EVERYDAY SOURCE OF TOXINS (Part 2)
Hidden sources of toxins in food and cooking areas that may damage your health.
1. Poisonous cleaning products.
You didn't know that cleaning products are a hazard to human health and the aquatic environment? Well, there are illustrations on the bottle that clearly display warnings, and yet these life-killing products are sold by the thousands every single second of every day. Imagine the role the food and the hospitality industries in this global problem, using tonnes of this pollutants every single seconds (many of which are flushed down the toilets or end up in the water system (and the seas). Think toilet bleach, antibacterial sprays and hand-wash).
Thinking you made the choice to save the planet by buying 'eco' products? Well, the companies selling these so call earth-friendly products are the same selling cheap, highly-polluting, health-damaging products on the next shelf. Many 'green' products are shown to be as polluting as the rest. This is brilliant marketing! not an exercise to save the planet.
Greenwashing is the the perfect example of companies using health-oriented terms to market a product to a consumer, despite the fact it is not healthy or even eco-friendly.1
Always read the label. Labels like ‘all-natural,’ ‘eco-friendly,’ ‘green,’ have no legal meaning and so can used (and abused) without any repercussions. Even the term ‘organic’ should trigger a red flag, especially cleaning products. Companies are very good at omitting a few known toxic ingredients and replacing them with other nasties. Just because something does not contain bleach or parabens does not mean it will not harm your health!
You need to become a savvy consumer since those tactics are extremely frequent due to increased consumer mindfulness, with a multitude of people caring more than ever about what they put inside their body, on their body, and the types of products they choose to use in their homes.
How to protect yourself:
Make your own cleaning products using simple and truly non-toxic ingredients like sodium bicarbonate (so cheap and efficient that you'll never understand why you have not used it before), vinegar (any, the cheapest the better, as the most important is the alcohol and enzymes it contains), and essential oils (use organic, pharmaceutical grade as much as possible, to ensure you are using the real thing).
2. Tap Water
Tap water has become a soup of very toxic chemicals and harmful compounds (think heavy metals, plastic, traces of solvents, pesticides, synthetic hormones, and much much more). Tap water is also treated with chlorine (a poison)2,3 and in some areas with fluoride. Old city pipes have been there for decades (a few years back, Thames Water finally decided to insert plastic pipes inside the Victorian water system. For centuries, they pocketed trillions of pounds and never thought of upgrading the system. The only did so because the pipes were falling apart and becoming a pain to repair. That's all). Thames Water is also planning to recirculate waste water, making up to 50% of the water you will get from your tap. The increasing problem is thus the bacteria released by dysbiotic and diseased humans (it appears, the biggest majority of people on the planet). On average, water from the Thames is re-circulated 7 times in the water system before reaching the sea. Now it will also be recirculated from sewage water.4,5
Invest in the highest-quality water filter you can afford to remove toxins from tap water and so reduce your toxic load. Ideally, the filter should be installed at the port of entry in your home, so that even shower and bath water is safer to use. While taking a shower or a bath, you may inhale and absorb those toxic compounds like chlorine and heavy metals. Also, remember to sanitise your shower heads regularly to prevent bacteria and fungus to settle and protect themselves in a biofilm (so they can resist changes in temperature), and cause health problems every time you shower. Remember that you skin also host a microbiome (a diversity of life-supporting microbes)6 and it needs to be preserved to prevent skin problems.7
3. BPA, BPF and BPS, phthalates and toxic (and nature-wrecking) plastic
Let's face it. When consumers hear of toxic chemicals in the food chain, the media jump on the wagon and increase fear around these products, and sometimes for good reasons. As always, when the alarm bell is pulled, manufacturers quickly replace it with a very similar (or the same) product, under a different name (or often similar — BPA being replaced by ultra-toxic BPS and BPF. Virtually, the same name! but because of the 'novelty' of those toxic chemicals, government authorities need many year to examine to long-term effects of these products and the problems they represent to human health. No manufacturers is liable for producing toxic chemicals and prove that they have no effect on human health or nature. They may also be directly involved in government decisions either by heavy lobbying or be part of the decision-making committee). 'BPA-free' doesn't mean 'BP-free.' They're all made of bisphenol.
Bisphenol A (or BPA) is a chemical compound that is widely used to make up certain plastics (including the plastic layer inside tins, and milk carton). It is associated with a wide range of health concerns and has widely been accepted as a health hazard.8,9
Use glass containers and bottles as much as possible. Shop in plastic-free stores to buy your fresh fruits and vegetables (or directly from Demeter or organic farms), and bring re-usable linen gags when buying in bulk from self-serving stores.
4. Non-Stick Cookware
Despite being convenient (because we are lead to believe shortcuts are essential in our busy, hectic modern lives; however, there is always a price to pay) because we have forgotten (or don't understand) how to cook, the polytetrafluoroethylene that makes products like Teflon and Anolon (or similar) non-stick are linked to various health concerns the world around.10 It is estimated that every single person in the world contain measurable toxicity in their cells (even newborn!).
How non-stick cookware affect our health (by the way, they are known to kill birds and so birds should never be kept in the kitchen when cooking!)?
