possible arsenic poisoning??

[LavenderRain]

Okay so this is probably the most random worry I have ever had, but I just can't stop freaking out.

I just learned that rice contains high levels of arsenic. Rice is my favourite food, I eat it pretty much every day. I live off of basically nothing but chicken, rice, and vegetables and have done so for at least half of my life. It's also the food I usually go for when I binge, which I have a tendency to do. I just went on a binge today and ate loads of it.

For at least the past month now I have been so exhausted I can't function. It doesn't stop. I wake up tired, I spend all day tired, I go to bed tired. I haven't felt like I've been in my body at all lately. Everything feels like a dream, like I'm disassociating constantly and I have tons of vision problems lately and keep waking up with a dead arm and pins and needles in my hand for no reason.

I'm so scared. I have no idea what to do. I've been eating rice every day for so long, its definitely worked its way into my system by now. I'm worried its too late and I've been slowly poisoning myself and its irreversible now. Even if I went to the hospital there is nothing they could do. I will never eat rice again. Am I going to die??

[Fishmanpa]

Better let China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh etc. etc. know about this ;)

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

Well it will work it's way into your system but they be dealt with by the body, along with many other toxins.

Your FDA has been testing rice since 1991 to ensure it's safe to eat. The ONLY issue is in infants, toddlers, and pregnant women. Everyone else is safe as long as they are eating it normally, which you are.

People hear the word arsenic and think poison. Well arsenic is a natural substance in the air, the soil and many of the foods we eat.

Another one people worry about is cyanide, yet another in certain foods that we eat.

The question is about the level, the volume of the substance. What people fear, like what they have heard in films, is concentrated.

Arsenic has been in the soil & air long before the human race came along. Whole nations eat a hell of a lot of rice. And have you ever seen the Red Cross and other aid agencies taking food into earthquake zones or other war or disaster zones - they take them huge quantities of rice.

This is purely your anxiety. Think rationally about it, if this was a problem don't you think there would be public health warnings about how to safely eat rice? But there aren't. They would be forced to put safety info on the packaging if there was a risk, just like a label on a chemical substance like bleach telling you not to drink it.

[Shazamataz]

Eating rice every day will not hurt you. I expect the symptoms you are having are due to anxiety as it can make us very tired.