check for arsenic contamination of food in general as well.

How do wine growers introduce arsenic into wine?

There are several possibilities how wine could become contaminated with arsenic. The example of arsenic in rice taught us that old cotton fields where in the past arsenic containing pesticides were in use could be the source of arsenic in rice today. If wine is grown in similar soil that has contamination with arsenic , it likely could get into the grapes.

At this point there has not been an investigation into arsenic in wine. The fact that the majority of wines had high arsenic values makes me believe that the wine growers spray arsenic compounds onto the leaves and grapes of wine plants to treat for various pests.

Organic wine

Organic wine must have a certification by an independent third-party organization. This organization does annual audits on vineyards. The grapes they grow and the soil on which the vine plants grow have to all be examined. Strict standards apply and the organic winegrower has to comply with them to receive the organic certification. Not only is there supervision by the organic certification body, but also by the department of agriculture. The wine grower cannot sell wine as “organic”, if it is not certified.

If you want arsenic free wine, buy organic wine. Here is a brief description of what certified organic wine is.

What arsenic does to your body

Long-term exposure to low doses of arsenic can interrupt the way cells communicate and function. It can contribute to developing diabetes, cancer, vascular disease and lung disease. In addition, high levels of arsenic can cause skin cancer, bladder cancer, lung cancer and heart attacks. It is the inorganic arsenic compounds that are more toxic. This is what researchers found in water and unfortunately also in wine. Organic arsenic compounds as found in seafood are less toxic.

Beware Of Arsenic In US Wines

Beware Of Arsenic In US Wines

Conclusion

There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding arsenic in regular wines. In the US the limit for arsenic in drinking water is 10 parts per billion (ppb). Wines on average have 24 ppb of arsenic in it. A legal case is presently awaiting a trial. The issue is whether the arsenic limits in drinking water also apply to arsenic limits in wine. The wine industry is adamant that people drink more water than wine, so one could not compare the two. But the wine industry also wants to sell more wine.

You can switch to an organic wine, which by definition should have less arsenic in it. Arsenic can cause lung disease and various cancers (lung and kidneys). If you drink very little or moderately, you are fairly safe from toxic effects of arsenic. But this topic needs further evaluation, and caution is in order.

May
21
2016

Arsenic In Rice

By | Nutrition, Prevention, toxins

Recently news stories reported that there is arsenic in rice. This is important to know because in large parts of the world rice is one of the main food staples. But rice has also become an important side step from wheat for those who are gluten sensitive. Rice is one of the main ingredients in gluten free diets.

Source of arsenic in rice

Naturally high levels of arsenic in soil can be a source of high levels of arsenic in rice, although these cases are the minority. By and large high arsenic in rice comes from inadvertent, but deliberate human poisoning. As explained in the Consumers Report high arsenic values were found in rice grown in these states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas. These are the same states, where cotton was grown in the past. The U.S. has been the world’s leading user of arsenic.

Arsenic in soil cotton was grown

Since 1910 about 1.6 million tons have been in use for agricultural/industrial purposes. Half of this occurred since the mid-1960s. Although arsenic is banned as an insecticide since the 1980’s, residues from the decades of use still linger on in agricultural soil today. Cotton production occurred in the south-central region of the US for a long time. This is a crop where heavy treatment with arsenical pesticides was used for decades in an attempt to combat the boll weevil beetle.

Arsenic in grape juice, apple juice and chicken meat

Arsenic containing insecticides are also used in the fruit growing industry. This explains the presence of arsenic in grape juice and apple juice.

Another source are arsenic compounds in chicken feed that is used to promote growth. As a result arsenic can then be found in chicken meat. For this reason alone it is recommendable to eat organic chicken that is free of arsenic.

Keep in mind that brown rice has persistently tested higher in arsenic than white rice.

Alternatives to rice

As drastic as it may sound, your safest approach is to avoid all cereals. This keeps you away from the various forms of gluten proteins that are present in all cereals, even in corn and oats. You can fill your plate safely with organic vegetables like broccoli, bell peppers, asparagus, cauliflower and many others. You also can eat all lettuce varieties including spinach, arugula, Romaine lettuce, head lettuce, super greens and more.

Wheat has the highest gluten concentration

Many people have an addiction to grains and grain products, but they can do more harm than good. Wheat has the highest concentration of gliadin, but rye has its own gliadin protein, so does barley. It is much safer on the long term to stay away from them all. Not everybody will agree with me on that, but as far as I am concerned I can live this way quite well. High endurance athletes who seem to need more carbs for fuel, could have sweet potatoes for example instead of grains and do well on that.

Eliminating exposure from arsenic in rice

Now that we know that brown rice has more arsenic in it than white rice, and that Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas have high arsenic because of residual arsenic in their soils, it is relatively easy to choose the right rice, if you decide to consume it. This report explains what are safe rice alternatives and what rice is the safest.

Basmati rice from California is the lowest in arsenic. Quinoa and millet are rice alternatives that are low in arsenic. Low-arsenic buckwheat is not related to wheat and is gluten free.