The coating starts to break down at temperatures above 260˚c (500˚F) (e.g., dry-frying, when the pan is on high heat with no food inside, or when frying without liquid — water ever reach 100˚c. A hot pan reaches 315˚c (600˚F) or above), releasing toxic chemicals into the air (that you inhale while cooking and which becomes part of indoor pollution) and your food. Symptoms include chills, fever, headache and body aches, and even lung damage.11 Ingesting these chemicals through your food has been linked to fertility problems, among others.12 These chemicals are not innocent. They should be banned completely. Until then, remove them from your home, especially if the coating is damaged. Replace with stainless steel, cast iron and enamel cookware.
TIP: how to cook food so that he doesn't stick.
To understand the basic of cooking, let's look at traditional ways food was cooked.
A pot was placed on the fire to heat the food. Then came the stove and food was still slowly cooked. Then came industrialisation and shortcuts. We want to eat fast and we want to eat convenient foods.
Using cast iron for frying and grilling. The pan must be hot before adding food. It must be smoking. The smoke is an indication that food remains are incinerated. When it stops smoking it is ready. To fry eggs or a steak, place the food in the pan. Eggs will be cooked and the crusty layer will make it easy to scoop out of the pan. The juice released by the steak will create steam and naturally lift the meat from the pan. It is ready to flip over when it easily comes out of the pan. Repeat the process to brown the other side. Keep longer, flipping it over one more time, if you prefer steaks more done. It is that simple.
Enamel cookware is ideal for slow cooking recipes. Although, if you want to brown the meat and keep you cookware in pristine condition, do it using a cast iron pan. Melt onions, garlic and mirepoix (diced carrot, celery and leek) with lid on. Then, add the meat (drained), and mix well. Add tomato paste to make a nice brown stew, caramelised quickly, and then add (wine to help breaking down protein fibres and) broth. The juice from the meat can also now be added for extra flavours.
For more tips of the chefs, visit: www.exquisiteprivatechef.co.uk
5 Tin Food
Canned food is a real problem for our health. We already know that tin cans are lined with a toxic BPA layer. the largest source of dietary-BPA exposure is canned foods.13 Corrosive foods like tomatoes (in juice or purées, pastes and sauces) and other acidic foods (anything with vinegar) can increase toxicity levels in the body by damaging the plastic layer (now, plastic is inside your food) and attacking the tin (now, tin and neurotoxic aluminium particles end up in your food). The longer the food is stored inside the tin, the higher the exposure. Canned food was developed to increase shelf-life by many years. Some tins are kept in homes decades after they were made.
Aside from the increase toxicity risk, many canned foods contain high amounts of refined (bleached, void of essential nutrients) salt, sugar, and a tonne of additives and preservatives.
Buy only food sold in glass and inspect the label from unwanted additives.
Many supplements contain a multitude of toxins, including fillers (gluten, rice, soy, powdered rocks), heavy-metals (only buy heavy metal tested products), additives and preservatives.
Only buy supplements from trusted companies. Supermarket supplement ranges (as well as most of those available at Holland and Barrett) are made on the cheap and often do not deliver on their promises (maybe this is why you don't notice improvements after taking them) and, more often than not, have poor bioavailability (you may absorb nothing of it or a tiny fraction, and so you may just as well poor them down the drain).
The global nutrition and supplement market was valued at $104 billion in 2013.14
References:
1 “What Is Greenwashing?” Ethical Consumer, 28 Jan. 2021, www.ethicalconsumer.org/transport-travel/what-greenwashing.
2 Huang, Junli. et al. (1997). Disinfection effect of chlorine dioxide on bacteria in water. Water Research. 31(3), pp. 607–613. doi:10.1016/s0043-1354(96)00275-8
3 Turnbaugh, PJ. et al. (2007). The human microbiome project. Nature. 449(7164), pp. 804–810. doi:10.1038/nature06244
4 Source: Thames Water "water Cycle." Available at: https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/responsibility/education/the-water-cycle
5 Source: The Guardian "Poll: are you happy to drink recycled sewage water?". (2013). Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/shortcuts/poll/2013/may/10/water-health
6 Byrd, A. Belkaid, Y. Segre, J. (2018). The human skin microbiome. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 16, 143–155., doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2017.157
7 Prescott, SL. et al. (2017). The skin microbiome: Impact of modern environments on skin ecology, barrier integrity, and systemic immune programming. The World Allergy Organization journal. 10(1), 29., doi:10.1186/s40413-017-0160-5
8 Bauer, BA. (2021). “Tips to reduce BPA exposure.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education & Research. Available at: www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/bpa/faq-20058331.
9 Min Kyong, M. (2019). Concern about the safety of Bisphenol A substitutes. Diabetes & metabolism journal. 43(1), pp.46-48., doi:10.4093/dmj.2019.0027
10 Shuster, KA. et al. (2012). Polytetrafluoroethylene toxicosis in recently hatched chickens (Gallus domesticus). Comparative medicine. 62(1), pp. 49-52.
11 Shimizu, T. et al. (2012). Polymer fume fever. BMJ case reports. vol. 2012 bcr2012007790, doi:10.1136/bcr-2012-007790
12 EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM). (2018). Risk to human health related to the presence of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid in food.” EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority. 16, 12 e05194., doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5194
13 Almeida, S. et al. (2018). Bisphenol A: Food exposure and impact on human health. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science & Food Safety. 17(6), pp. 1503–1517., doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12388
14 Pressman, P. Clemens, RA. Hayes, AW. (2017). Bioavailability of micronutrients obtained from supplements and food: A survey and case study of the polyphenols. Toxicology Research & Application., doi:10.1177/2397847317696366