Is it safe to eat rice every day during pregnancy for the baby's brain?

What's actually in it

Rice pulls mercury and arsenic out of flooded paddy soil more than most other grains do. How much depends on where the rice was grown: rice from certain regions in China, Bangladesh, and parts of the US South tend to run higher than rice from California or India. Most shoppers have no way to tell from the bag.

During pregnancy, mercury crosses the placenta and targets the developing brain. The window when most of the brain structure is laid down is the first and second trimester.

What the research says

A 2026 study in Environ Pollut measured maternal mercury exposure from rice during pregnancy and then assessed newborns on standard neurobehavioral tests. Higher rice-driven mercury was linked to lower neurobehavioral scores at birth, specifically in areas of alertness, motor development, and reflexes. The effect was separate from seafood mercury, which rules out the usual fish confounder.

The fix is variety, not elimination. Rotate oats, quinoa, barley, and farro as the main grain a few days a week. When eating rice, rinse thoroughly and cook with extra water (6:1 ratio) then drain. That step alone cuts arsenic and mercury by roughly half. Lundberg and some California brands publish third-party metal testing if you want to choose a specific brand.