Watch the origin of organic rice

In this context it is interesting to note that you cannot trust even organic rice with regard to arsenic toxicity. The last link notes that the rice grains accumulate arsenic from the soil. All of the other organic culturing methods are not enough to protect the crop from arsenic accumulation, if there is contamination of the soil or the water.

If you are serious about eliminating arsenic from your food, you may want to consider avoiding grains altogether.

What are signs of toxicity from arsenic in rice?

Arsenic toxicity can be acute or chronic. Most of today’s arsenic toxicity is chronic. Arsenic accumulates slowly from foods we consume. Arsenic contaminated occurs in regular chicken that was fed arsenic compounds for growth. Another source for arsenic are rice, non-organic grape juice and apple juice. Chronic exposure to arsenic can cause lung and bladder cancer. This is what studies in Argentina and Chile found where in some areas drinking water has naturally high arsenic levels.

A fast heart beat, low blood pressure and shock can be symptoms of arsenic poisoning. The person with arsenic poisoning may have a changed mental status and seizures can occur. A person may present with delirium with irrational thoughts and behaviors. The patient may present with a cholera-like clinical picture with vomiting and severe diarrhea leading to marked dehydration. Liver and kidney damage can occur. The finger nails show white lines across, called Mees lines.

Treating toxicity from arsenic in rice

A study of 3633 individuals showed that those who ate 1 helping of rice per day had a urinary arsenic level that was 44 percent greater than those who did not consume rice. People eating two or more rice products had 70% higher arsenic urine levels that those who ate no rice. It is clear from that study that avoidance of rice is a powerful tool treating chronic arsenic poisoning. With respect to drinking apple or grape juice the total urinary arsenic levels were nearly 20 percent higher than those who did not consume apple or grape juice.

There are natural substances that are good chelators. Researchers tested them found them and found them good to eliminate arsenic from the body.

Here are natural chelators: milk thistle seed extract, dandelion leaf extract, garlic bulb (allium sativum), cilantro leaf extract, L-glutathione, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine.

Intravenous chelation using EDTA

Intravenous chelation using EDTA is the gold standard that is in use to get rid of heavy metals including arsenic and lead. Dr. Cranton noted in his book on chelation therapy that arsenic occurs in the urine within 5 hours of intravenous EDTA chelation (Ref. 1).

Other supportive steps are to check your drinking water for high arsenic and lead levels, particularly if you are on a well. Change the way you cook rice, if you want to continue to eat rice. Rinse the rice with 6 times the amount of water and discard the water. This will lower the arsenic content of the rice by about 30% while you deplete the rice only marginally of vitamin and mineral contents.

Eliminate arsenic from food and drinks

Avoid drinking non-organic grape juice and apple juice. This eliminates a significant amount of arsenic from your diet.

If you eat more than two or three helpings of rice per week, consider replacing some rice portions by arsenic-free grains. For those on a gluten-free diet quinoa, millet, and amaranth are good replacement options.

Arsenic In Rice

Arsenic In Rice

Conclusion regarding arsenic in rice

It is sad to notice that the food industry is inadvertently trying to poison us with arsenic. I am sure this is not happen deliberately. But it is necessary for us to defend ourselves and think about the food we are eating. Is it safe? Are we taking the right steps to minimize exposure to arsenic? I have covered this from various angles, avoidance of high arsenic food items, chelating out accumulated arsenic, and preventing further exposure to arsenic. I hope this has been helpful and has shown you what you can do in your particular case.

References:

Ref.1: Special Issue of Advancement in Medicine “A Textbook on EDTA Chelation Therapy”, edited by Elmer M. Cranton, Spring/Summer 1989. Human Sciences Press Inc. NY, USA.

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Aug
13
2014

Pure Water A Necessity

By | Infectious Disease, Nutrition, Prevention

Water has been in the news a lot: there has been the Toledo, Ohio incident affecting 400,000 residents because toxins of algae from Lake Erie entered into the public water system. At about the same time in northern British Columbia, Canada there was a broken dam from a mining company’s toxic wastewater reservoir spilling toxic wastewater into the Fraser River drinking water system.

Between 60 and 70% of our bodies are made up of water. We need water for a multitude of biochemical reactions that constantly take place within us. We need water to “run the engine”. This includes detoxification of our bodies as water is a large part of our kidney excretions (urine) and still is a significantly percentage of our stools. Water is the basis for our blood circulation.

Having said all this it is important that we insist only drinking pure water. In the following I will describe why this can be a problem and how to solve this problem.

Brief history of water purification

The first sand filter for water purification was developed in Scotland by a private company in 1804.

Based on this success, the Chelsea Waterworks Company in London in 1829 was founded, which was the first public water supply in the world. When a  choleraepidemic hit London in 1854, physician Dr. Snow discovered that cholera was confined to those districts in London where water was not purified and he provided the authorities with a dot map depicting the cholera cases in London, which correlated with the water system that used no filtration methods. When the pumps were switched off in this district of London, the cholera epidemic subsided.

Europe adopted the English model in the late 1800’s and added sewage treatment plants in order to separate wastewater from drinking water. The first sewage treatment plant was built in Frankfurt in 1887. This was necessary because of huge epidemics of cholera and typhoid fever that swept through Europe. When separation of sewage and drinking water was achieved, these epidemics stopped.

