CR’s Dickerson says parents should remember that exposure to heavy metals does not guarantee that a child will face health problems as a result, only that it increases that possibility. If you are concerned about possible exposure, speak with your pediatrician about having your child tested.
It may not be possible to completely remove heavy metals from your food. But there are steps you can take to reduce the amount of heavy metals that you and your children are exposed to and to minimize some of the effects of heavy metals. “Just making changes now will go a long way toward protecting your children, regardless of any past exposures,” says Dickerson. These tips will help:
Limit the amount of rice baby cereal your child eats. Cereal is often a baby’s first solid food because it is easy to swallow and is usually fortified with iron, an important nutrient for babies. But both the FDA and the American Academy of Pediatrics say there is no reason it should be rice cereal and that babies should be given a variety of cereals, pointing to concerns about inorganic arsenic levels in those products. “Parents have other options: There are iron-fortified cereals made from other whole grains, like oats, that are lower in inorganic arsenic,” says Rogers.
Choose the right rice. In previous CR tests, brown rice had more inorganic arsenic than white rice of the same type. White basmati rice from California, India, and Pakistan, and sushi rice from the US, are good choices that had, on average, half the inorganic arsenic than most other types. Rice cakes, cereals, and pasta were also high in inorganic arsenic.
Reconsider preparing the rice. Cook it in a large amount of water (the FDA recommends 6-10 parts water to 1 part rice) and drain well afterward. This will help reduce the arsenic content.
Limit packaged snacks. Many contain rice flour, but even those without it do not provide much nutritional value. “Even without the risks of heavy metals, snacks are not a necessary part of your child’s diet and can have added sugars and sodium,” says Amy Keating, RD, Consumer Reports nutritionist. The same goes for rice cakes, rice cakes, and French fries that you and your child can eat.
Look for whole foods low in heavy metals. Based on their review of data from the Total Diet Study, our experts suggested some easy-to-pack foods, suitable for snacking, that are very low in heavy metals: apples, applesauce (no sugar), avocados, bananas, barley with diced vegetables, beans, cheese, grapes, hard-boiled eggs, peaches, strawberries, and yogurt.
Be careful with fruit juices. Previous CR testing found inorganic arsenic and lead in many brands of apple and grape juices. Also, all fruit juices are concentrated sources of sugars and are lacking in fiber. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not giving fruit juice to babies during the first year of life and limiting juice to 4 ounces a day for children 1 to 3 years old and 6 ounces for those 4 to 6 years old, for purposes of nutritional. reasons.
Be careful with the chocolate. Cocoa powder may contain cadmium and / or lead. Cocoa itself can have more than dark chocolate, and dark chocolate can have more than milk chocolate.
Choose the right fish. Bigeye, king mackerel, orange roughy, shark, and swordfish are particularly rich in methylmercury. Children and women of childbearing age should avoid these fish; others should eat them infrequently, if at all.
Forget protein powders. These can contain arsenic, cadmium and lead, based on tests by CR and others. Whey and egg-based powders tend to have less than plant-based ones like soy and hemp, but even these should be used sparingly. You probably don’t need them anyway. “The vast majority of people get a lot of protein from the foods they eat,” says Keating. “And when you get your protein from food, you also benefit from all the other nutrients found in whole foods.”
Check your water. If you get your water from a well or if your home has older plumbing, consider testing the water. Heavy metals sometimes leach into well water, and older pipes may have been made from lead.
Eat a wide variety of healthy whole foods. Rotating the foods you eat can help you avoid overconsumption of heavy metals and provide a variety of nutrients that can help offset some of the damage heavy metals do to the body. These include calcium, iron, selenium, vitamin C, and zinc.
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