It is interesting that minimal water standards were introduced in the US only in 1914 and it took until 1940 before water purity was legislated federally.

Pure Water A Necessity

Pure Water A Necessity

Toxins in water

Townships have to get the drinking water they pipe into your house from somewhere. Often this is a lake, an artesian well or several artesian wells combined; in the past it was from rivers, but they are now mostly contaminated with sewage and chemicals.

There is the added problem that natural soil compositions vary tremendously throughout a country, so that arsenic is found very high in some parts of the world and the drinking water can be high in arsenic in those places.

Arsenic is contained naturally in soils of some areas, so-called “hot spots“.

It follows from here that some springs can also be contaminated with arsenic and other heavy metals. Heavy metals poison our internal enzyme systems and interfere with the body’s metabolism.

A well is more likely to contain arsenic than a river or lake as a water source. But we do not only concern ourselves with toxins; viruses and bacteria are also a problem.

Bacterial and viral contamination

In Europe, before cities built sewage systems it was not uncommon that excrements from humans and animals found their way into the well that was used for drinking water. We like to think that we are safe now with all of the laws and measures in place, but the various news stories teach us otherwise. Common bacterial contaminants are Salmonella, E.coli (strain O157:H7), Giardia lamblia, Legionella, the parasite Cryptosporidium and others.

In Canada there was a tragic incident in 2000 where thousands of residents of Walkerton, a small town in Ontario were exposed to E.coli (strain O157:H7). This was due to a chlorination unit that was not working, but those who were responsible for water quality maintenance were denying it and were not even properly trained to run the chlorination equipment.

Water testing

Water testing is at the beginning of any water purification system and intermittent ongoing testing is at the center of monitoring water quality on a permanent basis. Water inspectors need to constantly monitor the water source, the water purification process and the delivery system.

Many people in rural Canadian or US towns depend on well water. The same logic is true for water quality with regard to well water as it is for municipal water; just it is on a smaller scale.

You want to know what your water is like. It is not difficult to find out: take a water sample and have it analyzed at a water company. Depending on the result the water company will advise you what kind of filter you will need.

The first purification stage typically is an activated carbon filter that removes organic compounds, radon and other impurities. Every three or four days the filter automatically backwashes and cleans itself for about 45 minutes. Once a year the activated carbon has to be removed and replaced by a new filter. This type of filter is also useful for people who are on municipal water, but want to remove the halogens (fluoride, bromide, chloride) used to disinfect municipal water.

The second stage is an ultraviolet irradiation device. This disinfects the water just prior to coming to your water tap from any bacteria, viruses or parasites.

It is recommended that you also install a reverse osmosis system under your main kitchen sink. It will provide you with purified drinking water. Water produced by this filter goes through additional activated carbon filters and finally must pass through a porous membrane where only water can pass through, but heavy metals and other impurities will not. During an outbreak of Cryptosporidium in 1996 in Kelowna, BC those who had a reverse osmosis system were safe from this pathogen.

You can brush your teeth with confidence with reverse osmosis water, even if your drinking water is contaminated.

Proper water purification

If you are on municipal water, find out what system the municipality is using to ensure water safety. Usually there is a first step of a slow sand filter, where the raw water is first purified, then it undergoes a water chlorination, bromination or fluoridation process, which is done to remove bacteria and viruses. We know, however from a series of outbreaks of Cryptosporidium gastroenteritis cases in municipalities that only used this two stage purification process, that a third step, namely ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, is also necessary to eradicate this microscopic parasite.

Cryptosporidium was the problem behind a drinking water problem in the summer of 1996 in Kelowna, BC, the town of the interior of BC, Canada where I live. 50,000 residents had to get their drinking water from water trucks that were parked at certain locations of the town (about 40% of the population was affected by this water problem). Kelowna now has a modern ultraviolet irradiation system in place.

Immune system compromised people

People whose immune system is compromised such as AIDS patients or patients who had chemotherapy for cancer are very susceptible to Cryptosporidium and other parasites, bacteria and viruses. For them it is particularly important that the third stage, the ultraviolet irradiation step be part of the municipal water treatment process. If this is missing, have a home unit installed by a water company.

Conclusion

It is interesting to see how in Europe the history of water purification has been tightly linked to the history of cholera and typhoid fever epidemics; the quest for learning from these mistakes of the past has brought new solutions. The mistake in the past had been that in water sources wastewater contaminated the drinking water sources. To our modern thinking this seems unimaginable. But recent events that we read about in the news remind us that we cannot be lax on water purification. It is a reality that the same mistakes from the past are still sporadically made now! Know your water source; know the water quality of the water you brush your teeth with (for instance use only bottled water for this in Mexico). Remember that in many development countries to which you may travel there is no clear separation of drinking water and wastewater and there may not be a three-phase filtration system in place that I described above.

Enjoy drinking your clean, refreshing clean water until I meet you again in another blog.

More information on gastroenteritis (from unclean water): http://nethealthbook.com/digestive-system-and-gastrointestinal-disorders/gastroenteritis-food-poisoning/

Last edited Nov. 8, 2014